Starting a wedding videography business may seem daunting. No worries! Here’s an easy-to-follow guide to building your own brand.
There’s a lot to consider when starting a wedding videography business. How you book clients, how they find you, what equipment to use, what you want your films to look like, how to edit them. The list goes on and on, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Let’s break it down into a few simple steps.
Branding
The first thing you want to do when you start building your business is take a look at your brand. Who are you? How do you want to present yourself and your business? The traditional sense of a brand is mostly based around design, logos, color schemes, and so on. While that is all certainly relevant, in this industry it’s also much deeper than that. Your brand is your identity. Honesty and passion will get you much farther than a color scheme. Being true to yourself, and being a support system for your couples, is what really draws people in, in this industry.
The backbone of your brand is your “why.” Your why is the very reason you’ve made the choice to start your business. It’s the thing that pushes you to keep going when being an entrepreneur gets tough.
Another pertinent part of your brand is a clear vision. You have to ask yourself questions such as: What kind of films do I want to make? And, Who do I want to appeal to? Have a set goal in mind.
Branding yourself authentically is your greatest asset for pulling in the clients you want to work with. It’s important to determine your personal strengths and interests, and play to that. Appealing to the right people gives not only you, but also your clients, the best experience.
Branding should be about making your clients feel comfortable and seen. Branding is about attracting and repelling. The goal is to attract the right clients and couples to you, while simultaneously repelling those that aren’t right.
I realize this may seem strange — why not appeal to all clients and work more weddings? While that’s a fair, and logical, thought process, it doesn’t always work that way. I have found that when we work a wedding that isn’t the right kind of client for us, we aren’t able to fully meet our own potential. If we’re not the right fit for a couple, we begin questioning the moves we make, and the way we edit their film. Our self-confidence begins to plummet and we struggle.
This isn’t fair to us — or our client. They deserve the absolute best for their day, and if we aren’t the right fit, that’s okay! There’s someone else out there that’ll be perfect for their day, and we should be repelling that client so their perfect videographer can attract them. It also opens up the possibility that we’ll attract the right couple for us, and fill that date with someone that we feel comfortable with, so we can do our best work.
It’s okay to not be completely sure of your brand when you’re first starting. It may take some experience of working weddings to figure it out. There will be a time when the stars align and you’re with the right couple, at the right venue, with the right vibe — and it’ll be magical. The day will breeze by, you’ll get all of your greatest shots, and editing will just fall into place. Take note of when this happens and think back on what you did to gain that couple and how you can attract more like them.
Your Logo
You don’t really need to put a ton of effort into designing a logo when you’re just starting your business. Unless you’re McDonald’s or Nike, your logo isn’t actually that important. Your look and your style will probably change several times in your first couple of years — and that’s okay!
Design something simple that includes the name of your business. If you aren’t into designing, buy a pre-made logo you can edit the text on. They’re super inexpensive, professional, and save you a ton of time. For an even simpler route, you can choose a font you really like and just use your business name as the logo.
Whatever you choose, just make sure it matches the look of your brand and you’re good to go. Don’t stress too much over something that’ll probably change anyway.
Color Palettes
Your color palette should be a reflection of your brand personality and vibe, which is a reflection of your target client. An easy trick is to pay attention to the color palettes and décor of your ideal client. Take exactly what they’re using in their own weddings and reflect this back to them. This way, when your ideal couple visits your website, they’re already seeing their wedding ideas on your page. You’ll be a perfect fit.
Pinterest is a great tool for this. There are boards on boards on boards of all things wedding. There are even wedding color palette boards. Look at the decorations people are using — from the colors of their florals to the dress colors they choose for their wedding party.
Another thing you can lean into is color theory and psychology. Use your palette to your advantage and communicate exactly what you want.
For example, if you want to make elopement-style films, you probably want to go with earth tones. If you’re looking to book more high-end couples, try black and white with a pop of a single, muted color.
Website Design
Your website is vital to your business. Every potential client is going to visit it. So, it’s important that it’s visually appealing, matches your brand, loads quickly, and provides people with the information they’re looking for. I know the idea of building a website seems scary, but don’t worry! It’s 2021, so you won’t have to learn HTML or know how to code. You just have to pick a website builder.
The things you want to look for in a builder are the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) capabilities, how well it handles video, and it’s user-friendliness. SEO will help your website get to the top of Google searches, which makes it way easier for people to find you. Most website builders include SEO tools and capabilities that simply require a few boxes to be filled in.
You want a site builder that’ll play nicely with video platforms like YouTube or Vimeo. Video files are very large and trying to store them on your website will slow it down to a crawl. Video sites, like YouTube, will store your films and optimize them for quick play.
Website builders like Showit and Wix are both drag-and-drop builders. This makes them incredibly easy to customize and maneuver. Builders like Squarespace are structured and let you customize, but only within certain parameters. There’s no right or wrong answer. It’s up to you to figure out what works best for you.
Include your best films, pricing information, a page about you and your values, and a contact form for people to inquire with you. Keep your design consistent with your brand through website copy and colors.
Honestly, knowing your brand and representing it, and yourself, is the key to standing out in the wedding industry. Couples are entrusting you with their biggest day. Make it clear that you’re the perfect choice, and you’re going to give them a fantastic experience and product.
Gear
You need a camera, mics, and something you can move with while keeping you stable (gimbals and glidecams are popular options).
DSLR cameras make the most sense for wedding videography. They give you the ability to choose your lens, which is extremely beneficial. Lenses make it easier to develop your specific style and add range to your depth of field.
DSLRs also give you a lot more control in your f-stop, ISO, and shutter speed. This gives you more control over your image. They offer the highest image quality with the most reasonable price point. Most camera bodies now include in-camera stabilization, which is helpful in getting those smooth, romantic images. This also allows you the option to go handheld, which allows for a certain peace of mind on those unpredictable wedding days.
There’s really no need to go all out and break you budget on a 6K or 8K camera, as of right now. While, yes, they’re amazing and that quality is mind-blowing, most people don’t have a TV or a monitor that supports anything above 4K. Even YouTube doesn’t support it yet. It takes up a massive amount of storage space, plus it slows your editing time down unless you have a beast of a computer. Essentially (at the moment), you’ll be paying for a feature that you won’t use. And, while 4K is beautiful and beneficial for cropping in, it’s not necessary. Getting a camera in your hands and being ready to book weddings is the most important thing, so it’s okay to keep it affordable, at first.
For capturing audio, you’ll want a shotgun mic that connects directly to your camera, as well as a few lavaliere mics. The shotgun mic will allow you to add depth to your film with ambient sound and help to match up audio from your lav mic.
Wireless lav mics work best for capturing clean vocal audio. The Tascam DR-10L is super easy to operate, has excellent sound, and is the perfect size to drop into a pocket or tuck into a dress. For your best audio outcome, you want to have a mic on as many people as you can that are speaking.
To achieve those moving (emotionally and physically) cinematic shots, you’ll need some kind of stabilizer. Gimbals are highly popular and decently easy to get the hang of, with a little practice.
DJI and Zhiyun are the top dogs in the gimbal game. They make several different models, so you can find what works best for you. Another stabilizer option is Glidecam, which is a weighted counter-balance system.
When it comes down to it, there’s no definitive answer to which style of stabilization is superior. The best option is what works best for you, what you’re comfortable with, and what helps you achieve the look and style of your brand.
Skills
I understand that you’ve probably watched hours and hours of wedding films made by the top filmmakers in the industry and it all seems rather intimidating.
Stop Psyching Yourself Out
The honest truth is, you need ZERO skills to start your own wedding video business.
You can teach yourself everything you need to know. Watch movies, series, and music videos for inspiration. Look for shots you’d like to recreate and editing styles you want to practice.
Stop Watching Wedding Films
I know that watching wedding films seems like the best place for inspiration, but it’s not. What really happens is you get stuck comparing your work and your value to filmmakers that have been doing it for several years. That’s not fair. Everyone started somewhere.
Give Yourself a Break and Get to Work
You can learn ANYTHING on the internet. YouTube is a great resource for tutorials. Practice, practice, practice. Train yourself to see the world with a cinematic eye. Don’t bog yourself, or your potential, down with lack of experience. Read cinematography books, go through editing tutorials, and hone your skills. It just takes time and effort.
Attracting Clients
Typically, filmmakers will put together a reel to gain clients or get hired for jobs. However, the wedding industry is a little different. We found it far more effective to create small teasers and share clips on social media to showcase our work. Couples planning weddings most likely don’t have the time to watch an entire reel of random moments from your wedding season.
Instagram is your best friend. You can post videos and photos of your work or help your audience get to know you through Instagram Stories. Much like Google, Instagram loves consistency. The more you post, the more your account will get showcased. Think of this as your living demo reel. Share clips that will attract your target client.
One-minute teasers are another perfect way to show off your work in a quick format. Edit together some clips with some music in the first couple of days following a wedding. It’s an easy way to get your couple hyped up about the future of their film. Use teasers as an add-on item to your packages.
It’s a lot to figure out and do, but the key here is to just start. You’re the only one who can make it happen.
Let your passion push you. You are plenty capable and you deserve success.
Cover image via san4ezz.
Find everything you need to start shooting wedding video:
- Building a Website for Your Wedding Video Business
- How to Attract Wedding Video Clients – A Demo Reel Won’t Cut It
- Micro-Wedding Images We Love and How to Capture Them
- Planning a Wedding Video? Which Style Should You Choose?
- What You Need to Know Before Shooting Wedding Videography