So you’re getting married and you’re looking at your video options. What’s important? What should you expect from your videographer? What should your videographer film? Our wedding experts have compiled a list of 101 things to look for in your videographer and, later, your video to help keep you informed and ready to find your perfect video vendor:
1. Cost formula: Low, low price points = Low quality. You get what you pay for.
2. Beware of those who ask for a check before checking your date.
3. Read reviews from your peers on sites like the Knot. They matter, but don’t just look at ratings, read what their past couples wrote about them.
4. Bad audio can make even the best footage feel excruciatingly terrible. Your videographer must have professional audio tools including on-person lavaliere microphones as well as on-camera microphones if not more.
5. Make sure you can get your wedding on DVD and Blu-ray and not VHS.
6. A DVD is what is called ‘standard definition’ and Blu-ray provides you with twice the quality with ‘high definition’. While there is nothing wrong with DVD quality, even in 2014, get Blu-ray if you have a Blu-ray player. You won’t regret it.
7. Your videographer should always shoot in high definition even if the final product will be a standard definition DVD. This way, you are ensured of getting the highest quality.
8. Why does a DVD or Blu-ray cost soooo much compared to the DVD’s at Walmart? Well, there is an economics lesson here, but also the time spent creating a DVD or Blu-ray with customization, menus, and chapter markers is exorbitant. The cost is mostly for the equipment and labor.
9. Referrals from your other vendors: Your photographer and DJ might have worked with videographers before and find them pleasant, but have they really seen the videographer’s work?
10. Your date is booked on short notice? Either you’re incredibly lucky or the videographer isn’t getting regular work (or it’s the dead of winter). And really, you should be booking at least 8 months to a year out to be sure the good videographers aren’t taken.
