How Much is a Wedding Video Worth?

Strangely, this is a question that often doesn’t get asked by brides preparing for their wedding but it is nearly always thought of after the wedding. A recent nationwide survey revealed that ninety-eight percent of brides who neglected to have their wedding recorded on video regretted that decision. Ninety-eight percent!

Why is that? Simply because as the saying goes: “Hindsight is 20/20.” These brides failed to see the importance of video until it was too late. They didn’t realize that memories, especially memories of details, fade easier than we think.

Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life. You already have, or will, spend so much time and effort making sure that everything is perfect.

Capturing the details and precious moments of such a memorable day is something special. While most people budget for photographs, they often don’t put much thought into a wedding video past the price tag. While good wedding photos are important, don’t miss the fact that photographs can only go so far to preserve your memories. A still photo can’t let you hear your vows again or the words “I do” during the ceremony. A photo can’t allow you to see again the steps of the first dance that you practiced for months (or even took lessons). It can’t let you hear the sound of the musicians or the DJ you hired. What about the toasts during the reception? What about hearing best wishes, advice, or a prayer from your grandparents or other cherished family members, in their own voice? And without a video to capture them, these precious moments are gone forever.

A competent videographer experienced with weddings will also be able to capture memories that you won’t even notice on your wedding day; things that happen while you are getting ready, or at the beginning of the ceremony while you are in the back waiting to walk down the aisle, details at the reception that you missed, etc… These are moments that without a video, you won’t get the opportunity to experience.

Prices today for a professional wedding video can climb up to $6000 for a video included in a Disney wedding package, or to $15000 or more for a cinematic masterpiece done by a high end production company. A survey done by online wedding resource theknot.com showed that the average amount spent nationwide on wedding videography in 2014 was $1794. But a basic professional video can be had for only a few hundred dollars. So really, there’s a wedding video for nearly any budget.

Couples often say “We can’t afford a wedding video.” This is almost always followed by “By the time we pay for the venue, a photographer, flowers, a cake, the food, and clothes, there just isn’t any money left in the budget…” Now I do understand that for most people, money is an object, but in reality, people choose how they spend their wedding budget based on what is important to them, what they consider to be priorities, rather than what they actually can or can’t afford. Make sure that what you are allocating funds for is really what you want. Is the extra cost for high-end floral arrangements, the eight course meal for your guests, or the limousine ride for your bridal party more valuable to you than being able to relive your wedding day for years to come?

So if you are on the fence about whether or not to have a professional wedding video, please give it some serious thought. Don’t make a decision that you will regret. Do you think you will regret having a video? I doubt it. How much is a wedding video worth? You decide, but prioritize wisely: ninety-eight percent of brides can’t be wrong.

Check out the Wedding Memory Video as part of our Tennessee wedding packages to capture the important moments of your special day at Whitestone.

Photos by Bridges Photography.