Videographer - Yes or no?

We didn't get one because we didn't think we needed one. We spoke with some married friends ours who had them at their wedding and said they watched the video once or twice and then never looked at it again - one of them said she doesn't even know where the video is now. If I could go back, I wouldn't change that we didn't have one, but I would've put that extra money we did nothing with to getting a second photographer for our wedding so we had more photos.

We had one and it was one of the best choices we made for our wedding. It wasn’t a “must” for us, but it was at the very top of the “want” list. Photos are great, but no photo can portray the sound of the music as you walk down the aisle, the sound of your new spouse’s voice as they read you their vows, or the laughs of all of your loved ones in the same room, maybe for the only time ever.

No, we decided to not get one. Several friends told me that they've wstched their video maybe twice over the 5 to 10 years they've been married. My parents had one but never changed the vhs to dvd and they threw it away during their divorce proceedings.

My fiance and I originally weren't going to book a videographer, we didn't see a need for it. We put the extra money towards photography instead. However, since we had to postpone due to COVID, we decided to book a videographer too! The photos will be amazing and I'm most looking forward to those, but there are just some things that video can capture that photos cannot, and I'm also excited to get our video. I think I personally would regret it if I didn't book one. It'll be awesome to re-live the sounds of the music as everyone is walking down the aisle, hearing the vows read to each other, watching people dance, etc. If it's in your budget, I definitely recommend booking a videographer.

This question comes up all the time since I've been on WW lol, and I always answer a resounding YES! We had one for our backyard micro-wedding and have booked another for big, wedding #2. The first time I watched our backyard wedding, I noticed things that I had already forgotten such as the decorations that we obsessed over for months lol, some parts of the speeches, the laughter at the first moment we saw each other. It's just the little things that I appreciate so much. Also, I'm a sucker for the highlight videos, even strangers lol, and I watch it a lot! I know it's expensive so I feel you. Good luck!

I'm in the same boat trying to decide if it's worth the money! All of my friends who have been married in the past year have said they would have saved the money if they could go back. They really are beautiful, but I just wonder how often I will even look at it. We were quoted $2,700 for a well known, respectable videographer. It just depends on your budget!

This is totally not the same thing, but my fiancé had this idea and this is what we kind of decided on in the place of a videographer (for cheaper) - we are having a live painting of our ceremony. Totally not the same as a video, but for us, it makes more sense!

Did not get one, never missed it. I think if I was in the situation of many brides now, I would never zoom or share the wedding online. I would have an edited video to send people of the ceremony , if severely restricted in guests. Our reason for np video is that neither of us wanted to see the wedding from any viewpoint but our own on the day, just periodic pictures. But a video with a 1 month contract to finish, I would do instead of Zoom.

We weren't going to get one because we couldn't justify spending so much on a video we'd watch maybe twice. We ended up booking one only because they reached out to me and had a 50% discount on all of their packages for an end of the year sale.

I knew I wanted to have our ceremony and first dance filmed, but I didn't want it filmed on someone's phone. The videographers I reached out to would only do packages, and one said she'd do it but for $800/hr which was ridiculous lol. Our videographer will be there the whole day, and with his discount, we're spending $500 for everything.

I say, if you have the room for it in your budget, then go for it.

Hi Brittany! We did get one and already watched several times ❤️ For us, we loved seeing our guests “in action” and close ups of our first dance and other significant dances.

It all comes down to a personal choice. We had a 6-figure budget to work with for our wedding but we simply didn't want a videographer. No regrets!

Our DOC did set up a go-pro though, to record the ceremony, first dance, parent dances, and speeches. I don't think we've ever even opened the video file she sent us lol.

We didn’t get one, didn’t want to spend the money. But, I wanted something. So, I set up a camera on a tripod at the back of the church. It isn’t the best, but it works. I’ve watched it once all the way through and maybe a snippet once after that.
My brother also made sure to set it up for all the spotlight dances. And I have never watched those.

This was at the top of my list with photography. I decided to go with a company that offers both photography/videography.

It's not important to some people, but I want to have the day captured in motion with the vows, the speeches/toast, first dance. Photos will not do those justice in my opinion.

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I agree with this. Even if you only watch it on anniversaries, at least you have something.

Plus it's not that different from home movies being taken.

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much for this! We were definitely planning on having videography, but this really drove home for me just how important it is.

I hear so many couples say it's the one thing they wish they would have gotten. We originally decided not to get one when our wedding was scheduled for September 2020, but when we postponed to May, we decided to get one since we had extra time to save for it.

We didn't want one or have one, and neither of us has regretted it. Plenty of people have posted that they only watched their video once and didn't feel it was worth the money. And plenty more love their videos (although most of them aren't here 5, 10 years after they got married to report whether they are still watching it regularly).

One way to consider saving money is to just have a videographer film the ceremony and a bit of the reception documentary-style and then deliver mostly unedited footage (maybe just edited for time), rather than the highly edited "music video" that some receive.

Now, I am biased against videography because I hate, hate, hate watching/hearing myself on video (my dad took home movies of everything my whole childhood and then we had to watch them, and I have always hated it), so the decision was easy not to have one!

I wanted video! i watch it quite a bit every now and then vs looking through my photos but if you have a good photographer its ok to skip

From an old lady who got married almost two decades ago...

Didn't get one, and it is my absolute biggest regret. Like a previous poster, I will say it again and again: if I could go back, I would get one.

Another poster said the same thing I always say... photos tell so little of the story.

I have never looked at my photos for myself. Their purpose has been to show others how pretty my wedding was. "This was my bouquet. These were my centerpieces. Here was the back of my dress. This was our cake." That's all well and good. We plan our weddings to make them pretty.

But you know the things I wish I had for myself?

The brief giggle fit I suffered in the middle of my vows. My dad's voice and laugh and his face as he smiled that day, which I'll never see again because he died last year. The song I chose for my entrance, which I briefly played on my computer a few years ago and my husband leaned into my office and said "I recognize that song. I haven't heard that since you walked down the aisle at our wedding." My mom's speech, which neither of us remember at all now. Us recreating a silly dance club scene from our favorite obscure 80s movie during the reception.

None of that is in photos, and it can never be in photos, because photos are still, silent images.

We did have a camcorder set up. A guest knocked it over right as I walked into the ceremony and didn't know how to turn it back on, so we have nothing of our ceremony, and no one wanted to deal with it at the reception. All I have is a few brief clips, one of which is us walking back down the aisle at the end of the ceremony. My husband looks right at the camera and flashes the biggest, goofiest, most adorable grin, like he is the happiest man on earth in that moment. This five-second clip melts my heart to this day.

Two thousand photos taken by our photographer that day, and not a single one shows that smile. That five-second clip is the only glimpse I have of it.

There were so many sweet or silly moments that there was no way to capture in photos. And I will sadly inform you that as the days pass, my memories of those moments - as special and cherished as they are - fade. Yours will, too.

Almost twenty years later, I do still watch those meager few clips I have on a camcorder. Not all the time, certainly, but every once in a while I want to look back on it. I've never once looked back at my photos for my own enjoyment.

My two cents.

We didn't hire one cause all our friends and family all had just about the same thing to say about it and that was that it was a big waste of money. They say in reality you will probably look at that video twice and then it gets tossed somewhere and eventually you don't even know where you put it.

I feel like me and my fiancé would rewatch 100 times! I think it’s very special footage!