Recently I’ve found myself taking a lot of inquiries and realizing that not everyone has “been in the wedding game” for as long as I have or really knows the local market like I do so when they go to book a vendor sometimes the budget that the have may not get them what they want. This was a response to a recent lead I had that I thought might be helpful to other brides out there on if they should consider getting wedding video and if so , what would they expect to pay.

The hopes of this small writing are so you can determine if you even want wedding video at all.


“Anonymous Bride,

Hey so sorry I’m not available but all of these videographers will do a great job. I left a bit of a novel, but it was because I started responding and my mind just put down all my thoughts about wedding videos.

Good artists.
1.  Kea – Voyageur Motion Pictures ($6,500 +)

2. Grant Fitzgerald Films ($4,500 +)
3. Bobby- Redmond Digital Media ($4,500+)

4. Max +  Courtney – the Smiths Films $7,000+)


What I would not recommend.

Any volume studio. That means, they won’t shoot the wedding but a team of associates or team members take over.
so in the Minneapolis area —

(redacted specific company names)

These studios need to move wedding films quickly because they need to take more films in order to remain profitable. (Redacted company name) in particular owns venues. They charge more than anyone else for their venues because they know that they can provide a cheap photo/video experience so you feel like you can afford to pay extra for the venue because they are solving the probvlem of “Now I can’t afford my dream photographer or videographer.” They tell you- “no worries, we have photo and video in house at a fraction of the cost! Problem solved!”

The photographers they are sourcing show up for a flat hourly rate and work to be worth about what you’re paying for them. Which isn’t a lot. The major problem with this is that any arts and crafts project (which photography after the wedding day is) requires time- creativity- a love for what you’re doing. Your images are handed off to AI or to the phillipines for the fastest turn around at the lowest cost possible. These people in the phillipines appreciate your business, but they aren’ necessarily concerned about doing a great job. They want to do more of them faster so they can make more money.

I shot a few weddings for a volume studio when I moved to Minnesota and I remember a bride saying  “I regret hiring (redacted company name) but I wish I would have hired you.” I shot her wedding for the volume company, so why did she say that?


The editing.

My editing takes time and I don’t rush it. I shot the footage for bella gala and they just sourced it out to the cheapest bidder and cranked through a bad film. They are coming down to a $3,000 or less budget and providing what they can for that price.

The happiest moment you’ll have with a volume studio before you book or slightly after. The photos will not be good and neither will the video. They charge less because they are assuming you understand they really don’t have time to make a good film. If you wanted a great wedding video you’d invest $3,000 + and do a little research.

If your budget is max $2,500 I’d look at content creation or buying a camera for a wedding guest and asking them to film it and keep the raw footage until you can afford to edit it. Don’t ask the guy to edit it for $2,500 he’ll end up working for $4/ hr. lol. I know because that was me when I started.

The pain point in the videography industry is that in the Minnesota market specifically – it’s usually the last thing couples book with their leftover budget which sometimes constrains their experience.
The market meets that with options. Sort of like if you said ” I only have $10 for a week of groceries” – there would be options. Rice and beans, expired food, etc, but you wouldn’t get the experience you probably want.

Companies want to get paid but often small businesses can’t afford to provide a wedding film for less than $4,500 and be lucrative unless they have another job. Wedding video requires a lot more expensive equipment than photography, is more of a difficult skill to learn and requires about 5x the amount of time editing afterwards. There is no AI that makes editing faster for video but there is for photo.

When couples come in with a budget of under $4,500 for video in MN that’s fine -not poor shaming – but the good videos you see online typically are ranging from $6,000 -$18,000 for a good videographer. Most wedding videographers pursue luxury high end weddings or grab another career like corporate video.

Ok (bride name) this is not directed at you specifically but I just have had these thoughts for a while and I realized I probably should put an FAQ or blog post about costs for video etc. 

Is this helpful?

PS. Another word on Volume studios. My friend is a wedding planner that does high end events. She had a bride that booked at a venue that provided a DJ. This DJ is paid a flat hourly fee, and too be honest, does whatever he wants. He started playing veggie tales and christmas music during dinner. My friend asked him to stop because this was an important client for her. The DJ started playing a different christmas song. I laughed. This guy is making $20/hr he can do whatever he wants. It’s not his fault this company employs him, they don’t have a lot of options and they decided that they will use him in order so they can continue to sell the very expensive venue packages.