Wedding Rate, what would you do?

Blade Borge

Blade Borge

Well-known member
Asked to shoot a small wedding,

using my low grade 3ccd camera, mic.

I will shoot, edit, author

DVD has wedding, highlight, best wishes, complete footage


What would you charge?
 
1500 min. you could go as low as 1000 but do you really want to underpay yourself? 1 day to shoot, 3-4 to edit and author...you do the math.

t
 
is it your first wedding? what kind of experience in doing event coverage? I did my first one for free for a friend. 2nd one i did was another favor, and just charged 250 for basic ceremony coverage. and now thats where i stand. as i develop a solid foundation in weddings ill charge more and more. my next one for a 2 camera shoot, ill do $1000 with light before and after ceremony coverage
 
I've been a second shooter before, paid peanuts. I have some experience in event coverage, I'm a would-be DP so I'm all about getting good coverage.

I'm also meticulous about making things look right, so the dvd is going to look very charming.

1500min? Wow, is that typical? If so, and people are willing to pay, I might have to shoot more weddings.
 
wat kind of camera are you using btw? i would also suggest in my limited wedding experience that a second camera is a definiate bonus
 
It's a small panasonic 3ccd camera, obscure model number, without the shotgun mic attached, it looks pretty dinky/pedestrian. I agree, second camera would be a good investment.
 
You're not using the on camera mic are you? Just making sure...

If it's your first wedding perhaps charge $600 to a grand. Then jack up the price for the next one.
 
Sorry for this comment, but it seems like many clients these days like those huge camera rigs, they "look" more pro according to them.

You may want to stick a matte box or something else on your camera before you show it off if even in your own words it looks "pretty dinky/pedestrian".

Another thing is a good/decent tripod, which one do you have right now?

It seems clients are willing to pay more if you have a more professional looking package.

I'd also say that you should setup a basic website before your first gig, and get some cards made, so if anyone asks you, then you hand them the card, and they can contact you in the future (hopefully with more business).
 
Search some of the wedding threads on this board. I would say that the ability to take external audio is my biggest concern after reading your post.

Without a second camera and the ability to run continuous recording during the ceremony, you will hinder your ability to edit to the point of almost guaranteeing failure.

From a cost standpoint, $1.5k is the minimum I'd charge for a single-day or 1.5 day shoot, edit and SD DVD deliverable.

e
 
no on board mic, I totally agree, my camera needs an image change. That's kind of why I'm shooting weddings right now, a catch 22 if you will.

Tripod? Ehhh, another area that needs improvement.

I'm using all the money I make from this stuff to go back into equipment, though a nice tripod and an hvx200 aren't going to be bought anytime soon. :embarasse


Oh, and I'm not really into shooting weddings, I've got some well distinguished DP friends who say I should stay out of it, could pigeon-hole me. I'm really a wannabe cinematographer, just doing this on the side.
 
Don't bag those weddings too much! I started out filming weddings around 18 years (I'm now 40) on a single chip Super VHS camera. Through the years we picked up a lot of corporate and even TV commercial work from those weddings not to mention an enormous amount of experience in being able to think fast and work under extreme pressure, and we always worked hard to try new things and to be as creative as we can. Now 400 weddings later I can proudly say that I dont do them anymore, I shot 2 weddings last year both for friends and none booked for this year. As much as I hate them now... and I mean HATE! They have gotten me where I am today. Most of our work now are TVCs, promotional and retail DVD's. We have currently just wrapped on a $55,000 TV Commercial

I still get wedding enquires from people every now and then, my full day coverage and edit is $3500.
 
The most important things I found a wedding videographer needs are: A professional looking camera and one that can obtain a decent picture under low light, quality radio mic system, and stable fluid tripod, plenty of battery power, an on camera light and a smile on your face as if its the best wedding you’ve ever been too even if your bored out of your brain and would rather be anywhere but there!
 
For a single camera shoot of just the ceremony and reception, I charge 2K.

2 camera shoot of same menu, 3500.00

2 camera shoot of bridal preps, make-up, hair, etc., all through the day, 5K.

2 camera shoot of above menu, HD, 7500.00. I've only bagged one of those--most people aren't investing in BluRay players yet. This couple happened to be tekkies who were anxious for a BluRay wedding disc.
 
I shoot weddings for 5k flat, if that helps.
Thats one camera, one editor. I don't offer any other packages. Options outside of that come at 150 per hour.
 
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