Essential Tips for Hiring a Wedding Photographer
Hiring a wedding photographer is an essential step in planning a wedding. You want to capture and document snippets of one of the most memorable events of your life. Hence, it’s crucial to hire a professional photographer to avoid unnecessary slip-ups that can ruin your wedding.
Today we will be giving you some tips for choosing a videographer for your wedding.
- Experience – Is your videographer experienced? This is your big day and you need a videographer who has seen it all. Don’t rely on a newcomer to get everything right.
- His Work – Take a look at his previous work. Is it beautiful and inspiring? A top videographer should have plenty of videos for you to peruse, on his own website and also on either Vimeo or YouTube.
- Ideas – You probably have some ideas for your wedding video, but does your videographer have suggestions? If he is a professional, then he knows how to make the best video possible. He should have dome suggestions for making your wedding video the best it can be.
- Equipment – Does your videographer have the professional equipment to do the job right? Your wedding video should look like a Hollywood movie from 2011, not 1950.
- References – Does your videographer have references? His wedding videos may look great, but did he make the videos as the bride and groom wanted? Be sure to ask how happy his previous clients were with his work.
- Accessibility – Does your videographer take the time to work with you? Does he return all phone calls and emails quickly? If he has time for you now, then he will likely have the time to make your wedding video a smashing success.
Create a candidate shortlist
Talk to your friends and family and check Angie’s List to find potential photographers, then narrow your choices by creating a candidate shortlist based on your personal preferences.
Ask for a portfolio
A portfolio is a selective compilation of the photographer’s best work. When viewing a photographer’s portfolio, ask to see a complete wedding set in order to get a better idea of how consistent the photographer is with his or her style and how uniform the quality of the shots are in various locations throughout the wedding.
Consider value when comparing quotes
Photography packages include a selection of hours of coverage, number of photographers, number of proofs delivered in CD or flashcard and a wedding album. Many photographers include frills such as loose prints, a parent album, post-wedding artistic shots and personalized thank-you cards. By selecting the items relevant to your needs and cutting back on the extras, you can dutifully stick to your initial budget. Alternatively, don’t be afraid to make special requests in place of irrelevant services in a particular package to get value out of the pricing.
Length In Minutes Does Not Equal More Value!
This is a big one. Often times couples assume because a wedding film is longer it must be worth more money. For example, if someone offers a 20 minute edit, 45 minute edit, or 60 minute edit. But the truth is, the film is only valuable up until the second it loses your interest. What’s the point in having a 60 minute wedding film if you stop watching after a couple of minutes?
This is exactly why we specialize in short wedding films. We never want to create something that you’re only going to watch once. We want to create something that is long enough to tell your whole story, yet, short enough to be awesome from start to finish.
The value of wedding videography is not the length of your film. But, the overall experience and quality of each minute in your film!
Filmmaking Style Is Important!
There is no right or wrong when it comes to a studio’s filmmaking style. But, you’re going to want to ask about it ahead of time. For example, some studios are silent storytellers. They don’t direct at all during your wedding day and they let the photographer run the show. Other studios may like to create scenes and direct a little more than usual. And, some may put on a Hollywood level production. Knowing which style you want and which style is compatible with your photographer is important. At the end of the day, all of your vendors have to work well with each other. Knowing how each vendor works will help everyone succeed!
Personality
After you decide which style you prefer, it is time to talk to your videographer in person. You may start the conversation like, “How long have you worked for the weddings?”, “How do you normally work with photographers?”, or “What is your film style?”. Most videographers, including me, are quiet, but it does not mean we are bad in communication. Like the other good vendors, we answer the emails within 24 hours. I meet my brides and go through the timeline a month before their wedding days. Both my 2nd videographer and I arrive on time and communicate with the photographer during the day. It is never a bad idea to communicate with your videographer and understand their personality.
Contract Policy, Pricing & Turnaround Time
When you decide to book the videographer you love, make sure to ask them their contract policy. Do they have liability insurance? Do they charge for traveling? What happened if the videographer gets sick? Here are some questions you may ask:
- Do you offer additional hours? Can we add it later?
- Who is shooting with you at our wedding?
- Can I choose the music or you choose the music for us?
- What is your video turnaround time?
- Do you charge for revision?
- I am not sure about this package. Can I upgrade it later?
- My venue requires insurance from all the vendors. Can you provide it?
- If I postpone my wedding, what is your COVID policy?
- How do you handle our footage? If the files corrupted, what would you do?
What you need to do for your videographers
An informed videographer is a happy videographer.
Keep in touch with your videographer. Contracts for wedding professionals are often entered into months before the wedding. Be sure you keep your videographer advised of such things as the time set for the rehearsal, additions to the wedding party list and special aspects of the ceremony that you want covered.
A hungry videographer is a grumpy videographer.
Make sure you and your videographers agree on eating arrangements. Videographers usually work eight to ten hours on the day of a wedding. They need to eat if they are to do their best work.
If only one videographer is to shoot your reception, try to arrange that he or she eats in the same room as the guests, so that he can keep an eye on what is going on and be ready to capture events on tape at a moment’s notice.
Many couples suggest that the videographers go through the buffet line. However, for a sit-down dinner, where meal costs skyrocket, it’s appropriate to provide sandwiches and coffee. You may even decide that the videographers should provide their own meal. In this case, make sure everyone understands where they are to eat, since you probably don’t want a brown bag lunch and can of pop at one of your guest tables.
Remember, it’s your wedding, and you’re paying for the videographer. Whatever you decide will be alright, so long as the videographer knows in advance what to expect.
