The wedding industry has been obliterated by Covid. It is truly heartbreaking. Serendipity Cinema is my life’s work and to watch many of my friendors suffer has been terrible. I’ve been in business as a wedding videographer for 15 years! I have always had a solid plan in place if something catastrophic happened. I never knew it would be this, but I am sure glad I was prepared! Desperate times call for desperate measures and I am starting to see some of that desperation, unfortunately, coming out in the marketplace.

Here are some things you need to be aware of as you are booking your wedding videographer (or any wedding vendor for that matter!) during these unprecedented times!

The One Wedding Videographer Package: 

We are seeing this pop up more and more and it is just plain DANGEROUS for your wedding film, for SO MANY reasons. First when you film a wedding with one videographer you are missing so many important moments. One person simply can not be in two places at once.

So what happens when the getting ready is happening? Which location does the videographer choose? The bride or the groom getting ready? HUGE moments are being missed here when they can’t be with the both of you!!

What happens during the ceremony? Who are they shooting during this time? Grooms reaction or you walking down the aisle toward the love of your life? Many of these videographers will say they film with more than one camera, but so what?!! That camera isn’t being manned, so what if people move, which they do, and walk out of the shot? That camera is now deemed useless. What about during toasts? Do you focus on the speaker or the couples reaction? Again moments you don’t want to be without! There is just so much less footage of the day when it is filmed with one videographer even if it is with two cameras. So many moments you’ll never get back that are now lost.

Finally we are dealing with technology here. While it doesn’t fail often, it does and can happen. If you have one videographer filming, with one camera, and one data card and something happens to that camera or data card… there goes your entire wedding film! Not only are there moments lost, now everything is lost.

What if there is an issue with the camera and the videographer needs to trouble shoot the problem? Remember who is filming your wedding while they are dealing with the issue.. wait, no one! Again, HUGE moments missed. If this were to ever happen with two cameras and two videographers there is at least someone in place still filming!

But, why are they doing this than!?

Unfortunately it’s because it is cheap. If only one videographer films it, then your film costs much less in labor. Then if that same videographer edits it, again they save on editing. So these packages are cheap and easy money for these videographers.

They are presented to the couple as extremely “budget friendly” but they can come at a huge cost to the couple. The other shady thing is that these one videographer films are not generally posted on a website, blog, or social media platform. The two videographer films are what is being represented online. A couple doesn’t know what they don’t know. Right!? So they think a one videographer film looks just like what they are seeing all over the website, but unfortunately that is untrue. It is a bait and switch of sorts. 

Moral of the story, HIGH QUALITY Wedding Films should ALWAYS be filmed with TWO videographers. Even with Simply Cinema, our budget friendly wedding videography company that is the baby sister to Serendipity, ALWAYS films with two videographers! Even with our least expensive package, you get two videographers!. It is just the right thing to do for our couples, their wedding day, and their film. 

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True It Probably Is:

There are what appear to be some smokin’ deals out there for wedding videography right now, but beware! I know what it costs to run a business and turn a profit. If you are paying a low price for a wedding film there is a reason why, but it is not the normal reason, the reason during a pandemic is that some companies are needing to collect retainers just to hope to stay afloat. They figure they will just book the business, collect a retainer and hope they can figure it all out later. Chances are though that there is a high probability they won’t be in business by the time your wedding happens. 

Trust us when we say, you want to go with a company that is well established and has a strong history in the industry. Those companies are better equipped financially to handle this time of uncertainty and will stay in business long term. You also want to talk to your other vendors and get their recommendations, as well as look at reviews online.

I understand companies needing to adjust pricing right now or give some added value. I totally do, but if the pricing sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It is also important to book all of your vendors with a credit card right now! If you book with a credit card and they go under you have some recourse, if you pay with a check and they go under there is no hope of getting those funds returned!

In Closing:

I truly don’t feel like companies are trying to be shady per se, honestly I think they are just trying to find a way to survive during this time. Which I can relate to and understand, but their way to survive is in their interest and not yours. Don’t let these “budget friendly deals” get the best of you.

A photographer and wedding videographer are not the vendors to grab a deal on! They are the two vendors that are going to capture the memories of your day once it is long gone. So buyer beware during this time! Do your research, understand what you are purchasing, and what it truly means. I say this out of love and concern for our couples. I just want what is best for you and the memories of your special day!

 

Photographer: Annie Randall