Years ago, I worked for a news station as a videographer and we would shoot public service announcements for local non-profits and the station put them on the air at no or low cost. The commercials would promote events or causes of the non-profits, and it was a way for the station to give back to the community. It struck me as an important mission.

As our company has grown, the importance of our mission – to spread the word about the importance of high quality wedding videography and to capture these special moments for couples – makes all of our time and effort satisfying. So, I often find myself espousing the virtues of wedding videography and the costs associated with it when I get asked the question of ‘is it necessary or worth it.’

After all, people will say, “I’m already hiring a photographer. Is it really necessary to have a wedding videographer too? Isn’t it just redundant? A waste of money? Look at everything I’m spending on photographs, not to mention wedding food, centerpieces, cake, DJ, invitations, flowers, etc… Doesn’t it make sense to cut something out? Video seems like the obvious choice. It’s not a necessity, right?”

In fact, I had a prospective client email me this morning and tell me regretfully that they have decided to not have a video because they couldn’t fit it into the budget. I immediately wrote her back and said, “I don’t care if you don’t hire me, but get a wedding video.” Then I gave her some suggestions for finding a cost-effective video solution. She wrote back and thanked me for the suggestions.

Over the years, I’ve heard from too many people who have regretted not having a wedding video. We’ve written many blog posts about this subject in the past. The thought is the same – video is completely different than photographs, and despite (or rather because of) all of the money you are spending on your wedding day, how will you remember it? You can’t without the video. And the shame is that people don’t realize it until it’s too late.

Here is a good blog post from a fellow videographer expressing the same sentiment:

HTTP://WWW.TWOAREBETTER.US/IS-VIDEO-WORTH-IT/

He, like me, may be perceived as bias, but consider that we’re instead trying to advance the cause of our industry and fulfill what we feel is our mission in life – to make sure these precious, once-in-a-lifetime moments are forever captured on tape. Whether or not you hire us is irrelevant. This is our public service announcement.