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"One of the World's Best Wedding Photographers", Nicholas splits his time between Australia and Paris. His photos have appeared in Harpers Bazaar, the New York Times and brides.com

Nicholas is the publisher of the School of Wedding Photography, a popular blog teaching wedding photographers around the world.

How To Choose a Professional Wedding Videographer?

How To Choose a Professional Wedding Videographer?

How To Choose a Professional Wedding Videographer?


Photographs are an essential keepsake for a wedding day but I highly recommend you to invest in a professional wedding videographer as he helps you to capture your special day too. Ask any married couple about their wedding day and the would tell you that it went by in a flash. That’s why you would want to have a wedding video to look back and relive all those special moments. You would like to watch the emotional moments when your mom helps you with that beautiful dress, or your groom’s face when you walk down the aisle. These moments are something that you can’t really put a price tag on. Which is why a professional videographer on your wedding day is very important and in the below article, we’ll be helping you out how to choose a professional videographer.


Benefits of Hiring a Wedding Videographer


A video captures the magic and spirit of your special day. With the evolution of modern technology, it has become less obtrusive to lock up your memories in a frame and cherish them afterward. There are some benefits to hiring a wedding videographer. They are:

  • You can play back your memories time and time again

  • You can share the video with your future children and grandchildren

  • You can watch it every year on your wedding anniversary

  • You can share the video with your friends and family who weren’t able to attend your special day.


Things to Consider when Choosing a Wedding Videographer

There are a lot of things to be considered when choosing a wedding videographer but the critical factor is the experience. Your videographer should be able to understand the genre inside and out. Every videographer can be different in the way they work and present themselves. You have to find one that goes perfectly with your expectation. Here are some tips:

1. Do some research


It’s very important to do your research when you’re hiring a wedding videographer. You can check their website and reviews from recent newlyweds.

 

2. Ask for demos


You must seek for their demonstration videos of their previous work. Make sure that you watch the entire video from start to finish. Because you will have to know whether they can cover the whole event well or not. It’s very normal to have some minor errors ina long video but be careful about the major ones. If you find the style that you like, pursue further.

3. Communication Skills


The videographer should be very good at communicating with people. It is very important to make the day run smoothly. They will be working with both guests and other professionals, so if they don’t communicate well, then there will be a dispute between them. This can affect the quality of the video.

 

4. Style


There are millions of videographers around the globe and they have individual styles. You should choose the one that you’re comfortable with. Some common styles are:-


• Reality-TV style, fly-on-the-wall.


• A documentary, voice-overs, including interviews, etc.


• Arty, cinematic styles

 

5. Price


The price varies so much from place to place. Price guide can’t be given here specifically but professional wedding videography usually costs almost as same as professional wedding photography. The videos require several days of skilled labor with highly-priced equipment, that’s why a good video production may cost a lot.

 

6. Cameras and Equipment


It’s probably not necessary but it’s okay to ask what type of video cameras and equipment will be used. You can ask how many cameras will be used because a single camera isn’t capable of capturing everything properly and smoothly.

 

7. Editing and Final Versions


Wedding video editing is a very important thing. A good quality editing can take your video to the next level. You can ask about these things to your wedding video maker:


• The longevity of the final product. How long it will be.


• Can he have more than just one version? For example, a full version, and a 10-minute highlights package?


• Titles, captions, etc. that will be included.


• Will there be any title menu on the DVD?


• Will there be music? What is the copyright situation of the music?

 

8. Video Format


You should ask in what format the video will be captured and supplied in. Ask for widescreen high-definition video. Videos produced in standard definition appear poor quality because people are used to watching high-definition videos nowadays. You should also ask for the raw footage in the original format for further editing and transferring to new video formats. This is not a normal request so don’t forget to ask about the raw footage before your wedding day.


Interview a couple of people through this checklist. Once you ask the right questions, you’ll be able to hire someone who you feel is the right person to do your job. But don’t micro-manage them on your wedding day because it can pull them away from the style that you fell in love, to begin with. Now take a pen and note these things down to get you started with how to choose a professional wedding videographer.


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