Prices for wedding videos? at DVinfo.net

Andrew Todd · November 23rd, 2005, 04:05 PM

I live in Saint John, NB, Canada. I've been doing some research in my area about the need for this service. It seems that competition is almost non existent. I called the only advertised wedding videographer advertised in the phone book and was told by the videographer's wife that he just went through a triple by pass and would no likely be doing videos for a while. I also called a videographer in a nearby city and he quoted me $600 for a single gl1 shoot and edit for a wedding. I have 2 gl1s but am thinking about upgrading to two gl2 or xl1s's. How much do you feel is a reasonable rate in this area? I feel that most people in my area might consider anything over the cheap $600 to be too pricey even if i show them samples of my work

Craig Seeman · November 23rd, 2005, 05:02 PM

Figure it takes 5 days to edit a wedding video (and one day to shoot).

Take your entire monthly expenses (housing, food, utilities, equipment insurance, credit card bill to pay off all your gear in 24 months or less, taxes on that income, equipment maintenance, consumables like tapes, discs, etc.) divide by 4. This is your base rate to cover life survival with no profit if you were to book a wedding a week.

That's a base rate if you're a newbie. Don't go lower than that. Increase rates to make profit. Understand that if you do a good job on the first wedding you'll get referrals expecting the same (not profitable) rate.

November 23rd, 2005, 04:05 PM	#1
Andrew Todd Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Saint John, CANADA Posts: 633	Prices for wedding videos? I live in Saint John, NB, Canada. I've been doing some research in my area about the need for this service. It seems that competition is almost non existent. I called the only advertised wedding videographer advertised in the phone book and was told by the videographer's wife that he just went through a triple by pass and would no likely be doing videos for a while. I also called a videographer in a nearby city and he quoted me $600 for a single gl1 shoot and edit for a wedding. I have 2 gl1s but am thinking about upgrading to two gl2 or xl1s's. How much do you feel is a reasonable rate in this area? I feel that most people in my area might consider anything over the cheap $600 to be too pricey even if i show them samples of my work __________________ video : xl2 / letus35xl / bogen 503 photo- canon 1dmkII - bronica etrsi

November 23rd, 2005, 05:02 PM	#2
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Figure it takes 5 days to edit a wedding video (and one day to shoot). Take your entire monthly expenses (housing, food, utilities, equipment insurance, credit card bill to pay off all your gear in 24 months or less, taxes on that income, equipment maintenance, consumables like tapes, discs, etc.) divide by 4. This is your base rate to cover life survival with no profit if you were to book a wedding a week. That's a base rate if you're a newbie. Don't go lower than that. Increase rates to make profit. Understand that if you do a good job on the first wedding you'll get referrals expecting the same (not profitable) rate.