Should | Book A Wedding Videographer?

It seems everyone is asking this question, so let me try and give an unbiased opinion, from my own non-wedding videographer past and experience. What experience might that be you ask? Well, (here comes the shocking revelation) My wife Jenny really wanted one but I said I didn't see the need! We got married six years ago before I started doing wedding videos. The wedding was getting expensive and we had a great photographer booked, and the dreaded Wedding Spreadsheet numbers were spiraling! Whenever Jenny would talk about a wedding, to be honest, I thought of the old school, 6 hours-long, one camera, video in a VCR that my aunt and uncle would have gotten back in the day, not the amazing cinematic ones that are made nowadays! (Even by me!) I really hadn’t a clue about anything other than the fact that it was adding more cost to our day!

I was also super paranoid, as an Irish man, that I would be awkward with the camera around and have to do a tonne of cheesy poses and generally just feel uncomfortable on the day! I think most Irish guys can genetically feel awkward in front of a camera, but these days, you barely even notice the videographer on the day! And what you do notice, is totally comfortable and even, dare I say, enjoyable!

The day after our wedding, and I mean, the very next day, waking up, I was kicking myself we didn’t get a wedding videographer. (And I’m sure Jenny would have been happy kicking me too for not getting one) The whole day was such a blur, from when I arrived at our venue, until falling into bed at 5 o’clock that morning. I had read a poem I’d written for Jenny (video at the bottom of this blog), all our friends who were musicians played in our ceremony, and there were so many moments I wanted to see again. And now, some six years later, I could kick myself even harder. We have a daughter who constantly asks about our wedding when she sees me editing a wedding video. We have changed and grown so much as people that I would love to go back and see what we were like on that day. Before we had a kid, before my hairline decided to retreat at high speed due to the aforementioned kid, and before we were proper ‘grown-ups.’

Something else I’ve learned from shooting weddings is that there will be people there that you want to hear again. Someone’s voice in a speech or a reading who might not be there to talk to anymore. I’ve filmed weddings where, unfortunately, family members have passed on and couples have gotten in touch to tell me that, when they could bring themselves to watching the video again, it was a relief to hear and see them again on such a happy day.

“But, we can record it ourselves” I hear everyone say. Everyone has phones these days! Well, that’s what I thought too…. Unfortunately, the audio isn’t great, people don’t have steady hands at the best of time, and well, okay, here’s one of the only videos from our wedding! (Our great friend Lorraine recorded this, and I watch it often, but I sound like I’m speaking from a different planet and look like a Nintendo 64 game character. (It is a nice poem though if you can hear it!)

So, in summation, my honest advice in a non-wedding videographer context is to get a wedding videographer. It doesn’t even have to be me, just get one, because these are moments you’ll want to watch back again and again in full HD forever! (But if you do want to know if I’m available, feel free to get in touch!) That’s it for me, but have an amazing day, enjoy planning your big day, and enjoy the wedding, and enjoy married life even more!