When Should You Book a Wedding Videographer?
How far ahead to book, why the best dates go early, and how to make sure yours isn’t one that slips away.
It’s one of the first questions couples ask once the big pieces are in place. The venue’s booked, the date’s set, and somewhere on the list is the videographer, so the question becomes how far ahead you actually need to sort it.
The short version is twelve to eighteen months before the day. Below I’ll explain why that window works, why videographers fill up sooner than most couples expect, and what your options are if your date is already close.
The short answer: 12 to 18 months ahead
If you want the simplest answer, book around twelve to eighteen months before the day, once your venue and date are confirmed. Those two things come first, because everything else hangs off them.
Plenty of couples book earlier than that. I already have weddings in the diary for 2027 and into 2028, so booking a good two years ahead isn’t unusual any more. The reason is worth understanding before you decide how long you can safely leave it.
Having said that, treat the window as a guide rather than a hard rule. Late bookings can still work, and I’ll come to a good example of that below.
Book around twelve to eighteen months before the day, once your venue and date are confirmed.
Why videographers book up sooner than you’d think
The thing couples don’t always realise is that I only ever film one wedding a day. There’s no second team and no other shooter sent out in my place. When you book Capture That Films, you’re booking me personally, not a company that sends along whoever happens to be free that weekend.
That’s deliberate. People hire me for who I am and how I work, the friendly, down to earth approach on the day and my own style in how I film it. Outsourcing is something I’m strongly against, because a wedding is far too personal a day to hand to a stranger. The person you meet and book is the person stood there filming your vows, and that’s how it should be. It also means that once a date is booked with me it’s genuinely gone, and the same is true of most videographers worth having.
Demand isn’t spread evenly through the year either. Peak wedding season runs from roughly May to September, and those dates fill up first, often a long way ahead. If your wedding falls in that stretch, the people you’d most want to work with across Lancashire and the wider North West tend to be booked well over a year out.
Put those two things together and you can see how it goes. One person can only film so many weddings in a year, the best dates get claimed early, and couples who wait often find their first choice is already taken.
I only ever film one wedding a day.
Where the videographer fits in your planning
If you’re wondering where this sits against everything else, the order most couples follow is venue first, then the date, then the suppliers who can only take one booking a day. Your photographer and videographer both fall into that group, so they’re worth sorting early, usually not long after the venue is confirmed.
You don’t need every detail nailed down to book me. There’s no need for a finished timeline, a confetti plan or a shot list. As long as you know your date and venue, that’s enough to get the day in the diary and take the pressure off. The finer details we work through closer to the time.
You don’t need every detail nailed down to book me.
What if your date’s already close?
Maybe you’re reading this with only a few months to go, in which case it’s still worth asking rather than writing it off. Dates do sometimes come free, and not every wedding lands in peak season.
Just to prove the point, one couple secured their day with me only three weeks before the wedding. They hadn’t been sure a film was for them at all, and it was only after we jumped on a Zoom call and talked through what they’d actually get that they decided to go for it. I’m so glad they did, and so are they.
If I’m already booked for your date, I’d sooner tell you straight away and point you toward someone good than string it out. If I’m free, a last-minute booking is no problem at all, and the film I make doesn’t change because you found me later in the process. Either way, a quick message is the fastest way to know where you stand.
A last-minute booking is no problem at all.
The honest summary is that booking twelve to eighteen months ahead gives you the best chance of getting the videographer you actually want, and if your date is in peak season, sooner is better still. Securing it is simple, a £200 booking fee holds your date, and the finer details can wait until nearer the time.
If you’re still weighing it up, I’ve written an honest take on whether a wedding videographer is worth it, and a full guide to how much a wedding film costs.
When you’re ready to check your date, take a look at the wedding film packages or drop me a message.
Thinking about your date?
Drop me a message with your wedding date and venue, and I’ll let you know straight away whether I’m free.
Drop me a Message