How much does it cost to have a videographer at your wedding?
As of April 2024, I charge a base price of £700 assuming a York wedding. Further from York, I calculate petrol charges based upon the RAC mileage calculator without any further charges for travel time. I assume that I am working all day from early morning to about 9 pm at night so probably a 12 hour day. If I need to stay overnight because of the distance from York then I will need to quote for accommodation.
The next day I am home I will secure the clips that are on the cards so that I have a backup. If I have no other work or commitments then I may spend all day editing the wedding video and reviewing and processing still images. I probably would work a more normal day. Let's say 7 hours.
Again barring any other commitments I will spend a third day editing, reviewing the footage, checking for editing mistakes and finalising the final output until I am happy with it. This could also be another 7-hour day. So on that basis, my hourly rate is about £27.
There are several overheads to running my business. There are some very minor costs of materials such as USB sticks, royalty-free music tracks, postage and packing. I also have investment costs for the purchase of new cameras, lights, batteries, microphones, tripods etc.
If you have been getting some quotes for your wedding you may have found that £700 is a very reasonable cost for a videographer in the Yorkshire area. So you may ask yourself why are you so reasonable compared to others? One reason is that I no longer spend money on advertising. My only efforts are in keeping this website that I created myself up together. The website has been tuned for speed and uses cutting-edge technology to keep it fast but also looking attractive.
In the past, I attended numerous wedding fairs with the aim of attracting more business but I found them quite expensive and not particularly effective in gaining more work. I also used to spend some money on print advertising again without seeing much benefit. In the end, I decided to save my time and money and just focus on what I know best - this website.
I have been told in 2019 by one couple that they were quoted £1800 to film their wedding. Now I don’t know what was included in the quote. There might have been two videographers (I work alone). There might have been aerial shots of the venue. I don’t possess a drone and probably won’t be getting one.
I stick to the essentials and what I regard as crafting a story of your day, reflecting as much as I can, the emotions and joy that such a special day can bring.
In summary, my costs are low because:
- I very rarely spend money on advertising and never on print media advertising
- I have dropped going to wedding fairs as, although I have occasionally got bookings from them it is hard for me to justify either the cost of them or the hours involved in attending them
- My website costs are negligible as I build websites for a living
- I now have a more considered approach to new equipment. I will buy when I think there are some quality improvements to be had, rather than just for the sake of having some new kit to play with.
- I work alone. Yes, there are some limitations as a result but they are not that significant.
- Most of my work is within an hour or two from York which keeps costs down.
- I keep my overheads for running my business low, whilst ensuring that you will still get a quality film at the end of it.
To find out more about the packages I offer please talk to me about the wedding videography packages I offer today.
