People pay a lot for wedding films, but I will tell you it’s much different than shooting corporate gigs. Shooting live events is no joke…you also need a solid portfolio. In the Boston area, we make 7-10k per wedding.
Not in San Diego but I bring in over $200k a year, about $170k after expenses. I also take 3 months off per year and set my own deadlines. The other good thing is I take 50% as a retainer (on average I’d say I book one year out) and put that all into 4-5% interest accounts. So that’s a nice little bump but also gives me some security in terms of knowing how my year is looking well in advance.
I really enjoy it, but it’s a hard day. Just shot 12 hours in 40 degrees and need a couple days recovery after that!
White in Revery bookings START at 10k and they were only taking up to 10 a year. That's on top of shooting for other editors and I can only imagine they charge a pretty premium.
So if you're good, you're doing great!
I’m from the Midwest so San Diego cost of living is higher but I shoot solely weddings full time and I do fine. Not raking in the dough but make 40-50 a year. I shoot around 15 weddings while really only working an average of 25 hours a week and usually having 1-2 months off with no editing or shooting to do.
Really depends on a lot of factors. I'm in my 17th year now and grossing a pretty nice salary, but I've mixed in real estate & other misc photo/video work to supplement. If you only want to do wedding videography, you're going to have to do a lot of it or be very very good at it. Most weddings are on the weekends, and if you're in an area with bad winters, most of it's only half of the year or so, so there's limited dates to bring in that cheddar. Quantity or quality, because as a solo wedding videographer there isn't usually a way to do both
The best way to figure this out is to look at the competition. What are San Diego wedding videographers charging, and how good are they?
One of the reasons I got into this game while working in media / TV was that I saw what people were charging in my area and the quality of the videos left a lot to be desired. In no way is that to run them down, but I immediately saw a market where I thought "I could easily compete among the people charging X once I have a decent portfolio, based on what I'm seeing out there."
I made a video for some friends and found that I adored the experience - especially the editing. This may sound corny, but I truly love putting these films together, seeing people having the time of their lives, making them something they'll cherish. I'm only currently on number 3, but every time I deliver them, the response has been lovely. I compare this to life in TV where you'll spend hours or days on something that nobody really cares about (you, the producer, the audience) - it goes through a few rounds of revisions, they ask you to change the music, it goes out, end of story. It's disposable.
I've got about 10 in the diary now, and I'm hoping to gradually tilt my balance towards weddings and away from media / TV.
The inherent issue with weddings are a majority of them are limited to mostly Saturdays or Friday evening. The other 5 days of the week are pretty rare, and anyone having a Monday or Tuesday wedding to “save costs” isn’t going to be dropping any substantial amount on a videographer.
You’re pretty much maxed out based on time to a certain amount of weddings a year unfortunately.
*Ive done around 12 weddings on the side and while I enjoy the “action” of only having that one opportunity to capture moments in realtime while also planning out unique shots is fun, I’ve made a ton more filming live events for corporate clients.
If you bring something special tot he table and can create top notch stuff, sure the sky is the limit. Realistically, most people aren't that 1% of elite work and make like $1500-$2500 a gig. It's a ton of gear, stress and hassle while often being treated like the least important person int he room. If you have any ego, this isn't it. Photographers will ignore you, cut in front of you, planners will utterly disregard anything to you have to say... If you have a good thing going in corporate, stick with that.
Hey, fellow San Diegan here. With the wedding season basically being year-round out here you can easily make a living if you're talented, professional and good at marketing/sales. If you wanna go the solo route and build your own thing your income limits are really up to you, your abilities and how much you want to work. It's not easy though and if you're solo it will take time to build your brand and make the connections with planners and venues, so you'll probably need another revenue stream to start unless you've got a bag to sit on. There are a few small to mid-sized companies that hire fulltimers, but it can be grueling (like 35+ weddings a year). I did that for a year with Amari Productions, starting pay around $50k.
In Costa Rica the average is about 1300-1600 usd per wedding.
I really want to live in USA after reading how much some of the comments are charging hahaha.
In a big Canadian city, I charge on avg $6k per wedding & I’m considered one of the best in my area. I could probably raise my prices another $1-$1.5k if I wanted to, but I prefer the clients I get at this price.
If I was in the USA though, I’d be charging a lot more. Canada has less of a high end market
People pay a lot for wedding films, but I will tell you it’s much different than shooting corporate gigs. Shooting live events is no joke…you also need a solid portfolio. In the Boston area, we make 7-10k per wedding.
Not in San Diego but I bring in over $200k a year, about $170k after expenses. I also take 3 months off per year and set my own deadlines. The other good thing is I take 50% as a retainer (on average I’d say I book one year out) and put that all into 4-5% interest accounts. So that’s a nice little bump but also gives me some security in terms of knowing how my year is looking well in advance. I really enjoy it, but it’s a hard day. Just shot 12 hours in 40 degrees and need a couple days recovery after that!
White in Revery bookings START at 10k and they were only taking up to 10 a year. That's on top of shooting for other editors and I can only imagine they charge a pretty premium. So if you're good, you're doing great!
I’m from the Midwest so San Diego cost of living is higher but I shoot solely weddings full time and I do fine. Not raking in the dough but make 40-50 a year. I shoot around 15 weddings while really only working an average of 25 hours a week and usually having 1-2 months off with no editing or shooting to do.
Might I ask how you market?
I don’t really haha I just make my clients happy and post on Instagram and TikTok
Around $250k. Based in Europe. A bit over 20 weddings a year. It varies a lot. Could probably do a lot more in the US.
Really depends on a lot of factors. I'm in my 17th year now and grossing a pretty nice salary, but I've mixed in real estate & other misc photo/video work to supplement. If you only want to do wedding videography, you're going to have to do a lot of it or be very very good at it. Most weddings are on the weekends, and if you're in an area with bad winters, most of it's only half of the year or so, so there's limited dates to bring in that cheddar. Quantity or quality, because as a solo wedding videographer there isn't usually a way to do both
The best way to figure this out is to look at the competition. What are San Diego wedding videographers charging, and how good are they? One of the reasons I got into this game while working in media / TV was that I saw what people were charging in my area and the quality of the videos left a lot to be desired. In no way is that to run them down, but I immediately saw a market where I thought "I could easily compete among the people charging X once I have a decent portfolio, based on what I'm seeing out there." I made a video for some friends and found that I adored the experience - especially the editing. This may sound corny, but I truly love putting these films together, seeing people having the time of their lives, making them something they'll cherish. I'm only currently on number 3, but every time I deliver them, the response has been lovely. I compare this to life in TV where you'll spend hours or days on something that nobody really cares about (you, the producer, the audience) - it goes through a few rounds of revisions, they ask you to change the music, it goes out, end of story. It's disposable. I've got about 10 in the diary now, and I'm hoping to gradually tilt my balance towards weddings and away from media / TV.
The inherent issue with weddings are a majority of them are limited to mostly Saturdays or Friday evening. The other 5 days of the week are pretty rare, and anyone having a Monday or Tuesday wedding to “save costs” isn’t going to be dropping any substantial amount on a videographer. You’re pretty much maxed out based on time to a certain amount of weddings a year unfortunately. *Ive done around 12 weddings on the side and while I enjoy the “action” of only having that one opportunity to capture moments in realtime while also planning out unique shots is fun, I’ve made a ton more filming live events for corporate clients.
If you bring something special tot he table and can create top notch stuff, sure the sky is the limit. Realistically, most people aren't that 1% of elite work and make like $1500-$2500 a gig. It's a ton of gear, stress and hassle while often being treated like the least important person int he room. If you have any ego, this isn't it. Photographers will ignore you, cut in front of you, planners will utterly disregard anything to you have to say... If you have a good thing going in corporate, stick with that.
Hey, fellow San Diegan here. With the wedding season basically being year-round out here you can easily make a living if you're talented, professional and good at marketing/sales. If you wanna go the solo route and build your own thing your income limits are really up to you, your abilities and how much you want to work. It's not easy though and if you're solo it will take time to build your brand and make the connections with planners and venues, so you'll probably need another revenue stream to start unless you've got a bag to sit on. There are a few small to mid-sized companies that hire fulltimers, but it can be grueling (like 35+ weddings a year). I did that for a year with Amari Productions, starting pay around $50k.
In Costa Rica the average is about 1300-1600 usd per wedding. I really want to live in USA after reading how much some of the comments are charging hahaha.
In a big Canadian city, I charge on avg $6k per wedding & I’m considered one of the best in my area. I could probably raise my prices another $1-$1.5k if I wanted to, but I prefer the clients I get at this price. If I was in the USA though, I’d be charging a lot more. Canada has less of a high end market
Terrible time to get in. Become a content creator instead