Most budget guides are WRONG about wedding video!

We've seen wedding guides (even from reputable sources!) advertise that video costs $800 and that it costs $7000! Most guides are, from our perspective as a videographer, simply wrong. When you follow these guides without checking in with vendors, unfortunately you may wind up finding that services cost a lot more (or a lot less!) than you expected.

So how much should you budget for a wedding video? Like all products and services (except for the Costco hotdog), prices change by the year. We can't speak for every vendor, but at Unnamed Films we also charge a unique rate for each wedding date depending on the season and location. This helps us to keep our prices as low as we can while also paying our team for their excellent work! Here are some things to consider when you're trying to figure out what to budget for a wedding video.

TL:DR: Minimum $2000, message us to get custom pricing for your date and location!

Is Video a Priority?

When budgeting, it's important to decide as a couple what your priorities will be. What are you willing to miss, and what are your non-negotiables for the big day? What services do you want to invest the most in? What location and season do you want the wedding to be in, and are you willing to be flexible? What are you the most excited to feel on the wedding day? And what are you most eager to remember in the days, months, and years to come?

We believe everyone should have a wedding video. For us, the value of capturing your loved ones at that moment in time, of hearing their laughter, of watching them dance and enjoy themselves--is well worth the investment. Re-reading your vows can be beautiful, but listening to the emotion in your voice as you read them back to your life partner is indescribable. Photos help you to remember how everything looked--but video takes you back to how it felt. You can become fully immersed in that experience again and again, falling a little deeper in love every time.

We may be biased, but in our opinion, if you want to remember the feeling of those moments, a video is the way to go. If you agree, you should build video into your budget as a non-negotiable, just like your photographer and venue.

Just Give Me a Number!

Alright, here it is: it depends.

Sorry, sorry, but it's true! Check out our article on what a wedding video REALLY costs to learn what goes into wedding video pricing. For now, what we're trying to say is that things like the style of video you choose, the date of the wedding, and the location of the wedding will impact your pricing. While we'd like to throw an exact number at you, the fact is, the time and location of the wedding are a huge factor. The quantity of hours of coverage you'd like to see are also a major factor!

The only number we're comfortable throwing out here is this...

It's hard to find a high-quality wedding video, excellently edited and set to music, for under $2000.

That sounds like a lot, but many vendors (us 👀) include additional deliverables in their packages to help sweeten the deal!

Okay, so What Will MY Wedding Video Cost?

Now that is the question to ask! As stated above, you can contact your friendly neighborhood videographer (ahem, us) with your wedding date and location, and maybe your budget constraints. We can try to help you figure out the maximum amount of coverage you can afford, while also giving you customizable options to help you along. When in doubt, reach out!

How to Finance Your Wedding Video

In the past 10 years of capturing weddings, we've learned a lot! Here's a quick list of ways to finance a wedding video that we've encountered over the years.

1. Assess your support. Talk to your support system openly to assess who is willing to help with finances, and who is willing to volunteer time, space, supplies, or anything else you may need.
2. Consider time on-site. Shorter time on-site = less expensive video. Ask your videographer how you can arrange your timeline to make it video efficient.
3. Consider deliverable length. Shorter highlight = less expensive video. A shorter highlight may have fewer clips from important events, so you'll also want to prioritize which parts of the day are most important for you to see in your video.
4. Talk payment plans. We can't speak for all videographers, but at UNF, we're pretty flexible with payment plans. Don't be afraid to ask your videographer what payment plans are available! For example, we offer one payment plan that doesn't require the final payment until AFTER the wedding.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: when in doubt, reach out! We can't speak for all vendors, but we know that we are always willing to help a couple figure out the budget side of things. To get a custom quote or discover the right package for your wedding day, shoot us a message! We'd love to help you capture and preserve your wedding day memories.