It’s no longer enough to keep a written diary, journal, or love letters between the couple. The love evolution has resulted in love stories being told on film. Some videos tell the story of how the couple met and fell in love, shows footage of their families and even their childhoods, highlights important dates in their relationship, and may document the planning of their wedding and the days and hours before the nuptials. The pre wedding video is sometimes shown at the reception, or may just be shown to close friends and family.

As if brides and grooms didn’t have enough to do planning their wedding, now they’re adding another layer of “to do’s” with a pre wedding video. But one that is well-done is beautiful to watch, and will be a perfect keepsake for the bridal couple and their children in the years to come. There have even been a few such videos that have gone viral on You Tube in the past year.

But should you have a pre wedding video done? Here are some considerations:

1. Is something like this important to you? Don’t do something just because a lot of other people are doing it. It needs to mean something to you so that it won’t be an irritation when shooting of the video begins and people are asking you questions about how the two of you met, etc.
2. Do you have the time? Even if you hire someone to do the video for you, they won’t be able to complete it without a lot of input from you.
3. Where are you going to show it? Are you just having the video done for the bridal couple or do you plan to show it to others? Are you a private person who will redden when a video starring you flashes onto the screen?
4. Can you afford the added cost and added stress? Do you want the added cost and added stress?

Pre wedding videos can be wonderful to watch again and again on your future anniversaries. It can only be done before your wedding, so decide today if you want to add it to your celebration of love.

Firstly you will want to pick songs that are special to you both. Everyone has a favorite song or songs and most couples have tracks that recall happy memories for them both. No doubt you will have already selected some songs that were played during the day, such as for the first dance, so these will be a good place to start. It is also helpful to pick tracks that capture your personalities to make the video even more personal.

You then need to assign a song to each part of the day. The video will usually follow a chronological order of the pre wedding preparations, the ceremony, and then the reception and it is a good idea to mark these different parts of the video with different tracks.

Significant parts of the wedding video that you will want to consider and some ideas for the best wedding video songs are:

The bride getting reading before the ceremony

• Fergie: Glamorous
• Prince: The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
• Shania Twain: From This Moment

The arrival of the guests and bridegroom at the ceremony

• Dixie Cups: Chapel Of Love
• Tony Bennett: Fly Me To The Moon
• Elton John: Can You Feel the Love Tonight

The bride’s arrival

• Rod Stewart: Have I Told You Lately
• Nat King Cole: What A Wonderful World
• Westlife: Flying Without Wings

The ceremony

• Celine Dion: Because You Loved Me
• Lionel Ritchie: Angel
• Faith Hill: Breathe

Meeting your guests after the ceremony

• Lou Reed: Perfect Day
• Shania Twain: Still The One
• U2: Beautiful Day

The wedding breakfast and cutting of the cake

• Sting: Brand New Day
• Stevie Wonder: Ribbons In The Sky
• The Beatles: Dear Prudence

Bear in mind that most wedding videographers will have a collection of music that they have paid royalties on to be able to use. If you choose tracks that are not amongst the popular wedding video songs, the price of your video may increase if the videographer needs to buy additional copyright licenses. Obviously you can negate the need for a wedding video song by not adding music and capturing the ceremony and other moments as is. Overall if you do go for music, just be sure to choose songs that mean a lot to you and you won’t go far wrong.



Hence, the cost usually reflects the expertise and service quality of the videographer.  Yet videographers have various ways of packaging their services and quoting their prices. To make things more complex, prices vary depending on the geographical location and season.

While there are hardly any hard and fast rules as to how videographers come up with wedding video prices, the guidelines below should offer you a rough guide to the type of services you can get with your intended budget:

• A basic package – comprising the coverage of just the wedding ceremony using one camera, and lasting an hour to an hour and a half – will cost less than $1000.
• An enhanced package – that covers both the ceremony as well as the reception will cost between $1,000 – $1,200.
• A deluxe package – comprising two cameras to capture different angles and covering both the ceremony as well as the reception runs between $1,300 – $2,000.
• The ultimate package – if you are looking for services in the likes of professional movie-making, including special effects and interviews as well as coverage of the wedding preparations, the price will cost between $2,000 – $6,000, depending on the number of premium services you want.

Moreover, additional services that you request can incur extra costs: for example, asking for speed editing and extra copies of the DVDs, and including photo montages into the video.

So take the time to survey different companies to get a sense of the range of wedding videography prices in your area and the corresponding quality of their products.  This will help you get the best value-for-money videographer for your big day.

• Wedding videographers usually market their services in packages. But try going ‘a la carte’ and request only those services that you really need. You may end up with a smaller bill and still have the assurance of professional expertise.
• You are likely to get cheaper prices from new wedding videographers who are trying to build up their business. They are also more likely to be willing to negotiate. To ensure that you engage someone with the necessary expertise, ask to look at their previous work.
• Check with your local university for students who are skilled in videography. Since they are eager to build up their portfolios, they are likely to take on the task for bargain prices. You should also ask to see previous examples of their work to get some reassurance that you will be getting a certain amount of quality and expertise.
• Are any of your relatives or friends savvy with a video camera?  Or perhaps they know someone who is. You can engage them to do the wedding videography for you at a bargain fee. A word of caution though: you can’t be guaranteed a great video if you engage an amateur. Take this option only if you really can’t spare the budget for a professional videographer.

These are several avenues open to you to look for cheap wedding videography services. However, you would want to ensure that you don’t end up with someone so incompetent that it ruins your memories of your most special day. To avoid this, be sure to ask a lot of questions and look at the prospective videographer’s previous work to help you make a sound judgment.

The same tips work for finding your wedding photographer as well. As you will need both a photographer and videographer, it can often be beneficial cost wise to find a company that offers both services. Online is a good place to track down such a business, if word of mouth leaves you without any good leads. There are many directories of photographers offering you a good place to start. Just find one that covers your local area, such as the Atlanta Photographers Directory.  Good luck!

What do professional wedding videography prices include?

It is hard to standardise the services of professional wedding videographers. They vary from firm to firm and between individuals. It is common to find these services available to you as packages, typically called bronze, silver and gold. You will need to look at the fine print to find the details of what you are actually paying for though, if you want to compare prices. You are usually able to pay for ‘extras’ if you want something out of the ordinary, say perhaps interviews with your guests, so watch out for these if you are attracted by a cheap wedding videography price. It can be overwhelming when comparing different wedding videography packages, so here are the basics of what you should be looking for:

• Two smartly dressed cameramen
• Professional wedding videography equipment comprising three HD cameras and wireless microphones
• A meeting to discuss your exact requirements with the actual videographer who will be attending your wedding and editing the final film
• Copyright licenses for the wedding video music
• Edited 60-90 minute versions on one Blu Ray disc and three DVDs
• Your choice of wedding photo printed onto the DVDs
• DVDs presented in formal cases

If you can afford it, you are well advised to capture your complete wedding day. This will involve your wedding videographers being needed for about 10-12 hours when they will film the following important events:

• The bride getting reading before the ceremony
• The arrival of the guests and bridegroom at the ceremony
• The bride’s arrival
• The ceremony and the signing of the register
• The session with the still photographer
• The wedding breakfast, speeches and cutting of the cake
• The happy couple’s first dance during the evening party
• The guests partying and dancing
• Guests leaving video messages
• The bouquet toss.

Photo by kennymatic.

The price of wedding videography services is as changeable as the packages on offer. It depends on where you live and what deal you are able to negotiate. Typically you should expect a bill in the region of $2,000 and above. You will probably have to pay a deposit to ensure the videographer keeps the day clear in his diary. The final payment is either due before the actual day or sometimes when you receive the final wedding video. You are likely to receive the final product within 3-5 weeks of the wedding but you can expect this to be longer in the summer months.

Styles of videography for weddings

When you meet the wedding videographer it is a good idea to discuss his or her videography style. Individuals will tend towards a style that they prefer but a professional will no doubt be able to accomodate your wishes. The different types of wedding video theme are as follows:

• Journalistic – a bit like a documentary, the segments of this style follow the time line of the day
• Cinematic – the videographer will try and convey a more dramatic representation of the day. There should a feeling of ‘wow’ whilst watching it.
• Storytelling – the bride and groom are more involved in this style. They are not just left to go about the business of the wedding, but are also asked to provide sound clips effectivley narating parts of the day. These clips can be recorded during or even before and after the day.

Most videographers do not stick to a single theme, but prefer to mix and match elements of them all. This usually ends up with the best result for the bride and groom.

Once the filming has finished for the day, the editing can start. This will involve joining relevant parts together and cutting parts where not much happens but it can also include creating various special mementos from the footage shot. These may include:

• Highlights – this is a very short version of the day. It will be about 10 minutes long and will cover the key points.
• Short form – this is another short verion covering between 15-50 minutes of the most interesting segments.
• Traditional – this is the long form video and is typically what you would get if a friend took the video for you. There is not much editing so the result will probably last 2-3 hours.
• Photo montage – this is not exactly a video but more a collection of still pictures. They are organised into an interesting order and are often accompanied by sound clips or music.
• Love story – this is the story of the happy couple. It will cover how they met, what they are like as a couple and what they have planned for the future. The bride and groom will be prominently featured talking about their story and the narrative will be cut with shots of what they are talking about.

As well as wedding day videos you can also arrange for pre wedding videos to be shot. These may include:

• Engagement video – the groom will need to be on the ball to organise this to capture the moment he proposes!
• Invitation DVD – rather than printed invitations you can now send videos to your guests asking them to come and join you for your big day.

So make sure you give some serious thought to your wedding videography requirements. It will be too late when it is all over. Plan ahead and make sure you have the perfect memento of your perfect day.