Wedding Video, worth the money?

I personally think you should professionally capture every moment if it is in your budget.

Go for a 5 minute highlight. That's what I'm doing (along with a 25 minute feature film).

I want to hear our vows and speeches from our family. I also know the day goes by so fast, and certain parts of the wedding I won't get to see (like my niece/nephew walking down the aisle). Photos just won't be able to capture it in the same way IMO.

Most of the videos I see (especially the cheaper ones) are all the same and really forgettable.

It's a go big or go home kind of expense IMHO.

Yes!! FH and I said that we were going to splurge on photography and videography! I want to be able to go back and watch us say our vows!

I agree that photos aren't the same as videos but I also want to know how many people actually watch them after. I was talking to coworkers and there were a few that had videos but they never actually watched them, if most people never watch them it seems like it might not be the smartest way to spend money on a limited budget. Getting a larger audiences opinion I'm hoping will help me and FH decide. He's pretty on the fence as well but his general attitude is leaving the decisions up to me. I have also decided to reach out to local colleges and see about having an art student potentially. Sorry for the long comments. I just really want to make sure I have thought about and researched all options.

I felt like our videographer captured many fun moments I was not able to see in person. This was especially true for our reception. We both were pulled in so many directions, it was hard to see everything that was going on around us.

I'm trying to decide on video as well. My photographer doesn't offer a cheaper/shorter package so we kind of either have to splurge or not do it. FH doesn't want one but I want to be able to see our vows and dances and speeches. I need to decide by January. There are definitely pros and cons. I think if it's in your budget you should do it. If you have to take away from something you want to do the video I say skip it.

@Erin Wood my photographer doesn't offer video, he is amazing and was definitely our splurge. That's what makes it harder to decide to add video because it will need to be another vendor entirely. Those are the things I want to be able to see as well. I'm on the same timeline as you are for when I want to decide by. I'm going to start making a paper pro con list tonight I think to help my decision.

I didn't get a video and 4+ years later we still have no regrets. We didn't envision ourselves ever watching it. We put the most money we could towards our photographer and towards creating an album of our wedding. I'm much happier that we put our money towards those things.

I skipped the whole video thing. It doesn't sound like the type of thing I would go back and watch, especially not if you only get a cheap little 5-minute blurb. It's so expensive, too. Put the money elsewhere and stick with a photo album.

I booked one just for our ceremony because I'm sentimental and I know I'll want to watch it to look for those little moments I may have missed. If you're looking for a cheap videographer, try searching for commercial videographers and seeing if any of them have done wedding videography. I found some varying in price range, but I stood firm on my budget and found the one I'm using. Some of the commercial videographers I spoke with didn't expect to be contacted about wedding videography and were more open to negotiating pricing with me.

If you can fit videography into your budget, I would recommend it. We initially only booked photography, but then added videography on and I am SO glad we did! Photography is obviously wonderful to have, but video captures the memories of the day differently and you get to re-live it in such a memorable and magical way

I actually read that not having a videographer has been the biggest regrets from brides. I think it's important to have it all captured.

I'm not getting one because I know I will never watch it. I'd rather go all out with photos.

@futuremrsp- for me it all comes down to budget. I don't really think there are any cons. Sure, you probably won't watch it all the time, but are you really going to look at your pictures all the time either? Sit down and see if you can do it without cutting anything else. That's what I'm going to try to do this week.

I kind of thought it would be unnecessary, and like Celia said, they're all the same. One of my guests is a videographer and insisted on videoing the ceremony (I know, friendors, but it wasn't up to me - I tried). My dad had done the same for his daughter, and he wouldn't take no. There were a couple of cute moments that we're glad to have on video that photos wouldn't have caught (a leaf fell in my cleavage during the ceremony and without thinking of formality, I picked it off and tossed it lol), and I know a lot of people who said one of their regrets was having no video.

I'm personally not doing a video, if I had an unlimited budget. I would totally do it, but I've noticed that videos I watch kind of underwhelm me, where as pictures are gorgeous and something I look at over and over.

It's not a priority to me that's for sure

We did just the ceremony and I don't regret it for a second. It was beautiful and our videographer did a fantastic job.

I really wanted to at least have a video of the ceremony, so we contacted a bunch of videographers about ceremony-only coverage. Some won't do it, but a lot will. Once we had all of our options, we watched videos from all of them and narrowed it down to our favorites. We booked our top choice, so we were able to get a videographer who normally charges around $3000 for much less.

If you can afford it go ahead if not don't sweat it.

I really want to have a videographer but in my area they are so expensive like over expensive. due to that I won't be having one just a photographer.