Video is the vendor couples cut first and miss most. In every survey we have seen of married couples asked what they would change, "we should have hired a videographer" is near the top, and "we should have skipped the video" almost never appears. Here is why, without the sales pitch, and the cases where skipping it is the right call.
What a wedding film actually is
A wedding film is not a recording of the wedding. It is an edit, usually three to eight minutes, built around your real audio: the vows, the letters you read each other in the morning, the toasts, the officiant's line that made everyone laugh. Photography holds a moment still. Film holds the sound of it, and the sound is the part memory loses first.
Most collections deliver two things. A highlight film is the short edit you will send to everyone. An extended edit is longer, often fifteen to thirty minutes, and includes the full ceremony and toasts. Ours also include the raw footage, which is unusual and worth asking any videographer about, because it means the full uncut ceremony exists somewhere other than a phone.
What it costs
Videography in 2027 runs from about $1,200 for a short single-shooter film to $5,000 and up for cinematic studios with two operators and a drone. Our collections: The Vignette, four hours, $1,200; The Story, six hours, $1,400; The Feature, eight hours with drone footage, $1,500; The Cinema, ten hours, $2,000. Booked together with photography, the eight-hour Keepsake is $3,500 for both, which is $0 more than buying the two separately at our prices and considerably less than two vendors from two studios. The collections page lists everything.
Why the regret is so common
Three reasons come up again and again.
The vows. Almost nobody remembers what was said at the altar. Photographs of the ceremony are beautiful, but they are silent. Couples tell us the moment they most want back is the sound of their partner's voice saying the words, and there is no photograph of that.
People who were there. A grandparent's toast, a father's dance, a friend who has since moved away. Over years the film becomes the only place those people still move and speak.
You were not at your own wedding. You were in it. You missed the room laughing at the toast because you were looking at the person giving it. The film shows you the wedding your guests saw.
When it is fine to skip
We are a film studio and we will still tell you this honestly.
- A very small elopement where the vows are private and you would rather not have a camera on them.
- A tight budget where the choice is video or a photographer you love. Choose the photographer.
- You genuinely do not watch video. Some people do not, and a film that sits on a hard drive is not worth $1,500.
If you are on the fence, the four-hour Vignette covering the ceremony and toasts is the version of "yes" that costs the least and captures the two things people most regret missing.
Photographer and videographer from one team
The practical case for booking both from one studio is the timeline. Two vendors from two companies negotiate for the same golden-hour light, the same aisle position, the same spot at the first dance. One team has already decided who stands where. It also means one contract, one planning call, and a film and a gallery that look like they came from the same wedding, because they did.
Questions to ask any videographer
- Can we see a full highlight film and a full extended edit from the same wedding?
- Do you record audio from the officiant, the couple, and the toast microphone separately?
- Is drone footage included, and is it legal at our venue?
- Do we receive the raw footage?
- How long until delivery?
- Will the videographer and the photographer have worked together before?
The rest of the list in our questions post applies to video as well. If you want to talk it through for your date, the booking page is the place.
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Elizabeth Scott photographs and films weddings nationwide — travel included, dates limited.
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