Wedding Prices

AllAroundFilmLV

AllAroundFilmLV

Well-known member
I didnt know where to post this, so its going here. Move if needed...

anyway, I got an offer from somebody who wants me to tape and edit their wedding. I have never done a wedding before by myself, but I have taped them and edited them together a couple times.

My question is, how much should I be charging them to do it, this would be taping the ceremony, and the reception and editing and giving them a master DVD. Also, what equipment would I need. Right now I have my DVC80, a Rode NTG-1 Shotgun, and a tripod.

I'm located in Vegas if that helps.

Any help would be great.

PS: This is NOT a profession for me, It is for some extra cash, and since I'm still a college student I can use the money for little work.
 
I think it really depends on a lot of things; obviously the quality of your work, your location, what their willing to spend/your willing to accept, etc.

A broad range is 1k-4k. So, take a look at this link; http://www.weva.com/ or even more specifically http://www.weva.com/resources.php?action=resources1 and try to find a VIDEOGRAPHER in your area. You will probably be able to go to their website, see some of their work and what they charge to give you a rough estimate of what you should be asking.

Make sense?
 
Oh God I'm never filming weddings after my last incident... but rlm7189 is correct. Check out those sites and see what suits you. I charged waay too low, mainly because I knew the couple.

Good luck on that!
 
it's more work than you think, and you really can't do justice to the ceremony without two cameras and wireless mics on the groom and officiant. if the church has a modern sound system, try to use their stuff and pull off their sound board. I shoot receptions run&gun with a shotgun on camera, longer hours but you're just capturing the highlights.
 
One thing that makes all the difference in the world: Get a wireless lavalier mike for the groom. I don't know pricing on them, cuz I rarely shoot weddings and when I do, I borrow or rent. Audio is everything during the ceremony and the lav will really help your cause.

Also, get one of those on-board lights for the reception. The one I have is a Bescor20/40 watt that I got from B&H. It's a real piece of :furious3: but it gets the job done. They make much nicer lights, maybe someone else can recommend a good one for live events?

Also, bring a grip bag with gaffer's tape, power cables, power strips or any other supplies you would normally use on a shoot. You never know what you might need.

As far as pricing, it's gonna be relative on your experience. I certainly wouldn't charge less than fifteen hundred for what you are about to do, but how much higher you go is relative to what kind of a product you think you can deliver.
 
Arcwave said:
Oh God I'm never filming weddings after my last incident...
Click to expand...

C'mon on man, you have got to share. We all might get a good laugh out of it. We all have disaster stories. In fact, that ought to be a good and interesting thread..."Tell Us Your Disaster Story". Could be a good read 'cause misery loves company. But, share please.


Brandon Rice said:
Yeah... I learned that I charge way too low too... from now on, nothing under 1k.
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Haha. Brandon. I saw your other post (excellent work by the way) where everyone was getting on your case for charging $350.
 
I'm stuck, my parents recommended me to videotape my aunt's wedding... I have to pay my way to fly across the country and shoot the stupid thing for free because of my parents' big mouth
 
Consider the amount of time you are there, too. I always stay until the bride and groom leave, because it makes for an excellent ending shot when they get into the limo, I film a few words inside the limo, then I film them driving off... and I fade out.

So from start to finish you are typically there for 6-8 hours! Long day so you want to make sure you are getting your hourly pay in for that and then the editing process.

How much do wireless lavalier's cost???? That is one aspect of my video I don't do, yet. I'm not professional, I just do it for cash too. Anyone know where I can find the cheapest?
 
Deepfocus88 said:
One thing that makes all the difference in the world: Get a wireless lavalier mike for the groom. Also, get one of those on-board lights for the reception.
Click to expand...

Best advice so far, and I can't stress it enough.

You could pick up a cheap "samson" lav for under $200 and it would be a thousand time's better than on camera audio (even if you have a shotgun).

I've got a sennheiser G2 I picked up off of ebay fro around $400?? and also a cheap samson that came with a bunch of other gear. I mic the officiant with the G2, and the groom with the cheaper one (usually) for a backup.

Also agreed that 2 camera's on the ceremony makes a HUGE difference. HERE'S a few tips I wrote up awhile back, if it helps.

My price's down here in TX range from $1700 up to $2500 for weddings, and I stay busy (I'm booked every weekend for the next 3 months, and I had 3 last weekend). If they want more, I customize a package and charge more.

Anyway... price depends on quality That's that...

-brown
 
Hmm, I will prob eventually get a mic if I can find one under $200.

How do you find time to edit all of those, and typically how long does it take for you to get the DVD back to them?

Also, I am in a pickle now that I will be getting a DVX. I used to shoot weddings with two consumer level cameras. Now with ONE dvx, what do I do? I still want two angles throughout the ceremony, but I don't have two DVX's, nor do I plan on buying another one. Could I use the Sony Handicam for the wideshot and the DVX close to the alter, even though they will look totally different? If I rent a DVX it will cost me more than I charge, too..... so I'm not sure what I should do. I may be able to borrow a friend's canon XL2... but I'd probably end up paying him for that too...
 
Honestly, $2000 for a day's shooting, edit and a couple of DVDs with menu is what I would start at.

Once you do one, you'll see what I mean. If you try to break it down, you'll see that your hourly rates, equipment charges, fixed-overhead post amortizations and incidental whatsoevers are barely covered.

To find the threshold, I'd research what local stills shooters are doing to package their wedding products.

e
 
Never used them for weddings but we use the sennheisser G2 setups for corporate interviewish type of work. $500 for tx/rx and lav. The lav it comes with is a little muddy and not the greatest but you can always understand what the wearer is saying. How cheap were you thinking? I dont know that I'd trust anything cheaper.
 
Seems like the nady's and sampsons are cheaper but if signal dropout/static is going to be a problem I'd hate to yell CUT in the middle of the wedding... Personally I'd start charging more like $500 so I could buy new fun gear every weekend :)
 
I would think that 1,500 would be a base price. Usually a wedding involves around 8-12 hours on location, plus at least 15 hours editing and dvd authoring, so figure what you would charge per hour and work from that.

Wirless audio costs mostly depend on wether you use vhf or uhf. VHF will be cheaper in cost but you run the risk of getting interference from local stations. Its worth the extra to use UHF. We have used Azden UHF systems with great success, but they typically start at 300-400. Always make sure that you test your equipment with the church officiat before the ceremony to make sure that their wirless system will not interfere with yours.

If you invest in on-camera lights, stay away from Cool Lux....pieces of ****!!
 
Right - thirty times $50 / hr is uh... $1500. Add to that the having-to-deal-with-the-pita-mother-in-law surcharge of $500 and that's where I start.

e
 
Well I went to a few peoples websites for here in town and they charge 800 just for taping the wedding and ceremony, thats no editing and one VHS copy to the bride and groom.

I'm charging them 1000 because this is my first wedding I will be doing alone, and it's my friends sister. That'll be the ceremony, and reception, editing of the reception and interviews (best wishes), and one master DVD. I think that's reasonable.
 
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