Help with a Wedding Shoot

[Steve Wargo]

We have been in the business 25 years and did weddings regularly from 83 till around 89 and then got into the corporate video world. We’re still asked to shoot weddings on a regular basis. We accept the jobs and price them like any other corporate event, starting at around $2995 and up. I then hire really good wedding videographers and add 50%. Usually, the one who hires us is a corporate connection and they simply want the best. They don’t necessarily need us to shoot it but rather make sure that it gets done to our standards.

The wedding video business is big bucks but you have to stay away from the discount jobs. These are the people who want the world for nothing. And, as I said before, join WEVA. They have great books and equipment resources. They also have members who do nothing but edit. You send the tapes and get a finished product in about a week. They have all of the right jumpbacks, the music and effects that the brides go nuts over.

We did a wedding last year for a high ranking Intel executive and shot it with two Sony CineAlta HD cameras. We had a jib, a steadicam and a regular live shoot production crew. And the food was very good.

Hey, money is money.

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona

It’s a dry heat!

[Pete Sneathen]

Include the number of meals your videography company needs in your contract. Also, don’t forget the three secrets to effective and successful wedding videography…communicate, communicate, and communicate. If you are meeting with the bride and groom at their ceremony faclity prior to the wedding day, remind them of the meal arrangement and why (as explained previously). Ultimatly, the meal is to ensure maximum wedding day coverage. If you are not meeting with the bride and groom prior to the wedding day, make sure to communicate with them via phone to discuss any details of the day, you can remind them at this time as well. Try to meet or call the bride 3 weeks prior to the wedding date, as most caterers requier a minimum of 2 weeks notice to add meal counts.

One last tip, communicate with the bride. Let’s not pull any punches here. The day is more focused on her than anyone else, and for most brides, this is a day she has dreamed about for a long time. She will remember all of the details of the wedding day. The groom will only remember the details of the bachelor party. Then again, there are exceptions to every rule. I recently did a wedding for a bride and groom, where the groom was a City Planner for Detroit Michigan and the Bride was a bank teller with a very high energy level / ADHD. I was able to qickly identify who was the planner in this relationship, and it was not her.

Good luck.

Pete