Pro vs Friend

Everyone planning a wedding has their dream wedding. But once the budget is set things usually change. One of the common changes is to have a friend or family member video tape the wedding instead of a professional. And to an extent I don't blame them. The average cost of a Wedding Videographer is $3000. That can be a lot of money, sometimes the entire budget.

But to have a friend or family member do the video can be turn out to be a disappointment. I call this the Uncle Buck seneario. The uncle in your family who has the latest camcorders and does all the kids birthday parties. And because $3000 is a lot of money you let him tape the wedding. And you end up with a fun video (sort of) but not one that you will ever show to your friends. And this is not really your uncle's fault. He means well.

Now while cost may be the factor in your decision to have your uncle tape the wedding. There are more and more Studios that are doing Wedding Videos for a reasonable price. I am talking in the price ranges of $200 to $1000. And they deliver a finished DVD that looks just as good if not better then those charging an arm and a leg.

There are three major problems that usually occur when your uncle does your video. First is he may only have one camera. The professional who uses one camera will struggle to be every where at once. Imagine what might happen if your uncle is only using one camera. The second occurs at the reception. Again this is not a fault, but what generally happens is your uncle will catch up with a friend or relative and will end up missing shots. They get caught in conversations or find them self enjoying the party and not capturing moments that a professional will get. The third comes in editing. The phrase "I can fix it in editing" is not always true. Shaky camera, bad lighting, out of focus, audio, and more can not be fixed. Sure there are features in some editing programs that can help with some of these problems but they are more of a band aid then an actual fix. And some of these editing features can make things worse. Another scary phrase is "editing from the camera". Even though prosumer video cameras have come along way and have some neat features, editing from them will not be as good as editing with a program.

Again I do understand saving the money, and using your uncle can be tempting. But if you can afford to have a professional do the video work then go that direction. You will get someone who isn't there to party. They won't get caught with an old friend and they will capture as much as possible, making sure they have every special moment. Let your uncle do what he should be doing and that is celebrating your wedding.