The Ultimate Guide to Hiring a Wedding Videographer

Not only is a wedding one of the most special days in people’s lives, it’s one of the most exciting and dynamic. While a photographer can capture the elegance of the bride and groom, the stunning venue and the guests smiling away, they can never quite capture the true energy of the day like a videographer can. 

High quality video footage can enable you to live the memories of your wedding for years and years to come and take you right back to the dinner or the dancefloor. At Togather, we highly recommend booking a videographer for the big day, and in this piece we go into the best way to go about doing that.

We discuss what to think about when it comes to choosing a great videographer that suits you perfectly, how to budget for it and then how to make the most of them on the day.

Think about the style of videography that you want and which parts of your wedding you want filmed

Your videographer will create an edited film of your wedding that will be sent through to you after the big day, so it’s important that you decide on what the best style for you and your partner is in good time. It’s really worth thinking about this and checking out some examples, as videographers may specialise in different styles, and it’s important to make sure that whoever you choose is able to produce your desired style.

This is a list of some of the popular styles of wedding videography, but of course you’re only limited by your own imagination and it’s possible to blend certain styles.

Cinematic Style: This style is largely characterised by its film-like quality, using techniques such as slow motion, creative camera angles, and professional-grade equipment to create a dramatic and visually stunning footage. 

This is ideal for couples who want to create a polished, artistic representation of their wedding day that can feel like a movie.

Documentary Style: This style is focused on capturing real moments as they happen, providing a chronological and unembellished account of the wedding day. As opposed to Cinematic style, it will likely feature less editing and an emphasis on candid moments.

This is ideal for couples who would prefer to create an authentic portrayal of their wedding, highlighting emotions and interactions.

Storytelling Style: This style usually weaves together the narrative of a couple’s love story, sometimes incorporating interviews, voiceovers, and personal anecdotes from family members, friends and the couple themselves.

This is ideal for couples who want their wedding video to tell the story of their relationship and the significance of their wedding day.

Vintage Style: This approach will tend to utilise filters, colour grading, and editing techniques to give the video a nostalgic, old-fashioned feel.

This is ideal for couples who love vintage aesthetics and want their video to have a timeless, classic look.

Aerial/drone style: This can be chosen or independently or to support another style, using drone technology to capture stunning aerial shots of the venue and surroundings, which can provide unique perspectives and dramatic angles. 

This is ideal for getting married in scenic locations who want to highlight the beauty of their venue.

Placing an enquiry on Togather will provide you with a variety of styles that you can check out and help you make a decision on the format that works best for you.

How should you budget for a wedding videographer?

There are many different types of package that you can choose with videographers that will influence the price, but at a very basic level you’ll be looking at a budget of £1000-£2500 in the general range, and then £3000-£6000 for high-end wedding videography.

Ultimately we recommend somewhere between 5-12% of your overall wedding budget, depending on how important great video footage is to you.

You will need to speak directly to the videographer about the exact quote as factors such as location, date duration of the event, how much of it you want filmed and any custom requests will affect the quote. 

What should be included when you book a videographer?

Essential

Pre-wedding consultation: This is an initial meeting, which could be over the phone or face to face, to discuss your vision, preferences and the nuances of your wedding day.

Full Day Coverage: This should include from the preparations in the morning to the end of the reception, usually including 8-12 hours of filming. If you need to reduce the budget, you can reduce the parts of the day that are filmed - for example focusing on the ceremony or the reception.

Editing: Post-production work which involved cutting and arranging footage, colour grading if required, sound mixing, and adding music. This can be time-intensive, often taking several weeks for videographers and makes up a significant amount of the overall cost.

Full-length film: The finished video, usually between 30-60 minutes, covering the entire day in a good amount of detail.
Raw footage: All of the footage taken on the day, this should provide you with some fun ‘bloopers’ or to send specific footage to friends featured.

Optional: 

Second videographer: An additional videographer will add more angles and coverage of the events of the day and will typically add around an extra £500 to the day as they will be contracted by the original videographer.
Highlights reel: A supercut of the day’s footage, usually 3-5 minutes long. This usually add an extra £250-500 to the overall cost.

Same-day edit: Some videographers can provide a same day edit which can be shown at the reception of the action from earlier in the day. This will usually incur an extra charge of between £500-£1000.

Aerial drone shots: Some photographers will be able to provide a drone shot option to provide stunning shots of the venue and its surroundings. This will usually incur an extra cost of around £250-£500.

How to make the most of your videographer on the day

Keep communicating with your videographer: Keep your videographer informed of any changes to the schedule or unexpected events and make sure they’re aware of any spontaneous moments or surprises so they can capture them. 

Make sure they’re coordinated with the photographer: Ensure your videographer and photographer are working together smoothly, without getting in each other's way. Coordinate key shots where both video and photo coverage is needed, such as the first look, vows, and special dances.
Let them know about any special people you want to be captured on film: Whether it’s a relative who’s come from abroad, a best friend or family members, make sure the videographer is aware of the most important people to capture on film so they can make sure they get some great footage of them.

Get people on the dancefloor: It’s highly likely the very best footage you’ll get is of your loved ones throwing shapes on the dancefloor - you want to encourage them to get out there and bust a move!