Want the best deal on a wedding video?
We have an option! Before I get too far into telling you about how to get a wedding video made for as cheap as possible, I need to preface this post by saying I only recommend taking this route as a last resort. Since I am passionate about wedding videography and believe every person should have the opportunity to have a wedding video, regardless of their financial situation, I sometimes offer a special deal to those who cannot afford our traditional packages. If you don’t have enough money in the budget for a wedding video and are planning on going without one, this is a good option.
Bundle Video With DJ and/or Photography Services
If you hire us for either DJ or photography services, that means we’ll already have one of our team members there. Depending on a few variables, that person may be able to provide video services along with the other service(s) you hired us for. For example, if I’m your DJ, I can bring my camcorder with me and set it up on a tripod and film your wedding. That saves us the expense of hiring a dedicated camera person, and we can pass that savings on to you. This might also work well with destination weddings to help offset travel costs.
This is far from the ideal way to shoot a wedding, but having a low budget wedding video is infinitely better than having no video at all. Watch the video above for an example of a wedding we shot in St. Augustine, Florida with an unmanned camera. In this case we had two photographers, but no dedicated camera-operator for the video camera. What do you think? Wouldn’t that be a lot better than having no video? Our prices are so low, especially with this option, that there’s no reason to go without a wedding video. Of course, it won’t be as good as it would be if you hired a camera person. But if you’re not picky and simply cannot afford a full production, this may just be the perfect thing for you!
Our Recommended Video Package
We recommend going with at least our silver package for shooting a wedding, which includes two videographers. The second camera angle gives us another camera to cut to and from when editing. That means whenever there’s a camera bump or someone stands in front of the camera, we can cut to the other camera. Having two camera angles to choose from means you’ll always be seeing the best shot of the two cameras. It hides the mistakes and imperfections better, and gives us a variety of shots to choose from. Not only will you get two different shots, but you’ll get two different types of shots. For example, one camera will be getting a wide shot of the entire room while the other camera is getting a close up of you while you’re saying your vows. Also, one camera can be stationary on a tripod and the other one can be moving. The second manned camera makes a big difference in the overall production value. Sometimes even a third camera is necessary for the ceremony if it takes place in a big church. But if your wedding video isn’t that important to you or you don’t have the budget for two camera people, we have other options to accommodate your needs. We can use two cameras and one person, one camera and one person, or in this case, one camera without anyone operating it.
A Unique Service
Most companies probably won’t provide this service, and sometimes neither can we. In fact, most companies can’t ever do it! If they only provide one of the three services -video- how can they have someone else already there? This is one of the many advantages of offering several services – we can offer you this unique service.
You May Get Lucky
Even better, sometimes we may be able to get someone to operate the camera for you – at no extra cost! If we have an intern working with us to gain experience and training, and their schedule is free, you might get lucky enough to have someone help out for free. While this still wouldn’t be as good as having an experienced videographer, it would be even better than going with an unmanned camera, which is already infinitely better than choosing not to have a wedding video.
Always High Quality
Whether you have the budget for two camera people or not, either way we’ll be using high quality equipment to ensure your wedding video is high quality. We’ll also still edit it like we normally would and then mail you a DVD with the right to make as many copies as you’d like. The video posted above is a highlight video, as opposed to a full wedding video, which is usually over an hour long in length. It is also in HD, but if it were played from a DVD it would be of less quality because DVDs only provide standard definition (480). Though all of our videos are shot in 1080 high definition (HD), if you burn it to a DVD there will be a significant loss in quality.
Upgrade To Blu-Ray For Maximum Quality (1080 HD)
Want maximum quality? Upgrade to blu-ray. By burning the video onto a blu-ray disc you maintain the HD quality. It’s definitely well-worth the upgrade. You will need a blu-ray player to play it, of course. Plus, DVD will be on its way out soon. It’s been here for a long time and served its purpose. You’ll want to future-proof your wedding video by upgrading to blu-ray. Those are priceless, precious moments. Preserve them in high quality HD.
Can We Help You?
Since shooting a wedding with an unmanned camera is not a route we encourage our clients to take, it’s not listed in our packages. If you feel like this may be a good idea for you, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or for a free quote. If you know anyone with a big event coming up that may be interested in this, please share it with them or on social media. We are pleased to be able to help others who would otherwise not have a wedding video.
Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing!