Creative Media: Tips for Starting a Wedding Videography Business
For most couples, their wedding day is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that they want to preserve. This is why many of them choose to hire a wedding videographer to document their big day. If you’re someone who’s into videography or filmmaking, catering to weddings can definitely help you build a good reputation in your industry. Plus, the pay is great, too!
Creatives in this business can find financial success compared to the traditional, inflexible 9-to-5 job. You can set your own rates, take the projects you want, and most importantly, work on what you’re really passionate about. But that doesn’t mean starting a wedding videography business will be easy. Continue reading to find out more about how you can successfully start with this career.
- Learn about wedding days
Let’s say you already have the skills and knowledge to do the work. Bear in mind that focusing your business on weddings means you need to know the ins and outs of the event. Most experienced videographers start with the ‘First Look’ wherein the couple will dress in their wedding attire and have a short intimate meeting.
The next phase you should know about is the place of ceremony arrival, wherein you’ll need to film their departure from the location of preparations to the actual ceremony venue. Speaking of the ceremony, expert wedding videographers suggest visiting the location a day before the event to figure out the best positions for the shots. Other aspects of the wedding day that you need to learn are the reception arrival, speeches, first dance, and other reception segments.
- Complete and prep your gear
It’s impossible to run a good wedding videography business if you don’t have the complete camera gear and editing equipment. DSLRs are among the basic ones you’ll need. This type of camera provides more control with specifics like shutter speed and ISO. As for the lenses, invest in ones that suit your shooting style or the types of shots you want to achieve. Don’t break your budget on an 8K camera as you’re just starting. Another basic to invest on is a shotgun mic that you can connect to your camera. This device can help in matching up audio from the lav mic and add ambient sound and depth to your videos.
You’ll also need a quality stabilizer to achieve the moving cinematic shots of the wedding. Choose a model that works best for you or your team. As for editing the videos, use a powerful custom PC for better performance and a faster editing process. Many PC builders out there can give you a computer with a large RAM capacity, powerful graphics, and a beefy processor. Check out websites for custom PC builders to get an idea of what features you can get for your budget. Also, most of these websites show ready-made PC setups, which you can use as a reference. Other basic equipment you’ll need is tripods or monopods, grip, lighting, drones, memory cards, and extra batteries. Make sure that these are ready before your event and if it’s not, you can always rent quality tools from a Grip and Electric Philadelphia rental store. Having complete equipment will let you capture great videos.
- Plan your marketing
It’s not called business for nothing. You need to effectively market it so you can find clients and take projects. Running a wedding videography business requires good marketing. Start by creating or updating your website. Create content about weddings and showcase your previous projects. You should also have active social media pages for promoting your business and reaching out to more potential clients. Fret not because most social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer affordable ad campaigns and features.
Or you can get up close and personal by attending local bridal shows where you can meet different couples. This is a perfect opportunity to build your network and introduce your business, style, and personality. Don’t forget to bring some of your best highlight reels or sneak peeks so the potential clients can have a clearer idea of how you are as a wedding videographer.
- Continue building a portfolio
Lastly, you need to focus on improving your portfolio. Clients are most likely to choose videographers who’ve covered many weddings in different themes and styles. You can use your website to show off the quality and style of your previous wedding projects. When posting your wedding videos, you can avoid copyright problems by utilizing royalty-free music.
Furthermore, continue seeking paid projects with unique concepts to broaden your expertise. And if possible, try to solicit ideal soon-to-be-married couples every week.
Weddings are special occasions for couples and their families. And as a wedding videographer, it’s your job to cater to their request and capture the best moments and minor details of the event. But to appeal to clients and generate high income, you need to start your videography business right. Follow our tips right here.
