How Race Wedding Videography can make your wedding planning easier by reading our new guide to booking a wedding videographer

To make sure you are not ‘dreading your wedding’ admin we’ve put a simple guide together to help you book a wedding videographer that’s right for you and your wedding, turning your hours of website looking into booking. We look at all the wedding videography questions and things you should be thinking about…

1. Do I need a Wedding Videographer?

This is probably a big question brides and grooms ask themselves before getting hitched. Believe it or not according to a recent survey 98% of brides and grooms’ biggest wedding day regret was not booking a wedding videographer. Of course, we know weddings aren’t cheap affairs however after the big day has actually happened you can’t take the chair sashes or the candy cart with you as a memory. Whilst it is generally been the norm and tradition to book a wedding photographer adding a wedding videographer to this mix has a host of long-term benefits. Wedding videography will have a never-ending shelf life and you can watch it again and again like your favourite movie! Plus remember photography misses what video doesn’t….

2. Credibility, propriety and professionalism of YOUR wedding videographer

This seems a pretty obvious point to make but covers a multitude of things. If you click on a wedding videographer’s website and it looks pretty naff, what will their wedding films look like? What Google reviews are there on the business and how many are there? Also, reviews on wedding directory websites may also help show some real-life customers’ opinions of people who have already been through the process and had their final wedding film completed. What did they think? Also, believe it or not, we have seen and heard about many instances where wedding photographers and wedding videographers have turned up to weddings with scruffy shorts and tops on! ( true story!) We have found that a professional look and smart appearance on the day itself actually help blend into the background. Minus the camera of course some wedding guests actually mistake the wedding videographer for a guest, which helps get some more candid and relaxed moments captured on camera! Cue the dodgy dad dancing! Also if their website does not have many examples ask to see their portfolio or more examples of their work.

3. How much does a wedding videoGRAPHER cost & what are we getting for our money?

Of course, money isn’t everything but finding a wedding videographer you like, within your budget and a style that you love are all important factors. You may find some wedding videographers advertising incredibly cheap prices online from only £500 as an example which at first sounds great but what are you getting for that? Most of the time ‘lead in’ marketing prices will only cover a very short period of time on the wedding day, just the ceremony and 2 hours of filming as an example. Or worst case you're actually getting shaky video shots with similar quality to that you would expect from Uncle Dave or your 7-year-old niece or nephew with an iPhone. So good questions to ask is a full breakdown of what you get for your money, how long will the wedding filmmaker be there on the day? How long will the final film be? Will you receive a highlights trailer? (this is a short 2-minute or so mini video which is great to show friends and family online!) What equipment do they have? Ask about the audio, what mics will they be using to capture the audio, speeches and vows? What background music will they be getting? Is it licensed? How long will the final editing take? How will the wedding video be delivered?

4. Drone shots in your wedding videoGRAPHY

With many wedding videos being stuck in the 1990s with dreary production, overpriced rates, and standard video camera gear that is very much 'down to earth'....as in......' on the ground',  a drone at your wedding is a no-brainer, right? If you are going to pay a wedding videographer you need to be asking the questions "do you use drones in your wedding videos?" and secondly "do you have permission issued by the Civil Aviation Authority?" The permission needed is called an Operational authorisation. A Wedding videographer will need this in order to fly a drone as part of your wedding film. Otherwise, you may end up with the person who was flying drones over Gatwick Airport. Also with recent changes in the law on drone registration, each drone operator should have a drone operator ID. These changes will see a large shift and divide between recreational drone operators and professionals. Your wedding venue may also ask for copies of the wedding videographer’s drone insurance/ public liability insurance plus copies of risk assessments and sometimes even a flight plan, although this is quite rare.

A drone video adds a whole new perspective and vantage point to your day.

Now of course you don't want a whole wedding video of aerial shots. A wedding video has many key ingredients like your granny's favourite cake recipe. It's about capturing all the special moments, emotions and embraces, with contemporary camera equipment, creative thought, great editing, and music,  giving its overall style and feel to the video. However, using odd drone shots in a tasteful way to set the scene of the church or in more recent times a rustic barn in the depths of the Norfolk countryside will make the world of difference. 

5. Personality of your wedding videographer

Bit of a strange title for number 5 but an all-important point before choosing a potential wedding filmmaker. We recommend meeting any potential wedding filmmaker candidates in person. After all, a lot of the role of a great wedding videographer is someone you get along with, someone who is good with people, and crowds and who can make people feel at ease, especially you guys as the bride and groom! A quick meeting in person or on ZOOM to ask any questions! You will soon know whether you get along or not!

6. Wedding videography creative Style

This is quite an easy one, but after looking at a few different wedding films you will soon know which creative style you like. Of course, no two wedding videographers are the same. They will all have their own unique and creative approach to capturing a wedding. Find one you like, if they are available and within your budget, bingo! Another ‘Wedmin’ task ticked off the list!

7. Engagement video - try before you buy?

Before saying yes to a full blown wedding video an engagement video with a wedding videographer maybe a great way to try before you buy. Well you will have to pay for the engagement video of course but you get what we mean! ;)

8. Wedding Video Books

Over time with the developments of photography and the printing of physical wedding photographs in the 19th and 20th centuries, naturally, brides and grooms would invest in a wedding album of photography. Alongside this you have the uptick and rise in wedding videography.

Now even in the modern world and beyond it’s very much a digital world - of course, it is. We are surrounded by digital information and let’s face it…screens! Mobile phone screens, TV screens and yep and more mobile phone screens! In today’s world, it is easy to not stop or go up for air. Today we are far removed sometimes from the physicality of things, possessions, and things to touch and feel, as we are engaged in our Instagram and Pinterest feeds. Having said that It’s funny how as human beings we still have that yearning for association with memories through objects. Whilst we may print less standard, everyday photos because they are uploaded on an Instagram server in Silicon Valley (which is cool) - special memories like our wedding day rightfully deserve a more ‘pride of place’ and hierarchy in our lives with their emotional significance. As we are always trying to be creative in our offering by doing something new, something exciting and different!

• Watch your wedding video highlights in an instant

• Your wedding video will automatically play when opened and stop when shut

• Great gift for parents and family members after the wedding day, or family members who aren’t very tech savvy!

• Relive your wedding whenever you want

• Your wedding video highlights trailer is pre-loaded onto your wedding video book so need to do anything just open your book

• 2 hours battery life

• USB charger included

• High-quality 4” screen

• High-quality hidden speaker for your wedding film soundtrack/ audio

• Presentation box with a gift-wrapped bow

• Free Worldwide shipping - 1st Class

• 12 months warranty

• Exclusive product to Race Wedding Videography

• You can pre-order a wedding video book(s) before or after the wedding

  Note: this product is an optional extra and is an additional cost on top of your wedding videography booking

9. OUTDOOR WEDDING VIDEO CINEMA

Wedding Videography is a great way to re-live your wedding day and what could be a better way to watch your wedding video for the first time or on your future wedding anniversary than with your closest friends, family, bridesmaids and bridal party? Introducing Race Wedding Videography’s exclusive and brand new ‘Outdoor Wedding Video Cinema’. Bringing the party and your own Hollywood-style movie to the big screen, in your own garden! So let’s grab the popcorn, hit play on the projector and let’s check it out…

Now more than ever modern wedding videography is more like a Hollywood film than wedding videography like your parents may have had in the 1980s or 1990s - which may have been a family friend with a VHS camcorder at the back of the church with bad picture quality, shaky camera footage and bad audio - you know what I mean. Now things are worlds apart with contemporary audio equipment, drones, 360 cameras, great quality camera kit, and modern editing with something that is more like a Netflix smash hit film. Of course, the difference is you are the stars of your own love story, it’s all real and is your beautiful and magical wedding day. So with the obvious links to modern wedding videography and cinema, I suddenly realised that an Outdoor Cinema Wedding Video Cinema makes a lot of sense….

BENEFITS OF AN OUTDOOR WEDDING VIDEO CINEMA WITH RACE WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHY

Up until now, once the wedding video had been completed and edited I would have posted this to you on a luxury USB stick with some complimentary popcorn. You could invite as many people as you could fit in your lounge to watch your wedding videos on your TV which is well, great. However, an Outdoor Wedding Cinema is more of an experience, it’s an excuse to carry on the wedding party. You can invite over as many friends and family that you can squeeze in your garden (no doubt more than you would get in your lounge!).

I will come over and set up the Outdoor Wedding Video Cinema an hour before the show, its really quick and easy! The 5m widescreen is inflatable, so goes up and down with ease. I also bring x2 outdoor cinema bean bags, blankets, complimentary, prosecco with ice bucket/ice and popcorn - because after all this a cinema and a film you will be watching! I will also bring the Outdoor Wedding Video Cinema Sound System for some great sound so everyone can hear your wedding video audio, speeches and soundtrack in great quality! So I do all the work, you just sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

Now, how often have your friends or family got married, got a fab wedding video and you haven’t been able to see it for months or even years after the wedding day? Race Wedding Videography’s Outdoor Wedding Video Cinema gets you all together and you can watch it all for the first time only a few weeks after the wedding. It’s also like a final ‘wedding favour’ and ‘thank you’ to all your bridal party and family for their help/ support leading up to the wedding and on the wedding day - as you couldn’t have done it without them. Plus you can even bring your pets! What cinema would you be able to bring your much-loved pups along to watch a film?