I won't shoot weddings

roxics

roxics

Veteran
I've done it twice in the past for people I know. Back before I had pro experience doing commercial work. Today I won't touch a wedding.
In my experience, weddings are thankless productions. People often value them less than photography even though in my opinion it's a lot more work because of motion and audio.

But am I selling myself short with this stance?

How many of you shoot weddings and what is your take on them? Do you do other work besides weddings?
 
i shot a few, never had to edit one. i avoid them as well, finding them boring but also stressful (hours of nothing at a reception followed by a flurry of events you can easily miss). dark churches/reception halls at the lower end of the spectrum, trying to interview drunk people, no one to alert you when speeches etc. are about to happen. plus, its a wedding. meaningful for the people its happening to and friends and family, not so much for outsider hired to shoot it.
 
roxics said:
I've done it twice in the past for people I know. Back before I had pro experience doing commercial work. Today I won't touch a wedding.
In my experience, weddings are thankless productions. People often value them less than photography even though in my opinion it's a lot more work because of motion and audio.

But am I selling myself short with this stance?

How many of you shoot weddings and what is your take on them? Do you do other work besides weddings?
Click to expand...

As you know, experiences may vary. Also, it can be a very polarizing subject.

I suppose, as with all things, you just have to do some cost/benefit analyses. For example, how much do you dislike it, versus how much benefit/pay you may receive. If the balance comes out at enough net gains that make it worth it for you, then go for it.

One thing is certain. Weddings can be really stressful if you let them. Specially if you don't have the disposition for it.

I personally really like filming weddings. It's weird, I know. But I like the on-your-feet problem solving, as well as capturing genuinely happy and joyous moments. I find it preps me well for when I'm in more controlled environments. Lastly, I can charge an amount that works well for me.

With th all that said, if I was making more money doing commercial and narrative work, I might not be shooting as many weddings every year. Right now I do about 10 per year...which is really not a lot compared to some. But you know what, even if I was more in demand in the narrative commercial wolrds, I might still be compelled to do a wedding or two a year. You know, just the ones I thought would be really fun or interesting.

90% of videographers, or whatever you call it, I speak to hate filming weddings. That should tell you to tread carefully into the wedding world.
 
morgan_moore said:
A wedding is critically important step in two lives. One should only shoot weddings if you realise this and want to represent that.

Anyone who thinks they are a simple cash cow is deluding themselves and will hit rocks hard.

S
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EXACTLY. I've never offered my services as a wedding videographer for that very reason. It's the most important day of 2 people's lives - and for me it would just be another work day. Until that one time when the camera malfunctions. Then the weight of the world would come crashing down on me. And I don't mean by the client, but by my own guilt. Even with corporate clients, I shoot with 2 cameras whenever I can - and not for coverage, but for protection.
 
I've shot exactly three in my life. One when I was about 14 and two others for friends after I had begun my career. I don't like saying NEVER, but as long as I can help it, I'll never shoot another wedding. Being the network pool crew for POTUS coverage is less work and less stressful.
 
The wedding video is the hardest kind of video I've ever tried to make. One take. Scattered subjects. Improvization. High-contrast costumes. Low light. Hours of happenings, often impossible to know what to keep. I got totally burned out of videomaking in general while making about 30 or 40 weddings over about four years. I took them only because I was just starting out, but ironically they took so much of my time and thought (because I wanted to do them well) that I had nothing left to pursue my real dream (feature filmmaking).

That being said, there were several people I met who actually liked making wedding videos. This isn't a stepping stone for them. This is it, often because they just wanted to be their own boss, and this is something that also had a mix of creatively splashed in. More and more I'm seeing videos that blow mine away.

So, if you like it, go for it. But if you don't like it, but wouldn't mind an extra thousand bucks or so every now and then, if you're willing to work pretty hard for a week or two on one and give it the quality I think it deserves, also go for it. But don't kill yourself, like I did, feeling like you have to. I could have made more profit as a barista.
 
I like controlling the lighting and the option of take 2. I won't touch a wedding for those reasons.
 
My wife and I barely went to our own wedding (Chapel of the Bells, Las Vegas - 15 minutes and done!). I see no need or desire to attend somebody else's.
 
I've shot weddings for 21 years now. I never intentionally got into it. People just started asking and it swelled from there.
I also have done tv commercials, corporate, performing arts, sci fi and even car chases, and can attest that weddings are an entirely different ball game.

What I see now that gear is so cheap, are a lot of people trying it. The ones with skills often migrate out of weddings and into corporate/commercial because of $$.
I do it because of the positive impact it has on the people. Marriage and family are a big deal.

There are some that make a good living doing weddings but I would say they are not the majority. The stats ive seen are around $1500 for video services. Break that down in hours and resources needed as well as risk involved and it's no wonder most post houses totally avoid weddings. $$$
 
Weddings are among the most difficult in all production related work. There's no second chances in that game. Stressful, dealing with bi-polar brides, lol Dealing with drunks, and penny pinchers, then there's the Lack of respect. I think wedding videographers are considered second rate in terms of video production and not taken as serious or considered not really a true artist. People look at wedding video guys as someone with a camera, if they weren't in the wedding they could do the same quality because it's only holding a camera and pointing it at the bride and groom, heck,,, uncle Bob could even do it drunk.

Of course this couldn't be further from the truth. Wedding video has become very artistic, it requires the same care and attention any production requires. Like I said, you only have one take to get it right. That in it's self is impressive for the guys that do it for a living. I wouldn't want that stress on a weekly basis. I'm sure after doing so many weddings it becomes second nature, but like any field, equipment can go down and **** your world real quick. I have a lot of respect for the guys that shoot weddings. Nothing easy about that gig. I think perception has begun to change due to the short form wedding format. Lets face it, wedding videos are pretty dull unless your the one being married or it's your son or daughter. With that said, they typically only watch it a few times with family, then it diminishes even more over time, then they get a divorce and it gets smashed to bits. Now that I think about it, it's really all for nothing, and being that over 50% of marriages end in divorce it doesn't really matter if it's good, it's irrelevant. Damn I'm going to start shooting weddings with my iPhone. Where do I sign up?
 
morgan_moore said:
A wedding is critically important step in two lives. One should only shoot weddings if you realise this and want to represent that.

Anyone who thinks they are a simple cash cow is deluding themselves and will hit rocks hard.

S
Click to expand...

Cash cow?

Generally, weddings nowdays are a Craigs List service.
 
they can be very lucrative if you can get into the right market. make no mistake...*I* hate them but I DO NOT think theyre easy and if you enjoy the work then more power to you; youve found something you like/love that makes you money.
 
Yeah I agree that in large the wedding video industry is gone down the toilet and wedding videographers are often belittled by the others in video production. Brides and people in general have no clue how much more is involved between uncle Bob with a camera or even photography vs pro video. But much of the video production industry has gone down the toilet and there are many many guys with a camera offering cheap work in the low end.
Makes me wonder what it will be like in just a few more years.
 
I don't at all agree with the work being under appreciated. I used to shoot weddings, and my clients were great. You just have to get the right people. I don't find them to be any worse than some corporate clients.

That said, I also don't shoot weddings anymore. Ever since I moved to Sonoma County, I've been in a market that I'm unable to understand. People here take these things too seriously, and have a completely different concept of what a wedding is than the people I came from. If I don't share their values and priorities, shooting for them will be hard. The second reason we don't do this is that once you have weddings in your demo reel, you become a wedding videographer. In the commercial and broadcast industries, weddings are considered a joke. If you shoot them, you're not qualified to work with real crews. Of course, that's not at all true, especially since we still do other events. Regardless, it's a legitimate reason to not include it in marketing. And it's really not worth the stress and long hours to not get to sell something in the demo.

I am hoping to find wedding videographers who are too busy to edit, though, since it would be a reliable source of post work. Still working on that.
 
I shot approx 15-20 weddings between 2011-2014,
as my corporate video business became successful i didn't have the time or need to do them anymore,
most importantly - during the last couple of shoots I realised i had lost any passion or enjoyment for shooting them and if i carried on this would be reflected to some degree in my work and wasn't fair on the client.
Fair play to any wedding videographers out there, it takes talent, stamina, client handling skills and the ability to stay calm under pressure and quickly solve technical problems.
 
I think this thread pretty much sums it up. Most avoid weddings, some still are involved. I don't do them anymore either. What I disliked the most was being in charge of documenting an event that you are on the outside of. As the video person you are often the last to know about things. I found them enjoyable enough and easy to film, just frustrating. I also could not stand the whole copyrighted music thing. At least there are more music choices today.
 
re: demo ---- you can still do weddings (or porn, or any other thing you want), just market it as a separate business, ideally with a separate website and demo reel from the other stuff.
 
Josh Bass said:
re: demo ---- you can still do weddings (or porn, or any other thing you want), just market it as a separate business, ideally with a separate website and demo reel from the other stuff.
Click to expand...

yes. We have separate web sites and separate demo reels. The commercial world has no interest in how fantastic your wedding work is, and most brides have no care how awesome your corporate work is. Their minds are in a completely different frequency. I try to keep them separate. Although sometimes the groom or father have an interest when they see cool gear and exciting commercial stuff.

and yes the rediculous music situation has been an enormous hassle for years upon years. Though it is better now.
 
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