Nobody puts prices on their website, and then everybody wonders why couples find the whole thing exhausting. So here is a straight answer, written by someone who has been filming London weddings for twenty years.
The short version
Across London, most couples booking an experienced wedding videographer pay somewhere between £1,800 and £2,800 for full-day coverage. Below that, around £1,200 to £1,800, you're generally looking at newer videographers or shorter coverage. Above it, £2,800 to £4,500 and up, you're into larger studios with bigger crews.
London runs roughly 20-40% higher than the rest of the country. That isn't a London tax for its own sake - it's travel across a city that doesn't move quickly, parking that costs more than the fuel, and venues that need more crew to cover properly.
If someone quotes you £600 for a full day, that isn't a bargain. Filming a wedding is about ten hours on your feet, and then somewhere between forty and eighty hours in the edit. Work out what that leaves per hour and you'll see why the number can't be real.
What actually moves the price
Three things, and nothing else really.
Hours of coverage. Three hours at a registry office and an eleven-hour day from prep to last dance are different jobs. Most of the price difference between packages is here.
How many cameras, and how many people. One operator with two cameras covers a ceremony well. Two operators with three cameras cover it completely - the wide, the faces, and the thing nobody expected. For speeches especially, the difference is significant, because you only get one take.
The edit. This is the part nobody sees and the part that takes the longest. A full-length film of the whole day and a cinematic film of the best of it are two separate edits from the same footage, and each one is real days of work.
Everything else - drone, second photographer, extra hours - sits on top as an add-on.
What "full day" should include
Ask, because it varies more than you'd think. In my collections, full day means:
- Coverage from preparations through to the evening
- One full-length film of the whole day
- One cinematic film of the best moments
- Everything delivered by private download link
If a quote doesn't say what films you're getting, that's the first question to ask. "A wedding video" can mean a three-minute highlight and nothing else, and plenty of couples don't find that out until it lands.
Deposits and delivery
I take 50% up front to hold your date, with the balance due before the day. Deposits vary across London - some suppliers ask for a quarter, some for half - but everyone takes something, because the date comes off the calendar the moment you book.
Delivery is usually one to three months, depending on the season. Anyone promising a full wedding film in a fortnight during peak summer is either not editing much or not being straight with you. September and October are the slowest months to get anything back, because everyone got married in August.
Where the money is worth spending
If your budget is tight, spend it here, in this order:
1. A second operator, if you're having speeches. Speeches are the footage couples watch most and the footage most often ruined - one camera means you're either on the speaker or on the reaction, never both.
2. Full-day over half-day. The morning is where the nerves and the small moments live. Cutting the day short usually cuts the best material.
3. Everything else. Drone is lovely and it is not what you'll be watching in ten years.
Questions worth asking before you book
- Who is actually filming on the day? At smaller outfits it's the person you're talking to. At larger ones it may not be, and you should know either way.
- Who edits it? If it's sent to a different editor, the person who understood the day isn't the person cutting it.
- Can I see one full-length film, not just a highlight? Highlight reels are showreels. Anyone can make ninety good seconds. The long film is where you see whether they actually covered the day.
- What happens if you're ill?
- Is travel included?
That third one is the one most couples don't think to ask, and it's the most revealing. There's more on this in my guide to choosing a wedding videographer.
How I do it
I shoot and edit everything myself. That means the person you meet at the first conversation is the person at your wedding and the person in the edit - nothing gets lost being handed between people.
I have three videography collections and two photography ones, and booking both together comes in below booking them separately. Every collection gets shaped around your venue, your timings, and how much of the day you actually want covered, so the quote you get is built around your day rather than lifted off a price list.
You can see the collections here, or look at recent films.
Tell me your date and roughly what you're planning, and I'll come back with a number.
Prices quoted are typical London market ranges, not my own collection prices - get in touch for a quote built around your day.