Questions To Ask Your Wedding Videographer
Having a videographer along with a wedding photographer is more and more common these days. The beautiful photos are a wonderful thing to remember your most beautiful day. But a great movie is something complete different to show your friends and family and to indulge in memories a few years later.
You can check out all wedding videographers near you here. Once you made your selection, ask your future wedding videographer the following questions and make sure he or she explains everything to you beforehand to avoid any misunderstandings afterwards.
Availability
Are you available for my wedding date?
How far in advance do I need to book with you?
Will you be the one filming my wedding? If not, can I meet the videographer who will be on-site?
Are there any other weddings you film on that weekend?
Do you have any assistants that will support you during my wedding?
What does your assistant do? If your assistant will be helping with shooting a part of the wedding, can I view samples of his footage?
Background Check
For how long have you been shooting weddings?
How many weddings have you filmed?
Do you often shoot weddings that have a similar size and style to the one we are planning?
Can we see full movies of a few of your recent weddings?
Have you ever shot a wedding at our ceremony and reception venues? If not, do you plan to check the venues out in advance?
Have you ever worked with our wedding planner?
What do you love most about filming weddings?
Pricing & Packages
What are your rates? Do you offer any packages?
What is included in your standard package?
Which add-ons do the more expensive packages include?
Can I customize my package if need to?
Will you be arriving early to film the pre-wedding moments, such as the “getting ready” process or when formal photos are taken? Will there be an additional charge?
How many hours of shooting time and raw footage does your package include?
Does the package include a shorter highlights-video?
How much do extra hours cost?
Which length does the final video usually have?
In what form will the video be provided?
How much do additional disks or copies cost?
Do you charge a travel fee?
Are there any other additional costs that I should be aware of?
How much is the deposit? When is the balance due?
What are your rates for overtime?
What is your policy on cancellation and refunds?
Who will own the copyright to the final wedding video?
Filming, Editing and the Final Product
What is your shooting style? Cinematic, documentary, or a mix of both?
Can we see your work samples of other weddings that are similar in style to ours?
Do you have experience shooting indoors as well as outdoors? Candlelight and/or twilight?
How many cameras will you use?
Do you need additional lights while shooting during the reception? If so, can you guarantee that the lighting will not be intrusive? Is it possible to dim the additional lighting?
How do you record sound? Do you mike the bride and groom? What will the setup be?
How long do you typically take to edit and finalize a wedding video?
Can you explain your editing process? Who is in charge of the editing? Can we see work samples of the person in charge of the editing?
Is it possible to make any changes after we saw the edited film for the first time?
Do we get the raw footage?
Does the final video use dialogue from the wedding day or is it rather a music video?
Can we be involved in the actual editing process? How will you be handling music? Can you lay music over some scenes?
Do we get to choose the background music used in the video?
How about the copyright for the music?
Can you add chapters and titles to the video?
In what format will our final video be? Will there be a way to share videos online?
Will the video be watermarked or have a videographer’s logo?
Logistics
What information do you need before the wedding day?
When will we receive the contract?
Do you require a deposit? When is it due?
Do you offer a payment plan?
What is your refund or cancellation policy?
Do you have liability insurance? Does it cover your assistants as well?
Do you carry backup equipment?
What is the backup plan if you are unable to shoot our wedding for an unexpected reason?
How will you and your assistants be dressed?
Can we provide a list of specific shots we would like?
Will you be posting about our wedding on your website and social media?
(If you’re worried about privacy, you can definitely request that your wedding videographer keeps the movie to him- or herself.)
Questions for yourself
Do your personalities mesh well?
Do you feel a connection to the videographer’s work and him- or herself?
Has the videographer in question addressed all of your concerns and are you comfortable with his or her communication style?
I hope these Questions to ask Your Wedding Videographer will help you to find the right person for your biggest day!
You might also want to read the 54 Questions to ask Your Wedding Photographer
Anything we missed here? What questions would you ask your wedding videographer?
Leave it in the comments!
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