We all know that you have to work with a budget for your day. You know what, we’re the first people to say that we respect that! So much so that if you tell us that we are out of your price range right now and we can’t make it work for you we will encourage you to find someone who you can fit into your budget.
There is a big BUT here though.
It doesn’t matter if your budget is $1000 or $5000 you will almost always be able to find someone to work within your budget, but the biggest questions you need to ask yourself are:

How happy will I be with the way my day was captured in 10 or 20 years from now?

What do I want to remember about my day and my videographer?

How important is it to me to enjoy my Wedding Day?

These might all seem like some pretty standard questions to ask yourself but they tend to be the things that get pushed aside most easily because planning a wedding is freaking hard work and trying to please everyone is a real pain in the A – but that’s probably a topic for another blog post. So let us help you out with a few things that you should consider when choosing your videographer.

How much do you love their wedding films?

So, you’ve found this company that you’ve seen a bunch of people talking about and they seem pretty good. The price is right around what you wanted to spend, and their stuff looks ok.

Awesome right?!

Maybe. Maybe not.

The price is right. We’re off to a good start, but ask yourself this – Why is their work just ok to you? What about it isn’t making you feel warm and fuzzy when you watch it? If you watch their films and don’t feel like you were there on the day or that it could be you on the screen then maybe they’re not the right fit for you. And you know what, this is kind of great. It means you’re just narrowing down your style.

This also doesn’t mean you need to spend twice your budget to get the style of filming and editing you like it just means that no one company will be the right fit for every couple.

When you are looking at booking a company think about the things that brought you to them in the first place – if it was only price see if you can set that aside for the moment (You can definitely come back to that. We still want you to work within your budget, but we want you to think about some other things too).

Was it the venues that they filmed at that caught your eye?

Is it the colours in the edit?

Or do you like the style of music they used?

Do they film lots of weddings that have a similar theme to yours and you like the way they’ve captured it?

Thinking about these things will help you narrow down what you’re looking for in your film and then combined with your budget will narrow down the wedding videographers you look at enquiring with.

If you find someone who ticks most if not all of these boxes for you, it’s pretty safe to say that you will still love your film in 10,20 or even 50 years’ time – although at that point you might be asking your grandkids how to convert the file to the new VR format so you can still watch it 😉

How well do you get along with them?

We think it’s a pretty big deal to get to know your videographer – and photographer for that matter -at least a little before your day. We say this because they are pretty much the only people outside of your family and friends that you will spend the most time with on your Wedding day.
We’re not saying that you guys need to hang out, have deep and meaningful conversations and become besties (although we’re totally up for that if you want some new friends 😊) but we are sure as heck saying that you have a level of comfort with them that will let you be yourselves and feel calm and relaxed on this day that you’ve put so much hard work into planning.

Do you want stage/posed capture or completely candid capture of your day? Or maybe you want a combination of both.

This is a pretty important point because it will have a big impact on your experience on your day and how happy you will be with your final product. Is one better than the other? Well, this my friends is a matter of opinion. We prefer to be as unstaged as possible in the way we capture both photo and film but that’s just our style.
You just need to know yours!
We can’t stress this enough. You don’t want to spend your day having your videographer (or photographer) pose you sometimes awkwardly together or apart and have you re-enacting moments if that’s not your style. You also don’t want everything captured to be candid and, on the fly, if you prefer a more structured look and want to be able to have someone pose you in just the right way. Know the style you want and find the right fit. It will make your day flow so much better and you’ll be much happier with the final product you get. If you watch their films and can’t tell what it will be like be sure to ask them how they will work on your day.

How much do you want to enjoy your day and how will they help you do that?

We hope you just thought in your head “A freaking lot” because you should be getting ready for the biggest party of your life and on your day they should be right beside you cheering you on.
So, this point is kinda big and we think it can even be a deal breaker. The people who will be with you for the longest time on your day should absolutely be people who you enjoy being around, that make you feel comfortable and give you the space to be yourself.
If you’ve thought about all the things we’ve mentioned above we’d say you should be off to a pretty good start. If anything can guide you, let it be that you have confidence and trust in the people you have chosen to document your day to be there, get the job done and help you have fun while they’re doing it.

What’s next?

If you think the style you’re after is candid with a bit of guidance, fun, relaxed, hanging out with people who’ve got your back on your day and will make you feel like you’ve been friends for ages you sound like our kind of people. Check out our work and if you think we’re a good fit reach out here to see if we have your date free.