What's the average for a wedding video? « Videomaker Community Forums

StudioA
Member

I am starting a wedding videography business and I am curious. For those of you who do weddings, how many do you do in a year?

I am just looking for some advice on how to get started and attract business.

Posted 4 years ago #
;0)
Member

it's a finite number....
wedding season is essentially April to August.
mainly weekends.
there's four weekends in a month.
I'm curious....With no business plan...no experience. Have you thought this through enough to justify taking responsibility for somebody's once in a lifetime memories?
I'd suggest getting an apprenticeship...work for somebody else for a season or two, learn the ropes.

Posted 4 years ago #
compusolver
Member

Hopefully, the poster has plenty of video experience and will do his first few weddings for free, making sure his clients understand that although he has video experience, he is just learning the wedding video trade.

The second poster must live in a northern clime. Our wedding season is mid-March through October, with maybe one or two weddings in each of Nov & Dec.

Even so, other than May and June, it is unusual for us to book all four weekends in a month. Often, it's more like three a month and usually about two dozen weddings a year. Of course we do other types of productions as well under http://www.okvideoproductions.com, and we have our own projects also.

Posted 4 years ago #
;0)
Member

you got that right compusolver! It actually hit -50 c this winter over here in Winnipeg. or Winterpeg as we like to call it.

short wedding season, although I once shot a wedding (not video) in -40 c on a new yrears eve!

ps...to the original post..do a quick search of the forum and you'll find plent of advice as that is also a very common question.

sometimes the people that have the best advice, skip answering a frequently asked question, just to avoid repeticious typing!
javascript:emoticon(':D')

Posted 4 years ago #
StudioA
Member

Well.... I am not trying to take advantage of anybody.... This is something I truly love.

I have 3 freebies booked already. But all 3 of these were couples who had no intention of hiring a videographer and they are letting me use their wedding to gain experience. And in turn they get a free video.

I am just trying to get an idea from people who actually do weddings on how many they are able to book a year. I have invested alot of money and time into this. And still need more equipment. I just wanted to hear from people who actually do this if you are able to recover your money and make a profit?[/quote]

Posted 4 years ago #
;0)
Member

I did not think you were trying to take advantage of anybody. But rather want you to think everthing through.
Did you notice from the above posts that the market is different here than it is for compusolver?
he has a longer wedding season...but I'm in a smaller city with a HUGE religious population.
What you need to do is write a business plan. learn and understand the market in Your area, and develope a marketing plan to reach your target market.
calculate what your start-up costs will be plus your operating costs, to decide what it will cost you to offer the service, decide what you need for profits to justify doing it then Compare those figures to what your market research tells you the market in your area will support.
what about your competitors? how much marketshare can you get? what is that share worth?
look up goverment agencies, business development centers, chambers of commerce..etc
do your homework. what works here might not work there.

when it comes to business Nothing anybody posts here, is going to be more valuable than "write a business plan"

Posted 4 years ago #
compusolver
Member

All this depends a lot on your market area. If you're in a metropolitan area with good economics (LA, Boston, etc.) you might be able to make it, but the first two years are likely to be very rough. Otherwise, you need to expand beyond the wedding market which is not only seasonable, but highly competitive and all the newbies & parttimers drive prices down, not to mention those companies that have been around but do awful work, use only 1 mic, or 1 cam, etc.

When I got back into videography, I was already working fulltime from home, doing web development and hosting. I still have those companies, though I spend less time with web development now, but with no kids, no house payment, etc. it wasn't all that difficult. I couldn't have done it if I was raising a family. But then, I'm in a very rural area. We have to service the entire state to get enough business (an economically depressed state at that). Marketing opportunities are less limited when you live within a metro area.

Posted 4 years ago #
digitaldreamspro
Member

http://www.costhelper.com/cost/wedding/wedding-videography.html

Posted 2 years ago #
CraftersOfLight
Member

One of our moderators, EarlC, does a wonderful job describing the business aspect of videography on his blog; http://www.eccomeecgo.blogspot.com/ . Give it a read about what all goes into a business like this. He has many topics on the expanded services you might look into as well. He also covers marketing strategies and tools that help with it.

Do a search on his posts. When he adds to his blog, he posts a small snippet of it here with a link.

Life is not a guided tour nor a destination.
It is a journey. Take the time to enjoy your family, friends and surroundings.
Build memories. Share experiences. Travel at sight speed not light speed. (C)

Posted 2 years ago #
Coreece
Member

first year = 20 weddings

Second year = 72 weddings

spent about $5000 on advertising per year...most wedding contracts came from bridal shows/expos

good money-lots of work...after editing the 20th consecutive wedding non-stop you will start to hallucinate and lose your mind....so be prepared.

Posted 2 years ago #
EarlC
Moderator

West coast wedding business is pretty much year-round, IMHO. That being said, it depends on the scope of your intended productions - creative vs productive. You can hammer out weddings relentlessly, keep them to a formula, double book, hire shooters and/or editors, do a basic meat and potatoes production assembly and hack out a decent product that covers 150 weddings, or more a year.

My volume varies. A heavy wedding year for me hits 20/25. A light year, 10 to 12. I really like to maintain a one-per-month average, but it bounces around, depending on what I am focusing on in my marketing efforts at the time.

Personally, doing HUGE volume wedding production is not in my interest, nor does it interest me, and I diversified my business to avoid getting into such a production crunch or rut. Some like it that way, and I am all for them doing what they want as much as they can, and maybe even getting rich doing weddings only. Me, I would die, especially as I am now cresting the hill physically and have to admit that two weddings a week would be a bit much for me. I am satisfied with averaging $1,500 or so for my basic wedding productions, aiming for what I can handle on my own, or with my associate, and what I can edit, taking into consideration all the other business I pursue and produce.

I would say a one-horse (with a helper/assistant) who wants to do weddings exclusively, not burn themselves out, or die in the process of trying, could handle one a week full time (maybe even working a regular job as well if you're a workaholic, young, single and have no other commitments and can skip Monday Night Football, and the assorted other yearly seasonal sports playoffs, etc. Oh, and yeah those wonderful beach parties and socials. So, what, maybe 40 or so a year?

A partnership might double those up, picking and choosing, aiming for higher level of income per gig and doing, say 100 or so a year, without too much dizzyness at the end of the year, and if you're not working a regular 40-hour-per-week job.

Other parts of the country have definite seasons, with a few die-hards (the clients) who LIKE winter weddings, etc. Southern California is all about 300 or more days a year of clear weather, so outdoor and indoor weddings abound. Even with the number of available independent professional wedding video services providers listed for Southern California, only some 20 percent or so of weddings are being booked for video, so the available wedge of the pie remains huge.

Thanks, Crafters, for the heavy nod. Much, MUCH appreciated.

Posted 2 years ago #
zoobie
Member

they really dig up old threads here...

I saw a short on this recently...the whole business is going south as of late with couples cutting back due to the economy

I suspect only the rich these days...which are disappearing, too

Another world's first! - http://www.BuskerAlley.com - Busker HD on the web!
In Production - Busker Alley - The Movie!
Want to make a small fortune in videography? Start with a large fortune!

Posted 2 years ago #
birdcat
Moderator

Zoobie -

This is not only a business problem but can be seen as a business opportunity for the amateur or semi pro videographer.

Yes I know you're playing with someone's memories but a serious hobbyist (as I was) can offer a simple, edited, short version (no more than an hour all told) version of a wedding vid for about $300 - $500 and still feel like they made some decent money and can give a pretty solid product if given the chance..

I see ads like this all the time (look at your local Craig's List) and have done a very nice wedding vid as a gift for a friend (I don't normally do these - this was my only wedding vid and while I would change certain elements now, I still stand by it - The couple loved it!).

Bruce Paul
7Squared Productions
http://www.7squared.com

Posted 2 years ago #
EarlC
Moderator

Three saw fit to get the "old thread" going again. I jumped on as well. But, hey, wait a minute...two more have jumped on the "old thread" wagon. Some are regulars while Busker is everywhere all of a sudden. Trying to drive a little traffic to the site, huh?

Posted 2 years ago #