$500 vs $5000

Wedding Videos $500 vs $5000?

When I started Ring King Studio that was one of the questions I looked at. I did a small survey of married couples. I asked them if they had their wedding video taped and if not why? Every response we got was:

No, because it was expensive. And they had their photos.

So I took a look at the average cost of a wedding. This year the average cost of a wedding is $27000. From there the average spent for both a Photographer and a Videographer was just under $3000 combined.

The average cost for a Wedding Videographer for 2006.

$3000.

So it was obvious why couples where not having their wedding video taped. They couldn't afford both photo and video. Plus we started looking at the couples that only had a budget of $3000 to $7000 to begin with. The average videographer would eat their entire budget.

This is not a knock of the work of a studio that charges $3000+ for their services. There are some advantages and I will get to that in a second. In an earlier post, I listed questions you should ask a videographer before you hire them. This will really help weed out the "fly by nights" and "just in it for the money" studios. And believe me they are out there. Some of the things some studios charge you for really makes me laugh. There are others who think that this is just about pointing the camera and collect the paycheck. The questions that I have listed will help you in the decisions.

Back to the prices. The larger studios that charge on average $3000+ do have some bigger advantages. They are bigger. Some have the capabilities of editing from a truck in the parking lot, and can have the ceremony ready for the guest to view at the reception. The larger studios have the advantage of being able to do 2 or 3 weddings per date. They sometimes have "better equipment" then the smaller studios. I will talk more about this in a second. And last most of the packages are complete packages. What I mean is you choose the Package for $5000 you get the Wedding, Reception, interviews, photo montage, music videos, congratulations from guest, private moments before the wedding.... And so on. But this will all reflect in the final price.

The smaller studios are at a disadvantage to some of this. They normally can't edit on the spot. And in most cases they can only do one wedding per date. They normally have a small staff. However this can be an advantage. Because you know that the person you met with will be the person at your wedding. You won't have to worry about going over again and again what you want your DVD to look like. Being able to only do one wedding per date lets them focus on just you and your wedding. So the final product has a real personal touch. Where the larger studios sometimes turn out a product that looks like the last wedding they did, which looks like the last wedding they did , and so on. In most cases the smaller studio's packages are basic. The extras, like interviewing the guest, will cost extra. But this will let a build your package to fit your needs and your budget.

Lets go back to the camcorders for a minute. A studio that charges $5000 is going to bring in cameras that reflect that. An example is if the Studio is using HD cameras, it will reflect in the price. The HD cameras are not cheap. However that doesn't mean that a smaller studio have inferior cameras. Usually a smaller studio only have 2 or 3 cameras that are not as expensive but still deliver a great picture. Where a larger studio may have 6 to 8 different cameras that they can bring or can take to several different weddings. BUT.......And I know I say this a lot. The camera does NOT make the video. Just because some one has the best camera in the biz doesn't mean they know how to use it.
The difference between a good and a great videographer?

A great videographer can take any video camera and turn out a great product.

A good videographer just has a great video camera.

Now the packages. The more expensive packages are great because they cover all the bases. Every thing is included. Kind of like the worry free package. However the studios that offer the packages and extras separate have some benefits. If you are on a budget, some of the larger studios only offer the ceremony at $800 to $1000. And that is it. If you want more you have to go to the next package which may cost $1500 to $2000. And may not include the extras you want. The smaller studios offer packages that range from $200 for the ceremony only to $800 that includes both the wedding and the reception. So do the math $800 for just the ceremony or $800 for ceremony and reception. And with the extras separate you can build the package that fits you best and stay in your budget. Say you select a package for $500 that covers the ceremony and highlights from the reception, you can then add extras like interview with guest and a photo montage of how you met and still be below $1000.

Bottom line if you can afford to pay $5000 for a wedding video then you will probably go ahead and pay $5000. However my advise would be to shop around look for one in the price range of $500 to $1000 as they will deliver the same if not a better DVD in the end. Then take the money you saved and use it on your honeymoon or for a down payment on a house or new car.