Here’s how to choose a wedding videographer, straight up: find someone whose full films you love (not just their highlights reel), someone you’d happily spend twelve hours with, and someone whose pricing is published and honest. Everything else – the drone, the fancy camera, the follower count – is secondary. I’m Ben, I film weddings solo across Adelaide, the Hills, McLaren Vale, the Barossa and the Fleurieu, and this is exactly what I’d tell my own mates if they asked me over a beer.
Every videographer has a default way of seeing a wedding, and no amount of “we can do whatever you like” changes it much on the day. Some shoot big, dramatic, movie-trailer stuff with lots of directed poses. Some (hi, that’s me) work candid and documentary — quiet, relaxed, finding moments rather than staging them.
Neither approach is wrong. But if you hate being directed and you book someone who builds their films around staged sequences, you’ll spend your wedding day feeling like an extra in someone else’s movie. Watch three or four of their films and ask yourself one question: do the couples look like they know the camera is there? Whatever the honest answer is, that’s what your day will feel like too.
Just one more on this – sometimes you might not be able to get the wedding videographer in Adelaide that you want. Read my guide here on when to book your wedding videographer in Adelaide
This is the one people skip, and honestly it might be the most important. Your videographer is next to you while you get ready, during the ceremony, at family photos when tensions run a little spicy, and on the dance floor at 10pm. That’s more time than you’ll spend with your celebrant, your caterer and most of your guests combined.
So jump on a call or meet for a coffee before you book. If the conversation is easy, the footage will be easy — relaxed couples make natural films, and nobody relaxes around someone they find awkward. If the call feels like a sales pitch, imagine twelve hours of that pointed at your face.
If a videographer hides their prices behind “enquire for our packages”, there’s usually a reason, and it’s rarely one that benefits you. Sometimes it’s the classic wedding tax — the same work costing more the moment the word “wedding” appears. I’m getting married myself this November, so believe me, I’ve seen the wedding tax from your side of the fence now, and it’s made me even more stubborn about keeping my prices public.
Published pricing means the videographer isn’t sizing you up. My Full Package is $3,300 for the whole day, and most Adelaide videographers start somewhere between $4,500 and $5,500 — not because they’re dodgy, often because they run teams and studios. If you want the full breakdown of what things cost and why, I’ve answered it all in my wedding video cost FAQ.
Anyone can make ninety good seconds. A highlights reel on Instagram is the best of the best of the best — it tells you almost nothing about how someone handles a full ceremony, dodgy speeches audio, or a reception lit like a cave. Ask to see a complete film: full ceremony, full speeches, the lot.
You’re checking three things. Is the ceremony audio clean and close, or does it sound like it was recorded from the car park? Does the film hold up in tricky light — a dim hall, harsh midday sun, dappled forest light like you get out at Kuitpo Hall? And does it still feel interesting at the twenty-minute mark? The highlights sell the videographer. The full film is what you’ll actually re-live in ten years.
Have a look at my full video for Amy & Jayde and Sara & Chris and let me know what you think.
Once you’ve found someone you like, do the boring checks before the deposit leaves your account:
Honestly? Watch full films until one makes you feel something. Then talk to the person who made it, and trust your gut about whether you’d want them around all day. Don’t pay extra for buzzwords, don’t book anyone who won’t tell you the price, and don’t skip video entirely just because the first few quotes scared you — the speeches and the vows are the bits you’ll miss most, and photos can’t bring back a voice.
When I was filming Skye & Tom’s wedding, there was this absolutely epic sunset that just completely stole the show. Skye & Tom (and I) got lost in the sunset, so we just let the moment happen. I went silent and just let them look out into the distance over the Barossa and enjoy the moment. This is something that would never have been captured if not for video.
If my candid, no-fuss way of filming sounds like your kind of thing, flick me a message — tell me your date and venue, and I’ll tell you honestly whether I’m the right fit. No pressure, no sales pitch, promise.
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