Before I respond to anything specific I just wanted to clarify that I was not judging you, your work or your process at all. I get the feeling you are trying to justify what you do, and that's not necessary. You and I create different types of products, and we have different types of clients. My clients would never hire you, and your clients would probably never hire me. Neither of us is going about things the wrong way as long as we are making ourselves and our clients happy.

Now, for some comments ...



A day to me is 18 hours.

Well, if you want to work 18-hour days just to provide a one-week turnaround, you're welcome to that kind of stress, lol. I don't want it.

What happens if you get as busy as me and have a wedding every weekend? If you don't keep on top of it you will just sink further and further behind. Then the phone calls start. "When is my film going to be ready"? A week later and you have two other clients asking the same. Oh, and you have another wedding to shoot on Saturday. When are you going to complete that one?

This isn't a problem for me AT ALL. I am very up front and clear with my clients that their video will take AT LEAST 4-12 weeks to edit, and possibly longer. The clients that hire me are perfectly fine with this and actually appreciate that I spend so much time on their video. They are actually turned off by the guys who brag about being able to get their wedding video done in a week. Heck, I actually have clients routinely encourage me to take as long as I want. They want the very best.


Treat wedding videography as a business from start to finish. Be disciplined all the way through, and you will have a full order book as the recomendations come flooding in.

Again, you should be careful here. Just because I choose to sell a product that takes longer to create doesn't mean I'm not treating my business as a business, and it doesn't mean I'm somehow being undisciplined. You admit that you have a tried-and-true system for reproducing everyone's wedding the same way. I'm not on here telling you that this is the wrong way to produce a wedding video am I? Just accept that you have your way and other people have their way. Why do you think that there are paintings that sell for $20 and paintings that sell for $20,000? As long as both artists and their customers are happy, then things are fine.


You will not make extra money by phaffing about tweaking a scene forever.

Actually, you will. If you present a product to a potential client that is perfect, and they are looking for perfect, then they will pay your price and compensate you for the extra hours you spend creating perfection. If your rates are based on turnaround times, though, you're right.


Oh, and another point. And I don't want to sound elitist or anything like that. My films are documentary style. No smultzy tacky music, no horrible Digital Juice lovehearts raining down the screen as a transition. I keep it clean. Transitions are fade in/fade out, straight cuts and cross dissolves. Nothing more. In 20 years time it will still be fresh.

I don't use tacky music or floating hearts or goofy transitions either. I like to think my work is also timeless. It is cinematic in style, not documentary, but again, we just offer different products. Nothing wrong with that.


Remember, no client is ever going to see another clients wedding DVD, unless I get the business through a recommendation.

Not true. You have no idea who will end up seeing your videos. The world can often be a very small place. I've had people in my theater watching a video and they would suddenly say "Hey, we were at this wedding!". Besides, your clients can tell if their video is personalized or not. But again, it sounds like your clients are more concerned with price and turnaround time, so this isn't an issue. For me, I make it a point that each and every wedding is approached in it's own way.


After shooting and editing over 200 weddings I can do it very quickly and almost with my eyes closed. This doesn't mean my work is of a lower standard than yours. I charge much more than any other local videographer and I am very busy because I am a high standard and reliable. This wouldn't be the case if my work was sub par.

I never stated your work was sub-par. In fact, I never attempted to judge your work. I'm just pointing out that my work is obviously going to be different from yours if I'm investing 8 weeks in editing and you're investing 1 day. You may have a system and you may be fast, but you can only do so much in a day. You certainly can't personalize your videos the way that I do, because you wouldn't have the time for it.

One more time, there is nothing wrong with your system. It just isn't for me and my clients. I have a colleague in my market who films many more weddings than me and turns them around faster. He also gets less satisfaction from his work, makes less per wedding and has more stress with all of the extra weddings and deadlines. It works for him, but it's not how I want to do business.

I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences, I just ask that you not place labels like "undisciplined" on videographers who you don't even know.

I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences, I just ask that you not place labels like "undisciplined" on videographers who you don't even know.

That's fair enought Travis. I am sure your films look superb. I hope you charge a fortune for them. For me to spend 4-6 weeks working on a single film, I would have to charge way north of £10,000, and there's not many people in this area, if any, who would be prepared to spend that much on their wedding film. Perhaps its completely different in the USA.

In the UK wedding videographers are down the list, way behind the photographer and just in front of the chocolate fountain guy and toastmaster. To make proper money, volume really is king. However too many videographers don't have the business sense to charge a decent amount for their services.

That's fair enought Travis. I am sure your films look superb. I hope you charge a fortune for them. For me to spend 4-6 weeks working on a single film, I would have to charge way north of £10,000, and there's not many people in this area, if any, who would be prepared to spend that much on their wedding film. Perhaps its completely different in the USA.

In the UK wedding videographers are down the list, way behind the photographer and just in front of the chocolate fountain guy and toastmaster. To make proper money, volume really is king. However too many videographers don't have the business sense to charge a decent amount for their services.

I certainly don't charge a fortune, but I'm working on that. d;-)

My market is probably a lot like yours. The average bride here isn't even considering videography, and most of those that are want to spend like $500-1,000. So I think we have the same struggle, and I know many markets in the US are just like mine. Videography just isn't a priority for most brides yet.

I decided early on that I wanted to provide a high-end, high-quality product. I decided early on that showing a higher quality product was more likely to open up my market over time. I still get a lot of resistance in my market. I lose many more potential clients than my competitors because I'm offering more than most are willing to pay for. But at the end of the day I'm finding those brides who DO care about their video, and they ARE willing to pay.

I'll admit there was a time when I nearly quit the business. I just wasn't finding enough of the type of clients I needed, and I wasn't willing (for my own satisfaction) to provide a lower-quality product. Luckily I made it through that and things are looking up now.

I think the important thing to remember on these forums is that we all run different businesses, provide different products and work with different clients in different markets. It's actually one of the biggest advantages of this forum, because we all get the opportunity to be exposed to things we aren't familiar with.

Very true.

but in some cases you might have to wait for materials from the B&G DonHere's a backlog generator if I ever saw one. Don, you should know never to put your production schedule (time) into the hands of a client. :)

I stripped out any post-wedding responsibilities from the client long ago including song choices and those silly honeymoon pics. The only thing I need from them anymore is a shipping address.

But if you're doing this many weddings you're doing something right so what the hell do I know? :)

Oops. Posted twice

double post.

That's fair enought Travis. I am sure your films look superb.

I agree, his films are really good, you can tell he spent alot of time making each unique.

To Steve, is there a link to your website? (couldnt find one in your sig)