It may be confusing to you that the very first blog post on a wedding videographer's website discloses the fact that I did not, in fact, hire a videographer for my own wedding. It may not be good business practice to broadcast this fact, but rest assured - my decision not to hire a videographer for my wedding (and the regret I have felt about this decision since my wedding day) have only solidified my belief that video is not just a fun add-on to your wedding day - it's by far the best way to remember the way you felt on the most important day of your life.
Let me add some background. My wife, Autumn, and I were on a very tight budget for our wedding (think less than $5,000). After booking the absolute essentials, such as our venue and catering, we came to the decision together to not hire a videographer. I stood by this decision for budgetary reasons all the way until a week ago, when my wife pulled me aside to show me a video on her older sister's TikTok page. It was a video taken by her during our wedding ceremony as we shared our first kiss as a married couple. In that moment, as both of our eyes welled up with tears, I was incredibly grateful that my sister-in-law had captured this moment. What a magical thing - to be able to see, in real time, the very moment that we were declared husband and wife. I had a more profound reaction to this shaky video shot on an iPhone than I did to any of our professionally taken wedding photos.
This is not to say that photos are not important. Our photographer did an incredible job at capturing our day, and the photos she took are now hanging on our wall and sitting on our desks to remind us of our love for one another each day. But there was something about the video that triggered a deeper and more emotional reaction in me. Since this moment, I can safely say I have regretted not expanding our wedding budget to allow for a videographer.
I understand that for some, budgets are tight and simply don't allow for any sort of professional video capture of the wedding day. But for those of you reading this that have the room in your budget but aren't sure of the value that a video will bring, take it from me - sitting down to watch your own wedding video, the story of your love brought to life, is certainly worth it. And if you can't afford to hire a wedding videographer, make sure you've got a kind volunteer in the front row filming your vows on their phone!
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