There's a link on my page to a news story about a couples wedding film being ruined!

All i can say is I'm shocked, makes you think twice about checking up on someone's credentials

I bet he isn't the first one to do it either. Shame on bad people like that.

My best friends cousin got a married a few years ago and had her wedding filmed, it cost her a lot of money but there was people she couldn't have at the wedding so was planning on giving DVDs to these people to make up for it..

Anyway, took ages for her to get the DVD's back from the videographer, he kept making up excuses about why it was taking so long. When she finally received the DVDs she couldn't wait to watch them, was so excited and knew they'd be fab as she had already watched a clip of the DVD, sort of like viewing your photographs before picking the good ones!..

She sat down with a cup of tea and tissues, ready to watch her wedding all over again, she sat there gob smacked at what she was watching, a really beautiful wedding it was just a shame it wasn't her wedding. She'd been sent someone elses DVD's.. she then tried contacting the videographer but he'd disappeared off the face of the earth with over £1000 of her money..

So, I won't be having my wedding filmed!!

xx

Are you insured Michelle and have you contacted your bank and the police? You could still get your money back.

No they can still trace where the money was deposited etc. Ring them up and speak to them. In the mean time get insurance. £30 covers 10k and would have got your money back with no hassle.

omg - we are asking a relative to video it as he loves doing stuff like that

wow that is quite scary actually.... its wrong companies get away with ruining someones hard work and their special memories

modmother your page is restricted for me, can you friend me please??

i cant see it the link wont work :( could someone post it on my wall if poss? xx

Alas with no barriers to entry in our profession this sort of thing is going to be more commonplace.
Time was that wedding photography (and videography) was a skill that few would even contemplate doing for some quick cash on the side.

The sad fact is that nowadays the market is full of these weekend warriors (in this case quite literally!) who will go down to the local camera store, buy a cheap dslr or video camera and set themselves up as a 'professional'. These generally are the types who will promise the earth for peanuts and give the true pros a bad name by their shoddy behaviour and substandard work.

When choosing a photographer or videographer, you have to be so careful to avoid people like this as any Tom Dick or Harry can jump on the bandwagon. A good start is education - find out what a realistic price for photography in your area should be (look at 10 or 15 local to you established, well known photographers and compare their prices - this will give you an idea what you could expect to pay), if the average for an album package is, say £1250, and you find someone offering an album for £250 - shouldn't that set off alarm bells in your mind that there is something not quite kosher about the £250 'deal'?

It's become a bit of cliché - but you really do only get one chance to get it right and as photography/videography is the one thing you can only see AFTER the event, you need to really do some research and not just shop around based on the end price.

I'm sorry to hear the couple have had such a disastrous wedding video, but hopefully if it can raise the publics awareness to making sure you choose experienced and trusted suppliers for their wedding I think it will have helped weed out this sort of cowboy who gives the true professionals a bad name.

awful!! xx

luckily the chapel provide us with a dvd of the wedding so we don't have to worry about any of the above but i think its horrible that people take advantage over a girls dreamed of day!!! x

Hi all,

I recently came across a story in the news about a videographer that ruined a couples big day. It's probably the same story as mentioned above. I was really annoyed about it because it gives us videographers a really bad name that we have to overcome.

Reading the story I noticed a few things that jumped out at me:

1. The videographer was based in the very North of England.
2. The wedding was in the very South of England.
3. The price the couple paid was £350.00.

Now, I know in these hard times that everyone is trying to save money. I also feel for the couple whose wedding was so ruined that the judge ordered the videographer (I don't think we should call him a videographer because clearly he wasn't!) to pay them compensation BEYOND the price of their video. This is very rare! But I can't help but wonder why a couple would book a 'guy to film their wedding professionally' for £350.00. Basic maths tells us that it would have cost him a fortune in petrol alone and if he's driving the length of the country and back again (as opposed to spending more money staying over in a hotel) he's endangering lives. I just can't believe the couple didn't realise this.

If you're thinking of hiring a videographer:

1. Watch their videos on their website. If they don't have any or they're not very good, don't book them.
2. Ask to see a full, completed wedding video. Anyone can put together five minutes of great video from a ten hour wedding shoot. Not everyone can create a truly great wedding video story that's interesting to watch for an hour or more.
3. If you don't have their genuine business address, don't book them because you have no comeback.
4. If you don't have a written contract, don't book.
5. If the price doesn't look right, ask why it's so low (or even so high). There must be a reason and you shouldn't stop until you think you know that reason. It's just like buying a washing machine or a boat or a new kitchen or a sofa.
6. Ask if the videographer offers a full money back guarantee?

Putting it really simply... you wouldn't buy a brand new car if someone offered it to you for £1,000.00, so why would you book a 'guy to film your wedding professionally' for silly reduced rates? If it's too good to be true, it's probably not true!

I love making wedding videos, but I have to make a living. I try and offer discounts and promotions and ways of giving the customer more for the same price. I try to go overboard on customer service because I believe that's what the customer wants. But if a customer wants me to make them a video for a price that I don't believe it possible to make that video, I won't book them. That's right, I don't let the client book me. Why should I? I don't want to dissapoint them and I cannot succeed on their budget. I don't want clients who expect something for nothing. I don't want clients who don't care about their video. No good to me.

If you need any advice on wedding videography, please feel free to contact me through my website. I've said it many times... advice is free and I would much rather help someone avoid the sad story in the news and subsequent damage to my rather enjoyable and rewarding industry than see it happen again. One of the major highlights of producing wedding videos is witnessing the sheer delight in the customer when they see the finished product. One of the worse things of my job is hearing awful stories about dissapointment and upset.

I hope my post is of some use to everyone. :-)


Kind regards,

Andrew.
www.carillonvideo.co.uk

mrs barker unfortunetly if they had a business address they would have known where he was from. i agree tho i expect to pay a college just less than what they paid, purely because of all the work they have to do out side of still studying too. the cheapest videography package i have sen from a legitimate company in my wedding planning experience (bare in mind I have a 4 drawer filing cabinet FULL to the brim of wedding companies i have the lot around here anyway) and the cheapest was for just the ceremony so an hour or two and it was £500.00! so they really were a bit nieve. imnot saying its all down to the couple because its not obiously but for that price?! seriously! wise up a bit!

I know that Fairytale has found a college to do her videography for £50.00 but she had to insist on that from whati understand and she is VERY lucky to have found someone so willing but a college has no reason to mess up a video as the videos they make are used for ther portfolis and so they need decent ones to get the better paying customers!

it still annoys me that ppl are willing to ruin someones day to make a quick buck grrrrrr

^^^

This is why the industry (photography and video) has such a bad rap - people see photo/video as bad as the example here and think that's 'industry standard' and do just what XjoX has written. Go out and buy a cheap dslr/videocamera - charge silly low rates and produce work that is, frankly, crap. He then gets found out and the cycle beings again.

The sad thing is you'll never see an article titled - 'professional, experienced photographer produces amazing images which wow bride and groom', all you'll see in the press are articles such as this which only further reinforce the erroneous stereotype that all photographers/videographers are bad and do it simply as a way to earn extra readies.


As has been pointed out a million times before - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is..

BTW, XjoX, it's not a dig at you personally, it's just you wrote something that a lot of people think and then act upon - which is why the industry is in the shocking state it's in at the moment..