Guide to selecting a great wedding videographer.

With advances in Video Technology and Digital Tape (MiniDV) you can enjoy viewing your wedding over and over again. With professional editing this special memory can be capture in a Hollywood style production.

But you might ask: Are all videographers providing this type of service? The answer is "NO."

What equipment do the videographers use? How are they editing the video? Are they using digital technology? Hopefully this article can help you understand some basic ideas so you can have an excellent wedding video to be view over and over again.

Do you really need to have your wedding videotaped? No. It's all a matter of personal choice.  However, many couples ask a friend or relative to videotape and are later disappointed.  Some of those disappointing comments I have heard include: the camera was out of focus, our heads were cut off, he forgot to videotape parts of the ceremony since he was watching it, the video giggles all the time, and it looks so horrible.  If you are the the relative or friend, I personally recommend turning down the request if you are not very experienced.

How much do you want to capture? Do you want to have the laughs, tears, sounds, action, and other special activities captured? If so, video is the only way to have it all memorialized. The professional videographer is experienced in capturing these moments for you.

Like many weddings, you have great expenses in flowers, dresses, the hall, cake, and catering. The photographer will charge for all those special pictures. But what are you willing to spend for a video?

Should I have a friend video tape the wedding or hire a professional videographer?

This is it, this is the important question. A friend can tape the ceremony for little or no costs. The tape will be copied and its done.

But this is where the quality and problems will be most noticeable. What type of camcorder will he or she use? What kind of image quality will you get in the finished tape? Does the camcorder have broadcast quality technology or just a home quality unit? Can additional microphones be added in? How will the sound come out in the end? Can your friend edit the video?

Others may offer cheap packages with no special care to editing. This may include in-camera edits, where they give you your tape at the end of your wedding day.  If they use home video cameras that you can buy from any retailer, the video and audio quality will be inferior.

The broadcast quality digital camcorders and video tapes are better for editing and copying to your final tape. Your memories are captured with special effects, beautiful colors, and music added to make it a masterpiece.

The digital footage is input into a computer, editing on premise, carefully arranged, and then provided to you for a critique. Editing problems are fixed immediately.

No price will be a good price if you do not like the results.

How expensive will it be to hire a professional videographer?

Like any other service, you will pay for what you get. A typical videographer using a 3-chip digital camcorder, for coverage of your wedding and reception, will run around $1000 and up. You should expect to pay no less than $1500 for a quality videographer using two cameras. Three cameras will cost around $2000. And a word of advice: Don't look for the cheapest - You will get what you pay for.

Your videographer should be shooting less than 100 weddings a year. You don't want to become just another wedding and with little customer interaction.

You can expect your videographer to put 15 to 20 hours into a single video between shooting, editing and client meetings.

Audio:

Additional microphones and wireless lavaliere microphones can be used during the ceremony. The audio (sound) can be better, especially if the camera is at a distance. There can also be a microphone to capture any scriptural readings.