Wedding photography has been around for decades. And yes, so has wedding videography. But my oh my, have both completely transformed over time.
I've been a wedding photographer since 2009, so with everything you're about to read, please keep in mind that I do understand how important wedding photography is. I'm not discounting having your day captured in photos, BY ANY MEANS! That's obviously very important.
But then again, I think about my own wedding and when I (eventually...maybe... one day, ha!) get married, and if I was forced to choose between photography and videography, I, without a doubt in my mind, would choose videography.
I mean, think about it, why do you need wedding photography? So you can remember the day via photos yes, maybe print some and hang on your wall, have a kodak moment to show your grandkids. But let's be real, you cannot wait to blow up all your friends' and families' social media with your favorite photos from your wedding day, and don't forget - throw on that wedding hashtag!! Social media, great. Is that why photography is more important than videography? I don't know, I'm really trying to get down to the bottom of why the majority of our brides think videography is not nearly as important as photography. Okay yes, maybe having videography and no photography is a little dramatic, but it's honestly somewhat true... I think I really would choose videography. And let me tell you why:
Once I discovered and starting playing around with the video settings on my camera (in 2012) that I had been solely using for photography, I began noticing how much more authenticity comes with video vs photos. I started figuring out how much more raw emotion that I could capture, how many more elements could actually be grasped in time with video, i.e. sound, movement, reactions, etc. It's 100% different than photography in my opinion. Okay, maybe 99%.
I've been inspired to write this blog post from several interactions that I've had with brides over the last few years. Mainly the ones that inquire about my wedding photography, and when asked about their videography situation, they respond with, "We aren't having videography. We didn't budget for it. We don't want it." Ummm, come again?!?! You don't want the greatest day of your life, the day you've dreamed of since you were a little girl, captured on video? You don't want to be able to re-watch it for the rest of your lives? You don't want your children to be able to watch it years from now? Your grandchildren? You don't want to be able to go back and re-listen to your vows to each other? Re-watch your dad walking you down the aisle? Re-feel the emotions you felt during your first dance? Re-live your wedding day?! People!!! It hurts my heart. Seriously. I don't even know you, but it's a heartbreaker when you tell me you're not going to have wedding videography at your wedding. And I'm not saying it has to be me, either. HIRE A WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHER! ANY PROFESSIONAL WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHER! And my heart will be happier for you. And no, having your great aunt film with her camcorder or your brother's best friend run around with his go-pro is SO, so not the same. Not by a long shot.
Your wedding day, a.k.a. what you have planned, thought about, stressed over, and counted down to for at least 6 months if not close to a year, or more, goes by SO fast. In the blink of an eye, if you will. I'm not exaggerating. I mean it doesn't for me, but it does for you, haha, trust me. I've worked with over 75 brides and they all say the same thing, every time. It goes by so fast. Why would you not invest in a highlight video to help you remember the best day of your life that flew by so quickly? I'll stop questioning you now and let you dive into more reasons...
The proof is in the words of real-life brides; all sorts of brides, both who regret not having video and ones who did invest in video:
"If you were to ask me what my most favorite thing about our wedding was - aside from marrying my best friend and enjoying the day with loved ones - it would be reminiscing on all of the special moments over and over again through our wedding video. You spend months on planning every little detail. And as I'm sure you've heard before... it flies by! Having a wedding videographer was hands down the best wedding investment we made. Yes, photos are wonderful. You can display them through out your home but when you get to relive the emotions, the smiles, the tears, the dancing, the speeches and your vows... it is simply priceless. Having all of those memories wrapped up in our wedding video is something we will cherish forever. I am so happy we chose to have a videographer. Even happier we had Rachel and her team." -Tonicha
"Hands down the biggest regret in my wedding planning was not getting a videographer. It was such an amazing day of friends, family, laughter, and love. It's cliche, but the day goes by faster than anybody can ever describe, so fast in fact that to me it almost felt surreal. When I spent the days following thinking about our special day, there were so many details and special moments I felt I missed, and I desperately wished I had a gotten a video to help me re-live this amazing day. This is the part of the story where I consider myself a very, very lucky girl. You see, Rachel had secretly filmed our wedding and surprised us with the most wonderful wedding gift of a video of our day! Watching for the first time her amazing work was so emotional. Being able to witness the moments we missed, to actually hear the laughter, and to watch all the love and dancing in motion truly brought the whole day together. We have watched it countless times since, including in celebration of our one year anniversary this past weekend, and each time it brings our amazing day to life again. To experience the joy of receiving this video after the extreme regret I felt for originally not having one, is a truly unique and priceless experience. With this, I can say with all my heart, getting a wedding video and being able to re-live your day is something you will never regret and will cherish forever." -Laura
(See Laura and Mike's reaction below when I first told them I had a video of their wedding day)
"Definitely, definitely recommend a videographer. Having a videographer capture our wedding was the best money we spent! So amazing and emotional to be able to go back and “re-live” one of the best days of your life, over and over. So many amazing details from our wedding day were captured that we would have otherwise missed out on or forgotten in all the craziness if it wasn’t for having a videographer. The day truly does fly by, having pictures is great but being able to watch all those pictures come to life is something we are extremely glad we decided to do. I have watched mine several times, it takes me right back to that day, still brings tears to my eyes and I’m always noticing something new. You will not regret hiring a videographer!" -Jeni
"Where do I begin about how special our wedding video is to us?! I'm pretty sure words don't exist to explain how it felt to watch our video for the first time. It brought tears to our eyes and captured all of the moments that went by so quickly on our wedding day! The wedding video is cherished by both of our families and filled with some of the best memories and the start to our life together. We decided to have a destination wedding in Hawaii! Which was SO fun, but also very expensive! I didn't realize the limitation of vendors on an island and things added up so quickly! My husband and I had many discussions about where to cut corners and save money - I specifically remember us having a discussion about the need for video. He was completely against it. He thought the pictures would be beautiful and all we needed, and he saw it as an opportunity to save money! Trust me it's was not easy for me to pull out a win on this topic against a financial advisor. Every now and again my husband and I still watch our video. Just last week he said to me, of all the things that we did for our wedding, the video was the BEST decision we made! I honestly couldn't agree more. The pictures are so special and meaningful but can't capture the feel and intimacy of the wedding! Every time we watch our video we are reminded of the support and love of everyone who shared our day with us. Your wedding day goes by so fast and I remember trying to live in each moment of the day. After I watched our video a few times (ok, 100 times) there were so many details or parts of the speeches that I didn't even remember happened until I was reminded by the video. The best advice I can give to any engaged couple is to have Rachel capture your wedding day through her amazing VIDEOS!" - Michelle
"We had seen Rachel's work through mutual friends since I went to college with her and knew we wanted to hire her for our engagement photos and wedding photos (and beyond!). We saw some of Rachel's videos and they were amazing- perfect shots, lighting, transitions, music and even the incorporation of a drone to help capture the setting. We did not put videography in our overall wedding budget. Our photos turned out lovely, though I do know that having loved ones voices, our vows, laughs, tears and hugs on video would have been such a special gift for years to come." - Amy
"Having Rachel as my videographer was the BEST decision of my wedding planning! I can still watch the video almost a year later and cry because of all the emotion, excitement and love that she was able to capture in a short film. I love my wedding photos, but the video is able to capture so many more special moments. It's also great to watch in hard times to remind yourself how blessed you truly are!" - Kelsey
"Ford and I had the BEST wedding weekend / day. We were surrounded by all of our loved ones and in the most beautiful place. And we have the most gorgeous photos from Rachel, which totally captured it. I would have absolutely loved to have a wedding video which would have captured the weekend in a completely different way, however, my husband was very concerned about having cameras around. Neither one of us are comfortable in front of cameras and during such an important moment in our lives, I just wanted both of us to be completely comfortable, without fear of acting/looking awkward because we had video camera following us around. After living out our perfect day I really don't believe anything would have distracted us from enjoying that day. Seeing what Rachel has and can do with videos both my husband and I realized (too late) it would have been amazing to listen to our vows, the speeches, even songs that were performed on our day! It would have been so special to share a video with our future children, on our ten year anniversary or any night we wanted to relive the most perfect day." -Kristin
"Hiring RP Imagery to do our wedding videography was one of our best wedding decisions. We have a timeless video that we watch and can share with our family and friends. We love reliving our special day each time we watch it. It was definitely money well spent. We would do it again in a heartbeat!" -Italia
"I got married 4 years ago, and I STILL regret not having our wedding day filmed. We thought it would be best to skip that expense back then, and we both really feel bummed we don't have the day to watch over and over and share with our kids in the future. Wedding photography is SO special and definitely a way to relive your day again, but it just isn't the same as watching the film. Wedding days are chaos, and a lot of the time brides don't even get to see and talk to everyone, and it is such a great way to capture everyone even if it is just seconds. Also, go and watch a wedding film of a complete stranger and tell me how that makes you feel! I cry every time and it is STRANGERS. I am a wedding photographer now, and I really encourage video to all my clients!" - Hillary
"When preparing for my big day I always knew that photography was the most important thing. Something to always look back on for one of the biggest days OF MY LIFE. When I met with Rachel she mentioned her videography. At the time, I really didn't know much about what it was or what it all entailed. Sadly, we had a strict budget because a lot of our wedding was coming out of our own pockets. I learned more about it, and kept thinking.. "I don't want to regret not doing anything, I mean you only get married once." In the end, we had the most beautiful pictures AND an amazing video. I have our wedding video link saved on my phone. I can't tell you how many times I've watched it, and still either cry, laugh or just reminisce on that day. I can tell you I am not the only one either! Our friends will text us and say "We watched your video, you guys should get married again, it was so much fun!" Rachel was able to capture our true love for each other. I love having this precious gift, one that I can have for our entire life. I can't wait to show our kids when they get older, and eventually our grandkids." - Aysha
While photos play such an integral role in preserving the memories from our wedding day, it can only tell so much of the story. Having video at our wedding would have been the perfect compliment to demonstrate the mood, the feeling of the ceremony and for us to hear our vows spoken to each other again. I think that's the one I wish I had the most -- hearing our vows to each other. Video captures movement in a way that photos can't." -Jessica
"Having a video of our wedding day, was the best decision I could have made! We had a tight budget for our wedding, so we naturally had to pick and choose what was most important to us to have. And having a videographer was the BEST decision! Photos last forever... you hang them in your home, you look at them and smile. But our video, we watch each year on our anniversary and it literally brings both my husband and I right back to how we felt that day. It's easy to forget your emotions and utter bliss and having a video highlighting all of those best moments of one of the most important days of your life is priceless. Rachel, did such an amazing job capturing everything we could have ever wanted. I tell all my friends who are getting married, GET A VIDEOGRAPHER! Because truly, you won't regret it!" -Brittany
(Photo by Jane and Co. Photography)
"As they say, the day goes by fast and it starts to all blur together. We didn't have a videographer for the whole day, just the ceremony, but I wish we did! To capture all the moments from the beginning to end. To capture the little things like first look, cake-cutting, or even just having fun taking pictures. I know down the road those memories will fade, and it would be have been nice to look back on them to keep the memories alive." -Stephanie
"I was so blessed to have Rachel capture our big day via photography. Looking back, I SO wish that we would have paid the extra to also have her do videography on our day. I've watched so many of her wedding films and almost all of them bring me from tears to smiles throughout. Pictures are a great way to capture your wedding, but video is so much more. It's a way to watch and relive everything from your day. My wedding day flew before my eyes and I wish that I had videos to go back and watch to relive all those moments. If you are a bride second guessing getting a videographer, please do it!" -Katie
"Originally I did not intend to have a videographer for our wedding. It was not in the budget and I figured pictures would be sufficient. Fortunately, someone else (RP Imagery) knew better and we had a video created. As I sat there watching our wedding video, I was hit instantly with all the emotions of our big day. The wedding day went by so quickly that it was almost a blur. Being able to view our day unfold, experience the love and happiness over and over in our video is one of the biggest blessings ever. Now that I have a video of our wedding day, whenever I meet a soon to be bride, I tell her, "if you had to choose, photos or video, choose video and you will definitely not regret it." -Lacy
Additionally, I did a facebook poll, and out of 30 brides who took the poll, here are the results:
If you're still contemplating the decision of whether or not you should hire a wedding videographer, here are some more good reads:
98% of Brides Regret This Choice - Ariane Fisher
Why Wedding Videos are Always Worth It - Style Me Pretty
Save or Splurge Poll - Wedding Bee
Wedding Videography is Priority #1 - Whitney B. From the Bachelor
At the end of the day, it's your wedding and the decision is completely up to you. Obviously.
I'm just here to help you have no regrets. I contemplated writing this blog post because it's truly not my intention to force you to hire me. Honestly, not at all! The emails from brides not having videographers is currently driving me insane though, as well as a few recent weddings that I've been to that did not have a videographer. And they were EPIC weddings! I could not believe they wouldn't have a video of their wedding to look back on their epic day, ah I cringed!!
On the other hand, I posted my poll on facebook last week and had THREE bride-to-be's reach out and ask me who I recommended for a videographer... Uh, me?! They didn't even know I offered videography in additional to photography, and all three have hired me for their weddings this year! Within a few days. Thankful!
So hi people... I do videography, too! I am incredibly passionate about it. The dream would be to just be a destination wedding videographer. Hey, a girl can dream ;)
Anyways, whether it's me or not, please do yourself a favor and invest in a wedding videographer. It will be worth every penny and you will not regret it, 100% guaranteed.
