Can’t afford a wedding videographer?

This is a topic that comes up a lot in discussions with wedding couples. Once your wedding budget starts to take shape and you account for the dress, the cake, the venue, flowers, DJ, food, drink and the photographer, many people find that the idea of a wedding videographer is something that they just can’t afford.

However, in a recent survey, 90% of brides surveyed said that their wedding should be filmed. Of the 90% who said this, only 29% of them had their own weddings filmed. Therefore, many of these brides regret not having their own wedding videos.

The reason that wedding videos are so expensive is that the production of a wedding video is very time consuming for the videographer. The day of the shoot is long and filming video properly generally requires more than one person. Sound has to be properly recorded (not the case with stills photography) and if this is overlooked, the whole video can be ruined. Shooting video also uses up more digital storage and battery power, therefore more equipment and hard drives are needed. And then there’s the post production. Most stills photographers can generally process and deliver your photographs in 1-2 days (although most will spead this out over a few weeks). The editing of a wedding video can take weeks and is very time intensive, not to mention computer intensive. All of these elements contribute to the reason that wedding videography is very expensive.

Although Edit Your Wedding is all about providing a videography service to people who can’t afford a videographer, I’m going to do my best not to make this post an advert for our wedding videos! There are other options when it comes to wedding videos for a lower price and I’m planning to list them below.

1 – Don’t have a wedding video! This may not seem like a good answer to people looking at this post, but the fact is that if you don’t have the money for a video, then a good stills photographer should be able to capture the emotion and feelings of the day in their images and hopefully this will be enough to remind you of your day.

2 – Ask a friend or relative to do it for you. This is a big risk if you have decided that you definately want a wedding video as they may not really have the expertise or equipment to do the job properly. They will most likely run out of memory cards and batteries or simply get bored after a while, which could mean you end up with only half a wedding video!

3 – DIY Wedding Video. There are a number of companies in the wedding market that now offer a service whereby you are sent a varying number of video cameras to hand out to your guests who film your day. You then send the cameras back and the company edits the footage together for you. These services range in price but are generally a lot more affordable than having an actual videographer. The results tend to be fun and give a real feeling of your day. Whilst not professional in terms of cinematography, the editors can usually turn the footage on the cameras into a lovely video. Most companies also send out tips and tricks or make tutorial videos that you can show to your filming friends, thereby helping them understand how to make the most out of the cameras. A few of the companies we know about are listed below here:

Edit Your Wedding

Shoot It Yourself

Friends Film It

You Do The Shoot

Shoot It Your Way

We hope this helps a bit – it can be a very difficult decision for couples when their wedding has to be kept to a budget, but the companies above do give you a memory of your day and for a fraction of the price.