How much does a wedding video cost?
So how much should a wedding video actually cost?
It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? And generally it depends what you’re after. In short, a wedding video can cost you anything from 100 pounds for a freelancer, I’ll get more onto that in a moment, up to two and a half thousand, three thousand pounds, or potentially more in some cases, so there’s a really big variation. And the reason there’s such big variation is there are lots of different factors to consider, when it comes to price, in terms of having a wedding video done. So what I’m gonna do is explain to you the very best I can about what affects the price of a wedding video.
1) There’s no verification process.
It’s true of modern society today, that anyone can go pick up a camera off Amazon and start filming with it straight away. Or, even easier, they can just pick up their smartphone out of their pocket, and just start filming. And although this is great for our modern world, it does allow people to do stuff that they might not wanna be doing.
So in terms of that, what I mean is people can just pick up a camera and start filming your wedding, and I can probably gauge from kind of you popping onto our site that you probably don’t want a beginner filming your wedding day as there is lots of different risks associated with that. And that kind of links to that hundred-pound, kind of freelancer I mentioned earlier.
That’s someone that’s kind of maybe a college student that’s after some pin money and they’re probably not gonna come out and visit your venue and they’re probably not gonna come out and discuss with you exactly what it is that you’re after.
And both of these things are vitally important because in order to achieve the wedding video of your dreams there needs to be a kind of relationship there, there needs to be some synergy going on, and, quite frankly, the person that’s charging you a hundred pounds isn’t gonna do any of those things. So that is why it is so important that you do some research into the background of the person that you’re looking at. So what qualifications do they have, what experience do they have, can you see some examples of their videos.
And there’s lots more information on this in my free book, called the seven and a half secrets to hiring a great wedding videographer. You can download it for free via the link below and it gives you lots of tips, tricks, and things that you’ve never really thought of in terms of what you maybe need to know in terms of hiring someone that’s gonna be great at doing your wedding video. So make sure you check it out.
2) Choosing the right package.
It’s important that you choose the right package for your video because you wanna get that kind of complementary feeling of getting a good price but mixed with getting all the things that you want. So again, this might not be aligned just yet, but you’ll find that it will come together by doing some research.
So in terms of how a package will affect the price will be, if you have something like a basic package that has something like just the ceremony filmed, for example, then that will be a lot less than having full-day coverage with kind of a drone flying round and kind of a time lapse going on.
Because all of those things are gonna cost you more. And some of the main reasons for that are if you have a drone flying, the company that’s flying that drone will need the correct insurance to fly and they will also need to take a course, which, generally speaking, is well over a thousand pounds, and that doesn’t include buying the drone. So you can kind of start to see why these things would cost you more, if you have them. So, worth just checking kind of what it is that you want to include in your video and also kind of what sections you wanna film, as well, and how you want to film them.
3) The quality of the video
The quality of the video is the main thing that is gonna determine the price of it. So how good it is, how is it shot. And there’s two main things to look for here.
3.1) Their style
The style of the video is gonna be how the video looks, visually. So is it kind of Dad on the camcorder or POV-type style or is it very cinematic, in terms of it, does it look like a movie production? And depending on which of these kind of styles that you go for, and there’s lots of different styles, but I’m just kind of differentiating kind of one extreme to the other here, will depend on how much it costs.
So generally, kind of the more cinematic style videos that, again, you may have already seen online and there’s some examples on our website here, will generally cost more because you’ll need more equipment, better experience, and kind of that type of thing to generate that kind of video. Or if it’s more kind of a, a kind of a candid style, or a more of a POV style, those a little bit easier to do and don’t require as much equipment.
So, again, depending on kind of which kind of style you go for will depend on how much it costs you. Also, if the style of that video is quite popular at the moment or if it’s quite fashionable, again, that kind of can increase the price. Not always, but it can increase the price. So just be aware of kind of some current trends and if you’re not kind of into them, maybe just avoid them.
3.2) Their techniques and their practices.
So what I mean by that is, how have they set the scene up? So have they got a second shooter on hand, for example? I’d always recommend one, but do they have one? And if they do, that’s gonna increase the price. So again, something else to consider, do they have an external sound engineer?
Because that’s gonna cost money too. So generally, the more people you’ve kind of got involved in this setup and kind of how these, their kind of the practices and kind of things behind the scenes, that is going to increase the price. Although, in my honest opinion, I’d generally have both of them, I’d have a second shooter and an external sound recordist.
I’d have the second shooter so you can kind of get the audience reactions while you’ve kind of got the closeup of you kind of coming down the aisle, or even the groom’s reaction, that’s always a really nice shot to go for. And also, I’d have an external sound engineer because the camera guy’s got to focus on that content while you know all the audio cues are gonna be in place. So although I’d recommend both of these, it will affect the price. So, just something to bear in mind, there.
4) How long is the final video?
I spoke a little about this earlier, but what I mean by that is, how long is your final video gonna be? So once they’ve come to the day, they’ve planned it, they’ve shot it, everything is done, what are you gonna get at the end of it? And generally speaking, the longer your video is, the more expensive it will be.
So even through all the technology that we have today, someone will have to edit that video, which means kind of cutting up all the best bits, if you like, stick it onto a timeline, and pop it all together into a nice, really beautiful story. And although we have some great technology, this does have to be done by hand, each shot individually.
You may also have some effects applied to it, some kind of nice colours added in there, some nice titles, and again, the longer that video is gonna be, the more expensive it will be because the more time they’ll have to sit down and do it. Generally at OrFactor Productions, a lot of our customers find that kind of a 20-minute, half an hour edit is great because it gives enough content of the day without being too boring and too expensive.
Again, some people prefer kind of a three-hour edit, and that’s great, because they kind of want everything included in there. But, bearing in mind, if you go for something like that, it is gonna cost you more because it’s gonna take someone’s time. To kind of block out kind of three hours is gonna take probably a good few weeks to do because not only have they got to put all those shots together, they’ve got to sync all the audio up from all their other audio sources.
And if they’ve got six mics going on, they’ll have to check six sources of individual shots before they can even put it together. So that is going to take a lot longer than you may think. So just something to bear in mind there.
5) Location
So, where is your wedding video going to take place? Because if your wedding videographer is based in Birmingham and you’re having it in Scotland, there might be some charge for an overnight stay, some beers, and all sorts of other stuff. So this sounds really obvious, but it’s something really to bear in mind because it can be often overlooked. Particularly if you’re having your wedding video done abroad, again, that’s a whole new kettle of fish because you’ll have to consider things like where are they gonna stay, what are they going to eat.
So it might be better to source someone more locally, if possible, or again, if you are going to source someone that’s kind of more local to you and not where you’re going to be, then you might just have to arrange kind of those charges up front because they’re probably going to have to be there in order for it to be viable for them to go. So worth having a chat with them and just kind of sorting something out between yourselves just to make sure that both your expectations are managed properly.
So number eight, testimonials. So depending on how many testimonials someone has, can affect the price of the video. And this isn’t always the case, but it can be because if they’ve established themselves in the industry, then they would’ve got some good testimonials and they’ve probably got things like a good style, which is why they’ve got good testimonials. So this links back to a lot of the other stuff I’ve spoke about with you earlier.
Again, there is the other side of the coin, where people don’t really have any testimonials and they’ve got no real kind of grounding in the industry and therefore won’t charge you as much for that because they’re still learning. But this all goes down to kind of what you want. So do you want someone that’s going to be able to get those shots first time? Do you want someone that’s going to have that previous experience in order to be able to deliver on the big day itself? And I’d probably say, that’s probably what you’re looking for.
Again, you don’t have to go for that, but, obviously, for me it’s a no-brainer. In terms of myself, my experience lies within wedding videos and live TV, both of which are not repeatable. So it makes me absolutely perfect for things like this because I bring all of that experience together to be able to give you that content and that once-in-a-lifetime moment. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can obviously you’re already on our website so feel free to take a look, take a look at our videos.
I’m always happy to answer any questions that you have. If you want to meet me one on one, you can also book a one-to-one appointment with me. And that’s on our Contact Us page, there’s a button below. And you can book either a call with me or a one-to-one session as well.
If you prefer, you can also pop on to our live chat, which is live across all of the pages on our website. And again, that’ll take you straight to a live chat, which will pop straight through to me and I’ll answer any questions as quickly as I can. I hope you’ve enjoyed this video and I hope it’s given you a lot more scope in terms of what affects the price of a wedding video. And now, hopefully you’re a lot more informed to make the right choice for you about what you want from your wedding video.