Big Day Advice: What Is The Average Cost Of A Wedding Video?
Post Created: 25.01.2021 - Posted in Advice
Photos are an important part of a celebration but nothing brings you back to the moment quite like a video. So that you’re confident all the special moments will be caught on camera, you want a professional videographer. They’re also what determines the cost of the wedding video. It’s their time and expertise that you’ll be paying for. But there isn’t a flat fee for videographers and you shouldn’t just assume the most expensive will be the best.
We’ve put together this guide to gauge how much an average wedding video costs as well as what factors change the price. This will ensure you know what prices to expect before you start contacting videographers.
What do you need to know about video and pricing
Videographers, like a lot of people who provide a service, typically work on hourly pay. However, to make any job worth its while there will normally be a fixed starting price. This will cover a certain amount of hours shooting the video as well as time spent traveling and editing. Without this baseline, it would be hard to get all the required costs covered.
To start with I’ll make an example: in this example covering the cost of travel and editing takes HKD$1,000 (£100/$130) (not an accurate figure just easy to work off). They could either add that cost to an upfront fee and ensure it’s covered regardless. Or, they could say that most weddings last at least a couple of hours so they’ll add HKD$500(£50/$65) to their hourly rate. Yes, they could end up having more than the costs covered if the shoot ended up taking longer however they could also end up with none of it being paid if the wedding ends earlier than expected.
As well as this they’ve now made their hourly rate a lot less competitive. Not everyone does hourly based work, some people offer packages such as 3 or 5 hour shoots with all extra costs included for a fixed fee. These can often be of better value since the videographer can plan other events around these easier. Whereas a shoot that’s paid by the hour needs more time allocated to it in case it runs over what you’re expecting.
The actual price of the shoot can be affected by a lot of other things, but generally, you’d be expecting to pay somewhere between HKD$10,000 to HKD$20,000 (£1,000/$1,300 to £2,000/$2,700) or 5-10 % of the overall wedding cost.
Lower Prices
For this price, you may get poor quality work. Bad equipment or just poor skills. Make sure to be doing a lot of research on someone offering such a low fee. You could be better off asking your uncle with a DSLR to do it. If you find a high-quality videographer offering such low prices it will only be for a few hours of shooting with one camera. Expect an around 10-minute video of the best bits to be sent to you afterward. We wouldn’t recommend this to capture your wedding day. So many important memories will be missed in only a 10-minute window.
Middle Range
Generally speaking, our big day videography packages fall around the middle price point. As the price increases so do the features. More cameras, longer shoots, and longer videos. For this price range, you can expect a few different angles and a more comprehensive package overall. The shoot will certainly be longer as well as the final video. Confident and experienced teams will be offering these sorts of prices but be sure to still do your research. The video will be of higher quality and given over as a hard copy. Typically USB. If you’re not planning an exceedingly long or complex wedding we’d be confident that this price range should get you a full and beautiful video of all the key moments.
Premium Packages
If you’re thinking of exceeding the HKD$20,000 (£2,000/$2,700) mark expect 12-hour long shoots and access to top-quality equipment. Some may even have the option of drone footage. This price range is unlikely to be needed for an average wedding ceremony. You’ll be shot from multiple angles and you’ll have a full team at your disposal. The end product will most likely be over an hour long. If you’ve got something exceptional in mind then this is the kind of money you should expect to be paying.
What about travel fees?
Many factors will go into the cost of the wedding video. One of the most obvious is travel. Typical travel costs are covered in the upfront fees but anything over what they have covered already will cost extra. Most people won’t charge for 1-3 hours of travel. This does depend massively on where the wedding is set since people in different areas are going to have wildly contrasting views on what a normal travel time is. If you want a specific videographer you’ll need to be prepared to shell out the extra cash for them to travel to your wedding location. And if you’re going as far as to fly them over then overnight costs are also going to need accounting for.
What else do you need to know?
As well as this, the amount of tech or number of cameramen required will have a drastic effect. Even if you want a short, 3-hour shoot. If you want there to be 5 camera angles and a drone you’re not just going to paying one person’s hourly rate. You’ll be paying 5 people’s hourly rates. It’s also possible that these hourly rates will be different so don’t just assume that because they’ve quoted you HKD$5,000 (£500/$680) for 3 hours with one cameraman that number will simply double if you want an extra person.
Will you pay more for more experience?
Rates can be determined on expertise or experience. For example, if a company has 7 cameramen but only one that can operate the drone then that one person’s rate is going to be higher. Another thing that will change the price is the time you’re getting married. If it’s a quiet time of year for weddings, such as mid-winter, it’s more likely that you can get a good deal on your videographer. There’s no competition at that time of the year, no other weddings to fit around yours. Therefore, they’ll often offer a lower price.
Armed with this knowledge you should know how to get what you want at a price you’re happy with. And be confident that you’ll end up will all the beautiful moments to watch time and time again.
