Wedding Are you having a videographer??

[blondebunny]

Just curious... I saw on some other boards ladies were talking about them and wondering if any of ya''ll had/or will have one?

If so,
Why did you decide to get one?

If not,
Why did you decide not to get one?

I mean itd be cool I guess, But I mean, I dunno if we would ever watch it? The only cool thing I could think of would be interviewing people at the wedding would be kinda cool, but that we could just use someone in the families video cam and have my sis go around and do it...

 

[lucy.lucy.80]

I went thought the same debate and decided against a videographer primarily because of cost....it was $1000 for unedited footage. I will be bringing a hand held camcorder that I rarely use and having my mother tape the important stuff (first dance, cake cutting, last dance). Also, I talked to some friends who were at weddings with videographers and they said the bright lights and being put on the spot for an interview was a little awkward to them. I guess it depends on personal preference.

 

[jcrow]

i came ***this*** close to not having one. i had looked up and down for one that i liked for the money. it wasn''t until i found gingerb''s videographer thanks to pricescope. i looked him up and found out that his travel expenses + regular fees were under what the local videographers were charging, and i hated their work.

i''m SOOOOOO glad i found him and hired him. i mean, i love my photos, but the video. oh! how i LOVE the video. he just captured everything so magically. it''s like everything i loved about photos but set to music. so emotional.

i love that he captured our nuptials. we can relive all the words that were spoken. by the priest. and to each other.

not to mention, my favorite wedding moment missed by my photographer was so perfectly caught by my videographer. seriously priceless.

i could go on and on

 

[SarahLovesJS]

We''re having one. I had a really rough time finding one I liked at the price I could afford, but with some work and expansion of area I found one! It''s important to us because I want to have the video of the ceremony and some clips of the reception at minimum. I wanted a photojournalistic style videographer/cinematographer that made it really difficult, but it was worth the wait I believe. Anyway, I don''t have a lot of videos of me growing up or of my family members, and being able to look back one day will be priceless for me. I really wish I had videos of my family members that have passed away. I am trying to avoid feeling that regret about my wedding. I don''t think we''ll watch it like once a week..but it will be neat to watch every few years. I want the full-length thing, but we are also getting the short film/trailer so we can watch that when we want something quick.

 

[violet02]

I posted a thread about this awhile back... I wasn't sure what to do either. Budget was definitely an issue. I wound up getting a freelance videographer that also works for one of the bigger production companies. Her wedding dvds were great! Simple one camera set up that captures the highlights set to some music. I thought she did a fabulous job for being one camera! I'm only paying $600 too. I did have to take some risk to do this which was wait and see if she has that weekend free and not try and book anyone else (next closest price ws $1700 for unedited one camera footage!). I just found out recently that she's free so I'm excited!

My friend says he watches his video way more than he looks at photos. I was also told that your day goes by so fast that it's nice to have a video so you can go back and watch what you missed. And lastly it would be fun to show my future kids! I'd have loved to see my parents getting married. I love all our old home movies.

 

[Sparkalicious]

Blondebunny - We weren''t going to get one b/c we thought we were clever and "saving" money.

Well... we ultimately decided to get one and just signed the contract last week because we are putting so much time, money, effort into this planning process and we know that the "big" day will be a whirlwind so we want to be able to have something to review to "relive" it. We are getting "limited" service in that our priority is having the ceremony taped. We don''t need much of the reception since nobody needs to watch 8 to 10 hours of coverage of their wedding day.

We got a pretty decent deal on the pricing as well so we are thrilled, to say the least, with our decision to take the plunge and get a videographer.

 

[goldenstar]

We are having one.

At first I thought we could do without video because we felt like it was an extra expense that wasn''t that important. But after seeing some really well made videos, we really wanted a videographer. There is a world of difference between a quality video and a lesser quality one. I wouldn''t be interested in watching a cheesy professional video, but I would regularly watch a well edited one that really invoked emotion.

Also want to add: a really good videographer will be unobtrusive and will not bother anyone or anything with lights and equipment.

Some of our friends didn''t do video and later wished they did. I found a great one and they are one of the vendors that I am most excited about. They are definitely a splurge but I have no hesitation about the decision.

 

[snlee]

I didn''t think we needed a videographer. I thought it was another extra expense and having a video wasn''t important. However, DH was adamant about getting one and I''m so glad we did! We found a videographer whose price was very reasonable so that was also a plus. I really love our wedding video. I love that we captured our ceremony and our vows to one another. It''s really nice to have.

 

[blondebunny]

ya i started to think about home videos, and I guess when I was home (living at my rents) I did watch them, ahaha I used to love to watch all my old dance recitals.. hehehe But then I thought about my brother passing and thought it would be nice to have so that if anything ever happens to me my kids could watch old movies of their mom...

Thanks for all your responses

 

[SanchezVVV]

I guess everyone has this debate... We decided not to have one. We''ve been to a few wedding that have had them and they were pretty much in the way of every special wedding moment - following the bride down the aisle, standing at the alter, on the dance floor for the first dance, blocking the cake cutting. And the videographers had huge camera and then an assistant with the lights... We know the photographer will also be in the action but in a less obtrusive way. Just our 2cents.

 

[Cleopatra]

This is a pretty popular debate between many couples. I simply couldn''t justify the extra cost of a videographer and instead, hired a fantastic photographer. I haven''t gotten my pro pics yet, but I''m convinced that they will be amazing.

I kept asking myself if I would ever watch the video more than once - I could see myself watching it when I received it obviously, but I honestly couldn''t see me pulling out our wedding video for "Movie Night."

We nixed the videographer and I have no regrets about that. To each his own

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

No, we''re not having one. I can''t justify the added expense. Heck, I can barely justify the expense of a photographer!

When did making a living become highway robbery?!?

 

[marchswallowbird]

Nope, not having one. Can''t afford it. Our feeling was that a videographer would be extremely distracting, making everything feel like the ultimate dog and pony show. We also reasoned that video footage is harder to share with friends and family than still pics. FH and I would probably look at the video a few times and then it would sit on a shelf gathering dust. There will be no kids in the picture, so no need to "archive" for that reason. Going to spend the $$$ on a fabulous photographer instead.

 

[swimmer]

I was totally against having one for the reasons listed above, intrusive being the key word. So when my FMIL begged for us to have one, I finally caved but found one who would tape from behind everyone, Rabbi said she did not want to know he was even there! He set up cameras around the reception and caught some great stuff that we would never have seen. No intrusion, no interviews, but my friends went up to some of the unmanned cameras and gave "color commentary" I wanted the video to show my BIL who has been institutionalized and could not be Best Man, and FMIL wanted him to see the ceremony. I knew he would be more into seeing the dancing and such, so really emphasized the need to tape that.
He cost $500 for something not super polished. I just called around and said I wanted something slightly better than what my Uncle could do. The cutest thing is that we got all the tapes and DH is making his own DVD of the wedding in imovie. So, we went from totally against it because of the intrusion, to doing it to share, and now loving it.

 

[zoebartlett]

We didn''t have a videographer -- it was too expensive. Friends of ours sent us a link to their video after their wedding a few years ago, and my husband and I love it. We really wanted a videographer but we couldn''t justify the cost.

 

[kittybean]

We are not going to have a professional videographer (unless I can find someone for dirt cheap in the coming months). However, my brothers both take tons of video, and one of them has all the video-editing software and is amazing with it. I will be enlisting both brothers and my uncle to take video of the ceremony and reception, but there will be no guest interviews and minimal lighting/sound setup.

After reading the posts on this thread, I''m rethinking the videographer thing a little, but as of right now, I think we won''t have one.