What to charge for bare bones wedding

since we're talking prices, has anyone ever tried to do a dvxuser salary survey?
it would be a good way to share information and help each other out I think....

If you're not familiar with what a salary survey is, it's an anonymous survey about the different rates you charge for different project types, and the information is analyzed and published for everyone to see. that way, people could see where there prices fall among everyone else's.

any statistics buffs feel like trying this?
 
My first wedding video was $850. We had less than one weeks notice, the preacher would not let us set up mics at the alter, didn't have wireless at the time. The filming was a nightmare. But, the video looked great, the sound, while not great, was still able to be tweaked out the butt to get passable results. The real seller was the fact that it was a 2 camera shoot, the colors were beautiful, and the editing was a snap.

The whole project was about a 7 for me, with the real high point being the DVD. Great intros and menus. I hated the sound quality, but the folks seemed to like it, and considering the short notice and lack of resorces because of it, it came out better than I would have hoped.

I don't plan on ever shooting one again though. WAY too much work and stress for only $850. No one around here would think of paying more than 2000 for a shoot (and most of the time they want three cameras for up to six hours).

Give me a dance competition or TV spot any day of the week. Much less hassle, more room to play.
 
dotconnproductions said:
To do a wedding for less than $200 will barely pay for the tape.
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At the risk of sounding totally ignorant, I must ask ... what sort of tape are you using? I get Panasonic brand tapes from production house at $6 per.
 
I work with a team of 2 other people.

The price the guy i work for charges starting price at about $1500..depending where the wedding/sweet 16 is and how big it is. From there..we jus split the costs three ways...the last party i went to go I shot and I edited it. I made about $350. For someone my age...that money once a week is like ideal..:thumbsup:
 
Mmm, business man i am not....

but thats no surpise to me.


I dunno, i have actually shot a few weddings, but they were all just for family, and they LOVE them, they say its very personal, but i think itsjust because iknow the people. I dont think i would get good results with Outside the family wedding Vids.

I should try one, just see what happens.

Barry_Green said:
Timur, you're marketing to the wrong crowd. You're going broke chasing people who don't want to pay you. That's not the way to go.

Weddings take a special person, and they'll quickly make a man out of any videographer, but if you can do them and do them well, and market yourself well, $3500 to $5000 is not unheard of. And you can usually handle one a week.

Cheap customers are a hassle on two fronts: 1, the cheap jobs don't pay enough to help you keep your sanity and stress levels in check, and 2, cheap customers are usually a lot more hassle than well-paying customers are.

Ditch the cheap stuff and move upscale if you can. Stop dropping your price and start raising it. The only customers you'll lose are the ones you don't want anyway. :thumsup:
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Jesus guys, is this event videography business this rewarding? I should really try and get a wedding or something, even $300 is a *LOT* of money for a guy like me.... But of course, I don't have to pay for my food, house etc.
 
Wedding/Event video is probably the #1 way people make a living off their camcorders. It's a very competitive business, and very few get the top, top dollars. But if you're happy with $300, then yes, if you're talented and you can MARKET YOURSELF, you should have no trouble getting $700-$800 on the low end. But that means a finished product, all editing etc. It's not easy work. Wedding shooters earn every dollar they get.
 
I honestly think wedding videography is the most demanding type of video production I've ever dealt with. Emotions are high, you only get one shot and the chance to screw up is huge. But... it's also very rewarding, and not just financially. People love.... LOVE what you do. We do little documentaries about the couple that we show at the reception and it always brings the house down.

That being said, the money's not bad either. The trick is to either find a level of quality you're happy with and concentrate on making money or get out of wedding biz and step into corporate to support your habit of new equipment.

Tricky to do really.
 
After 15 years of freelancing and favors i'm finally investing in myself and laying the frame work for my Vid/Doc business. Pricing is always difficult and you have to do a serious self evaluation on your product. But, if you have the equipment and the ability, Videography, event videography specifically is a very specialized field. Not everyone knows how to use a NLE or wield a DVX, let alone turn on and hold a camera still. The service we provide is unique and deserves its due.
 
small world....I was asked to shoot a wedding just church stuff, raw footage on DVDs. I'm going to tell her $200 bucks.


BTW I hate shooting weddings
 
I shot my first wedding for $500. I informed the groom about his "choice" of shooting mode.. he happened to be my friends brother, and that friend happens to also own a DVX... so the brother that bought him the DVX wanted it shot in 24p.

Despite me telling him that the footage in the reception hall would be dark, that was the first comment I got from him after showing some footage.

It was a hell of a lot of work. And I had never done it before, and only planned it the night before. (and at the rehearsal). We had two camera's shooting, (mine and a friends, He charged $300) and it total got something insane like 14 hours of footage.

He didn't take me up on my offer to edit and shoot it for $1000. But I did end up getting some really nice footage.

but I would never do a video like that for $75 that doesn't even pay for the gas + tapes.. let alone your time..
 
my first shoot was a sweet 16....it was my first time actually going to a sweet 16...so i didnt know how they worked. I didnt know wat the hell was gonna happen or who's who....and the guy i work for was like..."alright..ive seen some stuff you've shot before and put together..and i like it...jus do your thing."

I was like..omfg..wat did i get myself into?!?

Later on the night..I bumped into the party planner...and I talked to him about what was gonna go on, i got all the info of when and what was going on. and from there it was pie...

Always talk to the planner WAY BEFORE the party to plan out some shots. I just made it in time with an extra 2 minutes to set up this dolly at a certain section of the hall for the grand entrance. whew...

It was scary....the $350 i made was worth it thou..its fun goin to those parties cuz you get fed and meet girls. :D

:thumbsup: good luck to you all on your next big parties!!
 
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well the weddings ishot were as i said family, and i dragged my camera along, just for the hell of it, i figured i could make them an alternate Video.

By the time i was done, i basically raped the proguys onboard light.... and got al lthe same shots, but i shot the video like i wouls shoot Photos, a collection of candid clips, and sstuff.

mine just looked more natural, whereas the "pro" one looked flat and cold. Very much like a guy standing there with a camera.

So they wound up making dupes of my dvd and giving that out.
 
Wedding videos are defiinitely one thing I would not want to do...hats off to anyone who does them. I'm having my son's wedding shot by a friend (a professional shooter who has done weddings), but even as a friend, and me doing all the editing, I would not think of paying him and an assistant less than $1200 + expenses. It's a full day's work and a full day camera operator job is near $800-$1600 in my area, assistant cost is on top of that. And he's a pro and it's HD so even if the pro photog sucks, I feel I can pull some decent stills from the 720p footage.

Don't sell your skills short. If you know you are a good shooter, you are in short supply. Anyone can shoot, but the good ones know when/where and how. Weddings are a once-in-a-lifetime thing...you screw it up and they get crap...no retakes. If someone thinks your price is low then ask them how much they think their wedding memories are worth.


Will be happy to post some results from the HVX200 after the wedding (July).

-Bob
 
Noct said:
Compromise. Tell her you'll do it for $250-$300.
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I wouldn't touch it! You said you need the exposure ... raw footage is not good exposure. The person watching it won't look at it as a basic job, they ALWAYS COMPARE. You can't afford to look second best at any price.
 
Wow, lots and lots of conflicting opinions here. I've offered to do this at $200: The 20-min ceremony only, no shots of outside or inside of venue--just processional to recessional. Raw footage only with no editing. Of course I will edit this for my own purposes (web, etc.).

It is now in her court. She sounded pretty stuck on $150 and hasn't called back. While I would like the experience, I'd be ok at this point with a no call-back.
 
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