How Much Should You Charge To Shoot A Wedding Film?

Someone asked you to film their wedding! Here's how much you should charge to shoot your first wedding film and become a wedding videographer.

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[BrianMakesFilms]

My first wedding I charged $200, then I shot a few free for friends, then $500, then $1000, and then settled around $1500 for a year, then jumped to around $2k and last year around $2700. Personally the stress of weddings has me gravitating more away from them, but this is 100% a good model to go with. My first wedding films were really bad, but because I charged a lot (or no) price point, some of those couples still tell me "we love our film it's amazing" even though it really is terrible from a filmmaking perspective.

[maykevin]

I did my first 2 for free for friends. They paid me back by spreading word of mouth and expanded my business. Posted to social media and gave good reviews.

[amanteyy]

Did my first wedding for my sister for free. 8 years later I'm one of the highest paid wedding videographer in Maldives. Thank you Matt your videos are inspiring.

[kfilms]

Took that course on launch day, highly recommend it ! Learned so much, and it inspired me to not only start charging as a new wedding filmmaker, but how to go about it.

[SuperEliasTM]

I've filmed over 60 Weddings on my own.
Started at $250 to get my foot in the door.
Worked hard to give them something worth more than $200. Uploaded it / tagged them on FB and they shared it. Got 16k views and like 12 more bookings from that. ( Didn't know it would blow up like that )
Rinsed and repeated.
Gradually raised my price over time and made sure I grew a portfolio / invested tons of money and time into learning and creating these the best I can in order to justify a price increase.
Went to $300, $450, $600, $800, $1, 200, $1, 800, $2, 000, $2, 800 and as of today I'm at $3, 200 and someone is about to book me with a 50% deposit for a wedding that's not happening for another year.

[TheMoneyResolution]

Dude, I'm not even interested in your topic but you're crushing it with these videos and the way you explain all this. Love the video delivery. Found you researching Kajabi sites and courses. Keep it up Matt!

[filmsmith]

Matt, this is my first comment on your channel but just wanted to thank you for sharing all of your knowledge. Been using your channel the past year as Ive been growing my videography skills and even have a monetized YouTube channel now. I really want to get into weddings so I will be watching your content heavily! Thanks so much Matt!

[rowanfilms]

I shot my 774th wedding yesterday and everything you're saying is spot on. I've been doing this for 15 years and I have never shot a wedding for free, thank God. The only thing I would say I slightly disagree with here is that you mention someone could or should shoot their first wedding for free. I think that's a little too generous, especially if it's a bride like yours that may have tons of money in the budget to pay SOMETHING. I'm not too worried about the watered-down market, but that is, in a sense, what happens. That bride that had money could have hired someone with more experience for 3k, but instead, that hypothetical videographer didn't get the job. Because someone inexperienced took it instead and did it for $500. Now, if it was a low budget wedding that couldn't even really afford a videographer, by all means, get your portfolio up and running with that friendly, cheap/transaction. Also, another reason why any videographer should definitely charge at least SOMETHING is because what usually happens is that videographer puts editing on the back burner while they do their full-time day job and it takes months to edit. If someone wants to make this a business, that turn-around time needs to be quick. Especially nowadays when the couple may very well be divorced by the time you hand them their video. one week guys...one week. So when you're getting paid, there might be more of an urgency to deliver the product.

[jamesbmedia]

Just started watching your videos as I am VERY new to wedding videography and all your ideas and tips etc are absolutely great for beginners like myself. Very much appreciated

[lecpatoku]

Thank s bro! In this october i will film my firts wedding! With my brother ( he is a drone pilot) we decide to do it for free! And i m happy the same! My goals will be to do a great job, in that way i have something to show to the other couple! I hope😅
Thanks from Tuscany🤗

[MrCalebgrayson]

certainly if you don't know what you're doing at all you need to learn the basics, but then you need to either be capable of shooting wedding or not do it at all. if you are capable, then at least charge an average rate.

there's room for discounts for friends and family, but wedding clients ARE NOT repeat buyers. its a one time deal and most just go on your web site and price.

charge what your product is worth, even the first time. if it isn't worth anything, then don't sell it.

you can always discount a product that didn't turn out. better than giving away one for free that is worth $3k.

[jonasfreitag]

Such good advice Matt that is true far beyond wedding videos.

[EmmaSandy]

I have no desire to make any wedding film.... BUT this was an interesting video none the less! I guess it also applies to all art commissions....

Recently I got a painting commissioned & the artist asked for much less than I was expecting. So I paid more than was asked and he's posting me a second piece... You bet I'll be spreading good word about this! Also, it's made the foundations for a loyal customer too!

[jarrodbarker]

What gear did you use though for your first wedding? People also pay for tech. Bringing $30, 000 worth of gear to a wedding plus multiple shooters also merits a higher asking price imo.

[TorVerner]

For me the money was never in question but rather a portfolio, so I did 3 weddings for free. Last free I did was booked through a facebook add. I paid money to film a wedding, even renting gears. Now i have previous work, testimonials and some experiences.

[elliegault]

Super helpful in starting my journey! Thanks!

[prideandjoyfilms]

I love your wedding films it’s crazy cause I did bade my first wedding film off of a lot of your teachings. It was fun and fast paced. I enjoyed every second of it! I charged only 250$ for my first one and because of that I have 3 weddings. (One postponed cause of the dreaded pandemic) but I raised my prices effectively because of doing that first one so cheap. I can’t wait till wedding season can kick back into gear and see you review some more weddings!

[SteveLewis]

Thanks for this fantastic Advice Matt.

[austinpaz]

my first wedding was for a friend who trusted me as a filmmaker before i started shooting weddings and he bought me a suit to wear to his wedding and a glidecam since i convinced him it would make his wedding look a lot better. his investment and belief in me was wayyyy more valuable than $500, $1, 000, or $5, 000. i gained a video to showcase to other future coulpes which snowballed into my full time business ive run for the last 7 years

[chavitavb]

What did I get myself into!! I'm doing video and photography for my friend's small wedding for 1.75k