How to Choose the Perfect Videographer for Your Wedding Day

Stephen and Chelsey Diaz: TréCreative

Event hollow caught up with Stephen Diaz of TréCreative to get advice from a top videographer about how couples should go about finding the perfect videographer to capture their wedding day. TréCreative is a videography and photography studio founded by Stephen and his wife Chelsey. Read on for a videographer’s perspective and recommendations on finding the right videographer for your wedding.

EH: What are the most important things to look for in finding the right videographer?

Stephen: When choosing a videographer or photographer or any of the creative aspects of your wedding, you usually make a choice based on feeling. How does it make you feel when you view that person's work? 

To find the right videographer, I recommend watching the films they’ve created and pay attention to the feelings their films stir up in you. If you find yourself crying over a stranger's wedding video, then your wedding video will be 20 times that feeling because it’s going to be your story, not somebody else's. 

When you find someone who's style resonates with you, that’s what you’re looking for. That’s what will give you something that you can keep watching for years. And each time you do, it will bring you back to that moment and how you felt on your wedding day.

EH: What are the dos and don'ts when hiring a videographer?

Stephen: Start by watching their films. Check out their websites and blog. I like looking at people’s blogs because it’s typically their most up-to-date work. As creatives, our styles do change over time.  Definitely share your story with them. Videographers are very story-driven.

They want to tell your story. They want to get to know you. So telling them your story really helps them to capture and express that story in your wedding film. If you have a great backstory, or inside jokes, or story of how you met, some of those things can be incorporated into the wedding film. At the heart of it, wedding filmmakers are storytellers. 

Make sure to invest some time into figuring out what style of wedding film you envision. Wedding videography has changed a lot over the last several years. Your parents' wedding video looks a lot different then today’s wedding videos. 

Your parents wedding film would most likely fit into the category of ‘traditional wedding film’. Traditional wedding films are long-form with many angles during the ceremony. With this style, you'll get an hour-long edit of the speeches, ceremony, and everything else — it’s mostly uncut. 

Then, there’s the modern style of wedding videography, which takes the footage of your wedding day and creates cinematic highlights. We are more of that cinematic highlights style. We don't do very many of the long-form traditional edits anymore. 

It’s good to know what kind of film you want — highlights or traditional. Do you like short and sweet, one song-length films or do you like a little bit longer two to three song-length films. Think about that when you’re looking at videographer’s showreels to make sure they offer what you want. 

Don't hire a videographer off of Craigslist. Don't skimp on a videographer. We've had a lot of brides come to us after their wedding and say: “The one thing I regret now was not having a videographer” or “not having a quality videographer.” 

Another thing you should do is, decide if you prefer a music video style wedding video where it’s visuals and music or do you want to prioritize the natural audio of the event? Do you like hearing the bridesmaids clinking glasses in the morning or the birds chirping. I think those things really take people back.

When we’re editing a film, we like to incorporate the sounds from the wedding because when you watch a film like that it brings you right back to the day  — you’re hearing the same sounds and it’s really powerful. A lot of people take that for granted when they’re thinking about video.

But after the fact, people that do have it say their favorite way to revisit their wedding experience is by watching that video over and over again. 

EH: How should couples go about choosing a videographer that works well with your photographer.

Stephen: Usually, the photographer tends to take the lead on the day. So if you’re hiring separate services, you’ll want to find a photographer and a videographer that are good team players. 

We shoot weddings where it’s just photo, weddings where it’s both photo and video and weddings where it’s just video. The videographer can be more flexible in the way they shoot compared to the photographer if they are making a highlight film. The videographer doesn't need to capture every single shot that the photographer does. 

Meanwhile, the photographer has to shoot everything. So usually the videographer will work with them and let the photographer lead. When you're hiring a videographer, make sure that they work well with your photographer.

Often videographers will have photographers that they work with. If the videographer and photographer you choose have worked together before and they work well together, that’s a plus. I've seen photographers and videographers clash or just get in each other's way. But choosing ones that work well together means your videographer is out there to help the photographer get amazing shots and vice versa. 

EH: What is the most common mistake couples make when starting the search for a videographer?

Stephen: Since video has changed a lot in the last 10 years, Sometimes there's unrealistic expectations when it comes to budget and how much videographers charge for modern highlight cinematic wedding films.

The traditional videographers who capture the whole ceremony and provide a minimally edited, long-form video are typically cheaper than what modern videographers are charging. We see that a lot where people think they can get a videographer for a couple hundred dollars but if you want that modern cinematic wedding film, there’s a lot more time that goes into the final cut. If you do want a modern videographer, it’s typically a larger investment.

Another misconception that comes up with both videographers and photographers is that you should only book someone that has already shot at your venue before. From a creative perspective, videographers and photographers love shooting at new venues.

Most creatives get fired up and creatively fueled by being at a new venue and that comes through in their work. A good videographer will prepare in advance for a new venue. It’s our job to scout out the venue and make sure we know all the best angles and all the best lighting — that’s just part of what we do.

So don't worry about hiring a videographer or photographer who has never shot at your venue before. A trained photographer or videographer can find the best light, angles, and locations at any venue. Our job is to find the gold in a venue and so when you find a good videographer, you can trust them and their process to make the most of your venue.

EH: What are the questions couples should be asking videographers when you interview them?

Stephen: It’s good to ask them to describe their style. Not a lot of people ask that, but it's a good sign when a videographer can verbalize it because then you can confirm what you saw on their website or blog. When my wife and business partner Chelsey and I meet with couples, we always walk them through two things that they often forget to ask. 

First, how we go about shooting the video or photos. Second, how will we get the video back to them. A lot of people don’t realize the process for shooting a wedding video. For example, how do we get that shot of the couple walking along the path or up the aisle? Videographers have different approaches for shooting. Some are more hands on and some are more hands off. 

So it’s good to ask: What’s your shooting style? Do you do a lot of coaching? Will you tell us what to do with our hands and where to look or is your style more capturing those little moments in a documentary style, like a fly on the wall?

When it comes to the delivery of the video, it’s important to ask how and when you are going to get the final version. Is it digital? Do you put it on a flash drive? Do I get the raw footage? A lot of videographers offer a hard drive with raw footage; and that’s nice to have, especially if they’re doing a highlight film.

If you want to get your brother's whole speech but it didn’t make the highlight film, it’s nice to have that raw footage. A good question to ask is: how many shooters will there be or how many cameras do you shoot with? This will help you get a sense of how many camera angles there will be during the ceremony or speeches.

EH: Tell me a bit about the editorial process and how videographers differentiate based on their editorial process?

Stephen: Some people like chronological edits and some people prefer more of a montage style. It’s a good idea to figure out which you want so that you can share your preferences with your videographer.

Some videographers might just always edit in one particular way but if you have a preference they might also be able to do it the way you like. Another thing to look for is how the videographer uses audio.

It tends to be a higher price point videographer that uses audio to help tell the story because editing together a film to music is a lot easier than editing a video to audio from the day, pulling from the speeches and piecing them all together to tell a story. Using the audio from the day involves a much more intensive editing process. 

EH: What are the different styles of videography with relation to the final product and the narrative?

Stephen: There’s the music video style, which is visuals in a montage along with music. When I started doing videography, I started doing that. It’s a little less intensive on the editing side.

The next level up is incorporating audio from the day — more of a cinematic, storytelling style. From there, it really varies based on the length of the film. Is the final product a five minute edit or a seven to nine minute edit?

Typically longer films are a little more expensive because they might need to bring an extra videographer to get extra footage or additional angles. And finally there’s also that traditional style that captures the entire chronological event. 

You can also get a la carte packages where you can pick and choose what you like. For example you could get the highlight cut and all of the speeches. My favorite films to work on are those shorter four to five minute films because it really forces you creatively to find the best of the best footage and makes something short and shareable.

It’s a good thing to know how long of a film you’re looking for and to share your preferences with your videographer.

EH: How should couples think about what size videography crew they will need?

Stephen: Most videography packages are one to two shooters. If you're having a really large event with lots of moving pieces then you may want to look for a slightly larger videography team. Sometimes if it's a really large wedding we will recommend bringing in a second videographer. 

If you are doing a highlight film, you can get away with fewer videographers. But if you just want tons of extra footage you might consider getting a second or third videographer. There are certain times when it is nice to have multiple videographers. For example, right after the ceremony having one videographer capture the cocktail hour and one to stay with the couple. Also, certain times during the ceremony or the speeches it can be nice to have multiple shooters.

EH: Can you share what a good connection between a wedding videographer and the couple looks and feels like for you and for a couple?

Stephen: Your wedding planner, photographer, and videographer are the vendors that you will spend the most time with, so you definitely want to make sure you could be friends with them. That's key. Go with people that your personalities really resonate with. You’re going to be having fun together. You’re going to want to feel comfortable being vulnerable with them, for example reading a letter to your spouse in front of them. 

There are intimate moments during a wedding day and you are inviting these people into your world. So make sure they’re people that you could see being a guest at your wedding — being a friend at your wedding. We love to meet with our couples ahead of time to make sure it's a good fit. 

One easy way to get to know each other is to follow your videographer on social media. We’ll often follow our clients and encourage them to follow us so that we can keep in touch and keep track of their lives in the lead up to the wedding and get to know their personalities and they can get to know ours. That way, on the wedding day we’ve built a relationship with each other.

EH: How far in advance should you book your videographer?

Stephen: Videography can be a last minute addition for some people. We do get some last minute videography enquiries but most people that are booking us are booking about a year in advance.

As a general rule, I’d recommend booking your videographer around the same time that you book your photographer. A lot of videographers will book up six to 12 months in advance depending on the date and time of year.

EH: What advice would you give to a couple that are considering not having a videographer or are considering DIY video?

Stephen: Chelsey and I were considering this when we got married. We were both really young; she was 21 and I was 23 and we were broke college students. When we first started planning, we were just going to have a friend shoot it for us.

But eventually we decided this was really important to us and so we splurged to get a videographer — that was our most expensive vendor. But for us, our favorite part of the wedding experience was getting that wedding video back.

I feel like the things that last beyond the wedding are the things that you’ll want to invest in the most. Because it’s great to have something that you can pass down to your children and their children some day.