Nationwide Survey of Brides Reveals Value of Videography
Professional wedding videography is rapidly becoming a preferred medium for recording and preserving wedding memories, according to a new nationwide survey of brides who were married in 2002. The survey, commissioned by WEVA International, was conducted between January 27-February 5, 2003 by Breakthrough Marketing, Inc. Many of the results may seem intuitive to a dedicated professional videographer. However, the new survey provides the results in a quantifiable form.
The survey, conducted by telephone, revealed that brides in the planning process of the wedding do not immediately realize the impact of a professionally-produced video. Before the wedding, while brides are making plans, over half (54%) rank video as one of the Top 10 most important bridal services. However, that number increases to 79% AFTER the wedding, as brides look back and assess the individual value of each service. Before the wedding, 23% of brides view video as a Top 5 service. After the wedding, that number climbs to 42%. The value of video becomes greater after the wedding.

The survey revealed the value of video is greater with brides who use professional video services compared to those who don't. Before the wedding, 41% of brides using a professional videographer consider videography a Top 5 service. But after the wedding the number grows to 59% who consider video a Top 5 service. And, after the wedding, 94% of these brides say they consider professional videography at least a Top 10 service.

One of the most surprising findings of the survey is the second thoughts, even regrets, among brides who decided not to utilize the services of professional videographers.

Among brides who used a friend or family member to videotape their wedding instead of using a professional, nearly half (49%) said they would hire a professional if they had it all to do over again.

These second thoughts are even more pronounced with brides who didn't have their weddings videotaped at all. In hindsight, 60% say they wished they had had their weddings videotaped.

As brides look back at their wedding, the survey showed that 79% of brides agree that future brides should at least consider using a professional to videotape their wedding day. Those feelings are even more pronounced among the brides who utilized the services of professional videographers, 95% of whom think future brides should consider using a professional videographer.

The survey results reveal professional videography has become very important to today's brides. Its value is comparable to wedding photography, and even more valuable in some respects, according to brides surveyed. Most importantly, the survey showed that brides feel more emphasis needs to be placed on videography in the wedding planning process.

WEVA International members will be able to find more survey results along with an industry analysis in upcoming issues of Wedding & Event Videography, the official publication for association members.

Results of this national survey, conducted by Breakthrough Marketing, Inc., are based on telephone interviews with 453 brides who were married in 2002. For results based on the total sample of brides, there is a 95% confidence factor that the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.75 percentage points. Breakthrough Marketing, Inc. (Des Moines, IA), are consultants to the wedding industry who regularly research the attitudes and buying patterns of brides, as well as industry trends among specific wedding services.

A match made on DVD
By Bret Schulte US News & World Report

When wedding day stress made it hard to smile for pictures, Rachel Orzoff began singing the Partridge Family theme song "as a joke." She beamed, the photographer snapped away--and the videographer got it all. "This is the silly stuff I get to show my [future] kids," says Orzoff, a Minnesota educator. The scene appears on her wedding DVD. With chapters like "first dance," the two disks include wedding scenes set to, yes, the Partridge Family theme, a montage of childhood pix, and a crisply edited 45-minute film of the big day.

Tell Uncle Bob to leave his camcorder home. Aided by the latest editing and production software and the flexibility of the DVD format, videographers are turning the much-maligned wedding video into a professional-grade film even your friends will want to watch. The quality is "miles beyond what it was just five years ago," says Carley Roney, editor-in-chief of the Knot, a wedding-guide publishing empire. So is the price. In 1988, fledgling videographer Kris Malandruccolo of Chicago ( elegantvideosbykris.com ) charged $350 for a wedding. "It was pretty much point and shoot in VHS and here you are," she says. Today, she shoots digital video, uses two cameras, and spends over 40 hours editing. The Orzoffs paid her $4,000.

Videographers have become less invasive and more artistic than their forefathers. A wireless mike slipped into the groom's breast pocket records the vows. Light-sensitive cameras have replaced those with glaring headlights. And videographers can zoom in on the action without being part of it: Justin Parker ( new-jersey-wedding.com ) filmed from across the street as groom Ross Sussmann entered the church in Newark, N.J. "We didn't even know he was there," says Sussmann, a Harvard medical student. Parker's stylish work "helped us feel like it really is our Hollywood movie." The video even includes black-and-white cinematography.

But nothing is more Hollywood than what the industry calls the "love story." Like a personal VH1 Behind the Music, the love story mixes an interview with the couple, old home videos, photos, and even some choreographed footage. "The Love Story of Kathryn and Chace Beddingfield" of Flint, Texas, includes the tale of their first kiss (at his college graduation party)--and a scene in which Chace spins around while Kathryn suddenly appears in his outspread arms. Some of the staged interludes felt "unnatural," she says. But, "it's priceless because we can never go back to before we were married and talk about the future."

With great technology comes great temptation to overdo it. Yifat Oren, wedding planner for such stars as Kevin Costner and Mariska Hargitay, advises against a load of special effects, "sappy ballad" soundtracks, and graphics and titles (too cutesy and cluttered).

On the horizon are high-definition video cameras, which will lead to a "cataclysmic change," says Roy Chapman, president of the Wedding & Event Videographers Association. Videographers will be able to pull high-quality stills from videos and manipulate them digitally. And the vivid, almost 3-D picture will make your wedding something "cinematic," Chapman says.

In that case, you might want a videographer who does makeup. And voice lessons from the Partridge Family.