Weddingbee Blog
It seems like a pretty common thing. When wedding planning starts, it seems like the first thing that many modern brides do is book an excellent photographer that is out of their budget. After all, the photos are the only part of the wedding day that will survive for years to come. The bride-to-be calmly rationalizes the added expense to her fiance, mother, and anyone who will listen: “We will just scrimp on the videography… or better yet, have a friend tape the wedding.”
Of course, I was no different. And, like most naive brides, I forgot about my plan to save money on videography and started daydreaming about our day being captured by the likes of Still Motion (they are fellow Canadians, after all). I just couldn’t bring myself to trust an uncle or a college roommate with something that I’ll likely use to relive the day when the Post Wedding Trauma hits. However, considering that Still Motion’s commissions range from about 1/4th - 3/4ths of our budget, I knew that there was no amount of rationalizing that could get Mr. Pudding to agree to hire them.
Thus I began my search for a great videographer that would fit into our measly budget.
I searched and searched, but all I found were either decent but overpriced professionals, or people whose editing “tastes” did not match my own. I even tried to find someone who would videotape the wedding without editing it for a discount (no editing is better than bad editing, in my opinion). However, when I was quoted over $700 for raw footage of 6 hours of our wedding, I decided that I didn’t want to pay someone over $100 an hour to stand there with a camera. If we were going to have a videographer, it was going to be someone who cared about capturing our memories in a beautiful way. Maybe I would pay a couple of hundred dollars more, but the person would spend countless hours editing our video to ensure that it was a good representation of us.
After a long search, I stumbled across Digistudio. I had Sister Pudding meet with them, and she absolutely loved them. A couple of weeks later my mama met them, and she adored them as well (which, if you know Mama Pudding, does not happen often).
I am so happy to have found videographers that fit within our budget! I know that Byron, Joseph and their team will do a fabulous job capturing our happy day!
Did you find a videographer that didn’t cost you an arm and a leg, but was definitely worth every penny?
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Mine didn’t cost an arm and a leg, and I sure hope they will be worth every penny. 
I’m still trying to find one! We originally didn’t want one, so spent a whole lot on photog. I’m too dang picky, and so the only videographers I fall in love with are all super8 and fabulous and tons of money. :-/
We’re going the friend route, although this particular friend is a professional video and color editor, so I think it will work out just fine…And the price (free) was right!
We decided not to hire one, FI & I care a lot more about the photography so we hired a photographer that was out of our budget but totally worth it.
Although having said that, watch me change my mind at the last minute and have a breakdown/rope one of my friends or relatives into doing it!
Our videography package comes with our wedding contract at the hotel, so we really didn’t have any choice. Hope he’s good!
Oh, I dream about Still Motion just as well… It kills me to watch their films and see how fantastic they are. *sigh*
Gah! I want one… but I don’t even know how to go about finding a good one! Also, we’re having a daytime wedding… I’m still on the fence. 
I would love to have videography but it’s really just not in our budget! I’m glad you found someone!!!
I so wish I would’ve budgeted for videography. I tried to find one at the last minute, but I just didn’t have enough time or money left.
i went through the same thing!! i’m in new york, so the cheapest thing i found was $1000 for just raw footage. but in the end, i found the most amazing videographer (canadian as well! but travels all over) and i am so glad i did. i had actually went through a couple months where i thought i didn’t need videography and would rather splurge on photography, but it’s been almost two months since my wedding and honestly, i watch my wedding highlight video sooo many more times that i’ve looked at my wedding pictures!
here is a link to my video, if anyone wants to see! 
http://www.vimeo.com/7488145
We decided it was important to have a videographer especially after FSIL’s wedding. The only video from the entire wedding was what I had captured with a digital camera. Poor audio, ok video…not good enough for us. During our search, we realized the cheaper the videographer, the more, ummm, amateur the quality. Some of the stuff we saw was just too cheesy for me to stomach.
In the end with went with a slightly more expensive company but we’re fine with the choice.
If you can afford a professional videographer then I say do it! The still photographer and the videographer totally compliment each other and the bride and groom are the winners
I’m glad you appreciate videography
I am getting married and I also work in wedding videography, so I get to see both sides. Most people just don’t care that much about video until afterwards when they see how much the photos missed!
So glad you got a good videographer, you won’t be sorry!
@ew350:
Your wedding video is just lovely and beautiful! May i ask u if Norris Films is as expensive as Still Motion?
We decided we needed a videographer but didn’t have a lot to spend on it (as in ~$800). I decided that I could give up my dream of the amazing highlight video and crazy cool editing and just went with someone pretty basic. I met w/him and I’m sure he’ll do a good job and (more importantly) I liked his personality and know he won’t get in the way on that day. Hopefully it will be worth it just to have the memories of the day even if it’s not as artsy as I would have loved!
Oh and I agree that a lot of the more budget options were super cheesy. I saw some really horrible ones that made us laugh so hard!! Make sure to see a sample before booking anyone :o)
Miss Pudding, so glad you were able to find videographers you love and are within your budget! We splurged on our wedding video. After seeing what JoeSimon could do with a camera… I couldn’t say no. We weren’t even planning on having a videographer at all! So it was a big addition to our budget. But how can you say no to this: http://www.joesimonproductions.blogspot.com/
I’m so excited to get my video!
@Mariana:
Glad you liked my wedding video!! Norris Films is soooo much more affordable than Still Motion. They’re really reasonable and can work with different budgets depending on what you need. They were just amazing to work with.
We showed that video at our reception on the night of the wedding, and so many of my guests came up to me aftewards saying how they were blown away by the video! It definitely made the night so much more memorable. I highly recommend them!!!
We didn’t have it in the budget for a wedding video. I’m glad you found someone you could afford who will be great!
Congratulations on finding a videographer you love! The rate for ours was higher than we had initially budgeted, but we loved her work so much we shifted things around in our budget a bit!
Yay for videographers! I really want one…here’s hoping we find one, too. : )
i hear a lot of people say that they value photo more because they feel that it’s what they will look at them more after they get married. we love our wedding photos, but watch our video wayyyy more than than we look at our photos. if done properly, cinema can be such a powerful medium. stillmotion is certainly the best, but there are a lot of others out there as well. i hope everyone here can find a studio to film their big day
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Miss Pudding, Greater Toronto Area/Vermont
Age and Occupation: 26, High School Teacher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Computer Engineer
Engagement Date: August 2008
Wedding Date: July 2010
Venue: Catholic Ceremony, Cultural Hall Reception
About Me: Quite literally a citizen of the world, I was born in Poland, grew up in Canada, and now live in the beautiful state of Vermont. I love reading historical biographies, multi-tasking, teasing my hair, and, despite my height, wearing high heeled shoes. I am the ultimate klutz with an uncanny ability to put on a graceful front. Mr. Pudding and I have been dating for over six years, and are very excited to finally merge our (very large) families. We are planning a traditional Polish-Catholic wedding that is anything but predictable.
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