You're looking at four websites that all show beautiful work and say roughly the same thing. Here's how to actually tell them apart.
Watch a full film, not just the highlights
Every videographer's website shows their best 90 seconds. That tells you they can cut a good trailer. It doesn't tell you whether they can hold a story together for eight minutes.
Ask to watch a complete film start to finish. Ideally one from a wedding like yours: similar size, similar venue, similar time of year. If the full film is as good as the trailer, you've learned something real.
Listen to the audio, not just the pictures
Play a film with your eyes shut. Can you hear the vows clearly? The speeches? Or is it all music with the occasional muffled line underneath?
Audio is where the emotion lives and it's the thing most couples don't think to check. It's also expensive and fiddly to do properly, which is exactly why some films quietly avoid it.
Ask what happens when something goes wrong
This is the question that separates people who've done this a while from people who haven't. Ask:
- How many angles do you run during the ceremony?
- What happens if one fails?
- Where does the footage live between the wedding and delivery?
- What happens if you're ill on the day?
I run two or three angles on the ceremony and speeches, partly for variety in the edit and partly because things break and your auntie will step into shot with an iPad. On backups, I back the footage up myself and also send it to my editor the following day, so it already sits in three separate places within 24 hours of your wedding.
You don't need to grill anyone. But an answer that's fluent and specific tells you they've already thought about it. An answer that's vague tells you they haven't.
Check they've worked at your venue, or are honest that they haven't
Venue familiarity genuinely helps. Someone who's filmed at your venue knows where the light falls at five o'clock and how long the walk from ceremony to reception really takes.
That said, “I haven't filmed there but I'll visit beforehand” is a perfectly good answer. “I've filmed everywhere” from someone with six weddings behind them is not.
Meet them, even briefly
You'll spend more of your wedding day with your photographer and videographer than with almost any guest. If someone puts you on edge on a video call, that won't improve on the day.
The couples whose films I'm proudest of are almost always the ones I got on with. That's not a coincidence. People relax around people they like, and relaxed people film better.
Read reviews for specifics, not enthusiasm
“Amazing, thank you so much” tells you nothing. A review that names the venue, or a particular moment that was caught, tells you far more about what that person actually does.
Look for reviews that mention particular moments, particular problems solved, particular things that went wrong and were handled.
Be wary of the cheapest quote
Not because cheap means bad, but because it usually means something's been removed and you may not have noticed what. Fewer hours. One camera. A faster, more formulaic edit. Ask what's different rather than assuming it's the same product at a better price.