Wedding Videographer vs Photographer: Do You Need Both?
A photographer and a videographer are doing two different jobs on your wedding day, so here’s how to work out what yours needs.
It’s one of the first things couples run into when they start booking suppliers. You’ve probably already got a photographer in mind, maybe even booked, and now you’re wondering whether a videographer is worth it on top, or whether you have to pick between the two.
I film weddings for a living, so you’d be right to expect me to have a view on this. I’ll be straight with you all the same, because the real answer comes down to what you want to be able to do with your day once it’s over. Let me talk you through what each one actually gives you.
What each one actually captures
A photographer and a videographer are pointed at the same day, but they hold onto different parts of it.
Photography captures a single moment in time and holds it perfectly still, the look on your dad’s face or the confetti caught mid air, the kind of frames that end up on your wall and in your grandkids’ hands one day. Nothing else does that job quite as well.
A film works differently. It gives you the moments either side of that frame, the walk up to it and the reaction straight after, with all the movement and the sound of it still attached. Where a photo brings back the memory of your day, a film brings back how it actually felt to be there in it.
A film brings back how it actually felt to be there in it.
Do you really need both?
This is the part most couples wrestle with, usually because of budget. The honest answer is that you don’t need both. Plenty of couples have a wonderful photographer and no film at all, and they don’t spend the rest of their lives upset about it.
What I’d say is that the two don’t compete, they cover for each other. Your photos give you the still images you’ll frame and hold. Your film gives you the voices, the speeches in full, the sound of the room and your vows exactly as you said them. When couples tell me why they wanted a film as well, it’s almost always that they didn’t want to forget the sound of someone’s voice, or a speech that had the whole room going.
If it does come down to budget, it’s worth seeing how much a wedding film actually costs before you rule it out. It’s often less of a stretch than couples expect.
The two don’t compete, they cover for each other.
If you can only choose one
Sometimes the budget only stretches to one, and that’s a perfectly fair position to be in. I won’t pretend I’m unbiased here, filming weddings is what I do, so take what follows with that in mind.
Most couples lead with a photographer, and I understand why. Photos are the tradition, they’re easy to share, and they’re on the wall every single day. If you’re someone who values having something physical and immediate, a photographer first makes complete sense.
The couples who reach for a film instead tend to be the ones who care most about the sound and the feeling of the day. They want to hear the speeches again, watch the first look play out in real time, sit with how the whole thing felt rather than just how it looked. If that sounds like you, a film might matter more than you’d expect. Either way you’re not making a mistake, you’re just choosing what you most want to keep.
You’re just choosing what you most want to keep.
Will two of us get in each other’s way?
A worry I hear a lot is whether having a photographer and a videographer both there makes the day feel crowded, or turns it into a production. It shouldn’t, and a big part of that is how the two of us work.
My style is documentary, so I’m filming the day as it happens rather than staging it. I’m not pulling you out of the moment for set ups, and I spend a good chunk of the day quietly out of the way. Good photographers work the same. We share the space, we talk to each other, and most of the time you’ll forget either of us is there. If anything, having a second person who knows weddings inside out tends to keep the day running smoothly.
Most of the time you’ll forget either of us is there.
If I had to sum it up, a photographer and a videographer aren’t an either or. They’re two different ways of keeping the same day. One gives you the images, the other gives you the feeling, and plenty of couples decide they want both once they understand the difference.
Whether you’re after a film alongside your photographer or you’re still weighing it up, take a look at the wedding film packages and we can talk it through.
Still weighing up your wedding film?
Drop me a message with your date and venue, and we’ll work out what your day needs.
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