Gadget Man
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Aug 18, 2004, 12:27 PM
Post #3 of 7
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Re: [arpedrig] Should I go to Wedding Videography Business?
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I can not and will not tell anyone what they should do, but I will give you some suggestions and observations from someone who has done weddings for over 15 years and has STOPPED doing them all together.
I started doing weddings because it seemed at first the easiest way to get into the video business. It was new and exciting as well as frightening at first. Back then there was no internet (to be able to ask questions from peers) there was no support organizations (such as local associations, WEVA, etc). It was strictly by the seat of your pants type of work.
Now, there is help, guidence, and others to assist in your venture to give suggestions to production, equipment and even marketing on the subject of wedding video production.
Now my personal observations: Weddings are a lot of hard work. Per wedding, total time spent could be anywhere from 10 to over 50 hours (counting everything from initial interview to production to post production to delivery). and depending on the area of the country you are living in and the economic environment of your client base, it may or may not be a profitable venture. Profit is the key word here, making money is not. There is a big difference.
Also, to agree with others, weddings are stressful, especially if you are targeting higher end weddings, because they demand more in time and effort. There are no retakes, they require some specialized equipment that may not be used in other forms of video production and you have obsticles at every step of the way (input from both sets of parents, the bride, the groom, the officient of the ceremony, the location of the wedding (if not at a place of worship), the reception facility, the wedding planner/coordinator, etc. Many times, they each have their own idea of how you should do your job.
I've done a couple of hundred weddings and decided to call it quits. Not enough return for the effort put into it. Sure, I can cut back on services to make it profitable, but I won't put my name on sub-standard work. Plus the time I had been spending on editing was taking away from my other productions and throwing my entire schedule out the window.
It is not all negative. There are some, in certain parts of the country , that do nothing but weddings and are very successful at it with huge profits. Others adopt the mass-production method of wedding production. They do hundreds of weddings a year (at a lower price) and are creating a huge income BUT have huge expenses at the same time and no time to enjoy other things in life.
The choice is yours, maybe try doing a few and test the waters and reserve your decision until you have some data. I just find other areas of video production to be less stressful, more profitable and less repeatitive in nature (can you say 'burn-out' ?)
Good Luck
Ed Wardyga
Keepsake Video/KVI Media
Pawtucket, RI
wardyga@kvimedia.com
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