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Questions To Ask Before Hiring a Videographer for Your Wedding – Part 1

by | Mar 6, 2013

Introduction

Your wedding will be unique. There will never be another ceremony and reception exactly like yours. Your wedding video will also be unique, but not solely because of the uniqueness of your wedding and reception. With many videography companies to choose from, you have significant versatility in designing your video, both in content and style. There are many options available for you to choose from today for your video that were not available just a few years ago. By making a few decisions in advance regarding what is important to you for your video, you will be able to select the videographer and video options that will give you the video that’s perfect for you. Bridal magazines and wedding planning books have lists of questions to ask your videographer. Those are all important questions and should definitely be asked. But for the most part, those questions relate to the business itself and not to the production of the video. We answer those “FAQ” questions for Video Adventures here. However, the questions discussed in this 3-part article relate not to the video production company, but to what will ultimately be on the video: the content, and the style.

These questions fall into three categories:

1) Onsite Coverage (hour’s onsite, number of videographers, types of cameras, audio, etc.)

2) Video Content (length, production style, extra segments, etc.)

3) Video Delivery (DVD, Blu-ray, Flash Drive, Live Streaming, Web, Hard Drive, Tape, Video Books, etc.)

How Many Hours Should I Have the Videographer Onsite?

The videographer is typically onsite from an hour or more prior to the ceremony through the departure or contracted time. However, some brides will stage a departure early to capture it on the video in order to reduce the number of hours the videographer is onsite. Should I have a 2nd or even a 3rd videographer? If so, for how many hours? When you turn to face each other to say your vows, the videographer will typically be in a position to get a close-up of your face. With one videographer from that position, it is not possible to get any other angle or close-up shot of the groom’s face. Two points of view are always better as most live TV shows use many cameras. A second videographer would be positioned to get a different angle such as straight down the aisle or of the groom’s face. For the reception, a second videographer is beneficial for first dance, parent dances, etc. For the toasts and cake cutting, a second videographer will provide shots from a different angle in the event some guests step into the 1st videographer’s shot. What about a 3rd videographer? Many high-end wedding film production companies use a 3rd videographer for their premiere product line. A third videographer will typically be free to seek out and film shots that might otherwise be missed by the other cameras; such as the mother of the bride’s reaction during the bride/father dance, etc.

Should I Have My Wedding Filmed in High Definition?

Most all TVs purchased today are High Definition. More and more videographers are filming in High Definition by default now. But be aware that some still only film in older standard definition format. This is definitely a question that should be asked. If you do not have a Blu-ray player, why should you care about High Definition for your wedding video? Sometime in the future, you will have high definition capability in your home entertainment center. When a wedding is filmed in High Definition, it can still be delivered in standard DVD format. So we can offer either or both standard DVD and Blu-ray. We will always film in High Definition.

Part 2 coming in April 2013.

3 Comments

  1. Los Angeles Wedding

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  2. Charlie Walkrich

    Great suggestions! I wish more couples knew about this. It would make our work so much easier.

    Reply

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“Everyone we have shown our wedding video to was greatly impressed! We love it, especially the photo history of each of us and the interviews. The graphics were great and we loved the recap of the whole wedding at the end. We are so glad we did it! Thank you so much!”

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“Our Wedding Video captured so many wonderful moments that were such a blur on our wedding day. Ken and Maria were very professional and our Wedding Video will be enjoyed forever!”

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