Insider Tips for Hiring the Best Wedding Day Videographer
After you’ve selected your wedding photographer, it makes sense to choose a videographer that either already works with them, or that you know will match their style. Your wedding photographer and videographer will work hand in hand the entire day. The pair will coordinate shots, angles, directing, and capturing candids without being in each other’s way. Finding this pair is not as simple as hiring other vendors. You’ll want to make sure these two vendors click in the best way possible. The following are insider tips on how to select the best wedding videographer pairing for your wedding day!
Getting adequate coverage of a wedding through photography and videography matters now more than ever! When you select your wedding videographer and photographer, you are investing in both your memories and in the creativity of your team. They should have a similar approach to creating natural moments and interacting with you. So, how do you find a wedding videography and photography package that fits your wedding vision?
How a Wedding Videographer Cares for Their Couples
One of the wedding videographers that I love to work with in the Washington, DC area is 87 & Smith. Kyle Smith finds that his “filming style is rooted in authenticity.” He makes “timeless and refined wedding films for couples who want something a little different.” When talking to his couples who may be a little nervous about being photographed, he reminds them that “At the end of the day, you’ll be so busy with actually getting married, and being around your friends and family, that you won’t even notice what we’re doing!”
Kyle also noted that couples should “Ask your filmmaker their approach to filming, what you want to hear is someone who can assure you that they will be unobtrusive. The best filmmaker is one who can read the room, understand social cues, and know when or what might be making someone feel uncomfortable.” Often his couples who are nervous at first tell him after the fact that “they couldn’t have felt more comfortable.”
As Kyle puts it, “If you have anxiety about being filmed be sure to hire someone who blends into the background and isn’t in your face all day.” A wedding videographer should blend into the background and also work well alongside the wedding photographer as a team!
My Own Wedding Horror Story
Once, the videographer at a wedding I was photographing stood right in front of the couple during the ceremony. He stood about one foot from them wearing a striped yellow-and-black t-shirt and cargo shorts. When I got his attention to tell him to move, he moved in front of the mother of the groom. He completely blocked her view and was still one foot away from the couple!
He also didn’t have the equipment to pick up vocals from the back or sides and didn’t have a camera or lens that could handle zooming in close enough. I had to get really creative with my angles in many of the ceremony photos. He basically blocked everyone from witnessing the entire ceremony!
After finding such amazing partners as 87 & Smith and Paperboys, I haven’t experienced a horror story like this again. We can accidentally get into each other’s way or even hinder the other’s work (oops!). But, it’s still possible for both a wedding photographer and videographer to work well together!
How to Hire The Best Wedding Day Videographer
- Ask your photographer if they have packages with a videographer that they love working with. It helps when these two already have a system for working together.
- View their work and talk to them! Ask your photographer and videographer how they work. See if it is the same approach or radically different.
Just ask! Couples ask me all the time which wedding videographers I love working with and I WANT to tell them! I desire that my clients avoid their own horror stories as much as humanly possible.
I love working with both 87 & Smith and Paperboys because we all love movement, candid moments that truly capture our couples, and we really feed off each other creatively! We’ve worked together a ton so we know how to collaborate and inspire each other throughout the day.
Wondering how to pair a wedding photographer and videographer that collaborate well together? I would love to share my wedding videographer recommendations!
About 87 & Smith
Kyle Smith of 87 & Smith believes in capturing moments naturally. He wants you to watch your film and remember how organic it was, how real and raw the moments were–nothing fabricated, nothing fake. Ultimately, this helps ease the couple’s nerves about being on camera.
In Kyle’s career he has filmed upwards of 150 weddings but he considers that no two weddings are identical. Kyle loves the artistry behind what he does. It is a unique opportunity to create art out of an incredibly intimate experience. Check out Kyle’s services.
