Why a Wedding Film is an Investment That Keeps Giving

Professional video production involves brighter lights, more hard drive space, and several microphones or audio recorders—to give just a few examples. 

Then there’s the time spent in post-production. A meticulously edited wedding film can take weeks, if not months, to put together. It involves sifting through hours of footage to find the right moments that pair well with music and wedding-day spoken words. 

But if wedding films cost more to produce, why do many couples spend more on photography? 

Good question.

Wedding photos have been around for a while. These days almost everyone’s parents have wedding photos that they’ve shared with their kids, my parents included. In contrast, wedding films are relatively new. 

While some people were shooting wedding clips on Super 8 cameras and bulky camcorders in the ‘70s and ‘80s, it wasn’t until the ‘90s when non-linear editing came to the masses and allowed for more carefully edited wedding videos. 

In the late 2000s, full-frame sensor DSLRs like the Canon EOS 5D Mark II allowed wedding filmmakers to achieve cinematic results with compact cameras. Their portable, lightweight form factor suited the fast pace and space constraints of weddings, enabling new creative possibilities. 

Around that time, platforms like Vimeo and YouTube made it easier to share HD video clips, which allowed a variety of wedding film styles to flourish. 

Not every couple fully appreciates the potential of those developments, though. 

Wedding industry research suggests that roughly 30-40% of couples hire wedding filmmakers while 90% hire wedding photographers. But the frontier is shifting.

My guess is that many couples are still largely influenced by what their parents, family, and friends did for their weddings. If mom and dad didn’t have a wedding film, it’s tempting to conclude that it’s less of a priority, but that’s a shortsighted perspective. 

Video has become so much more prominent just in the past five years, and every indication I’ve seen suggests that trend will only continue to grow. 

Imagine explaining to your grandkids why you decided not to get wedding photos. That’s almost unthinkable these days. I bet having a wedding film will be like that within the next fifty years.

Couples surveyed in the past few years are already indicating that not budgeting enough for a wedding film is one of their biggest regrets.

I haven't done any surveys of my own, but I can tell you that I regularly hear back from couples who rewatch the wedding film I made for them at least once a year. 

If you’re ready to saddle up and preserve your love story with a wedding film, I'll do everything I can to make sure that it becomes a family heirloom that you look forward to revisiting year after year. 

Weddings are epic journeys—substantial investments of time, heart, and resources. That’s fitting for a ceremony meant to forge a lifelong commitment, but it sometimes means couples have to think about what they want to prioritize. 

I’m not here to tell you what your top priorities should be. That’s a personal decision, one that will vary from one couple to another. I’d like to encourage you, though, to reevaluate the value you place on a wedding film. 

At the moment, it’s not unusual for couples to spend more on wedding photos, even though a high-quality wedding film costs more to produce. But don’t just take my word for it. 

Leslee Layton, a preeminent Oklahoma wedding videographer and photographer, explains as much around 23 minutes into this Shifting Focus podcast episode.

Weddings are epic journeys—substantial investments of time, heart, and resources. That’s fitting for a ceremony meant to forge a lifelong commitment, but it sometimes means couples have to think about what they want to prioritize. 

I’m not here to tell you what your top priorities should be. That’s a personal decision, one that will vary from one couple to another. I’d like to encourage you, though, to reevaluate the value you place on a wedding film. 

At the moment, it’s not unusual for couples to spend more on wedding photos, even though a high-quality wedding film costs more to produce. But don’t just take my word for it. 

Leslee Layton, a preeminent Oklahoma wedding videographer and photographer, explains as much around 23 minutes into this Shifting Focus podcast episode.