How to Choose a Vancouver Wedding Videographer
There are so many talented wedding filmmakers in Vancouver BC, how do you choose? What makes everyone different from each other? Is anyone really different from each other? How does pricing work?
Those are all really great questions.
What we know is that our main driving force behind everything we do at Grey House Visual is to have people be seen. We show every couple as they were, the guests as they were, the day exactly how it felt.
We don’t try to push our own take, we don’t try to gain anything or assert our professionality, we want everyone to experience the day without us being in the way, and we can then capture everything and everyone in as pure of a form as possible.
Everyone is different, so every one of our films is different, showcasing again, who people truly are:
Grey House Visual has been capturing weddings in Vancouver BC and beyond since 2014, so at then time of this post 12 years!
We’ve filmed approximately 350+ weddings, which is WILD to us that we’ve captured over 700 individual’s love stories.
The stories we capture take us to a lot of other cool places quite often. Being based in Vancouver BC, it’s one of the main places we shoot. We also frequent Whistler, Squamish, Vancouver Island, Kelowna, Penticton, Summerland, the Sunshine Coast, Powell River and Mexico.
Why Hire a Vancouver Wedding Videographer?
When we got married in 2012, we had no videographer, only photography.
There were moments in our day that photo just didn’t capture, moments that we can only relive in memory.
That was what got us started in wedding filmmaking actually. A close family member was getting married, Tricia had just bought Graeme a camera for our anniversary, and we offered to capture the day on video because we didn’t want those same moments to not live on video.
Being that we are from Vancouver, we deal with the ever changing PNW weather, usually wet or super hot during the summer months, and we are ready for all forms of it, we’ve shot weddings in monsoons, hailstorms, snow, blistering heat, all of the above, and never a moment captured less than perfectly if we do say so ourselves haha.
Along with the ever changing weather and lighting conditions that come with all of the stunning outdoor venues Vancouver has to offer to show off the natural beauty, we also work closely and often with most of the local Vancouver wedding vendors.
With most of our close friends being photographers, not only do we have deep roots in the Vancouver wedding industry, but we have lists miles long of all of the best people to work with. (Vendor List Coming Soon)
We know all of the best photo locations around each venue, times to avoid certain areas, shortcuts, how to avoid public in any shots, as well as experts in hiding from each other before the fist look and from guests before the ceremony haha.
Our Approach
As mentioned earlier, our approach has a huge part in the experience for everyone on the wedding day.
We recently got asked how we find such unique couples, and how we get people to be so comfortable that they can be themselves.
We get asked this a lot.
Sometimes us wedding vendors to feel the need to guide, direct, or step in, show their expertise, prove their worth, or even frankly try to guide things a certain way that benefits themselves.
That is the opposite of what we do.
We don’t want anything from the couples we work with on a wedding day. We have no expectations from them, we don’t boss them around, we just hang out together. The day isn’t about us, its about THEM.
So the answer to the question of how we find such unique people to work with, or getting people comfortable in front of the camera, its by trying to acknowledge US as little as possible.
We always use the analogy of a couple sitting at home watching a movie on the couch, eating popcorn, cuddled up under a blanket.
They just do it. They don’t need to be told how to do it, they don’t need to be laughing or smiling on command to prove that they’re having a good time, that all comes naturally.
If friends are visiting it still unfolds the same way. However if someone was trying to tell them how to cuddle, or how to eat popcorn, or trying to make them laugh while they were cuddling, the vibe is gone, the moment is ruined, and no-one is comfortable. The same would go on the other side of things if you we’re creepily standing in the shadows watching them haha, so there’s got to be a balance.
That shows in videos the most.
We of course are always in your corner and are always looking out for your comfort, and will always offer direction if asked, but only then.
Real Weddings in Vancouver
Venue: https://wallacevenue.com
Being a wedding planner herself, it was SUCH an honour that Kay chose us to be her videographers!
Venue: https://thekentvan.com
Yet again, being a wedding planner herself, and a wedding caterer himself, it was such an honour that Marcus and Steph chose us to capture not only their wedding day, but the special surprise that they had planned for their guests.
They secretly flew up into the mountains months before their wedding, to exchange vows with the kids present.
WE then had the honour of putting together a film for them to show as a surprise at their ceremony before they came down the aisle (not even the officiant, one of Steph’s brothers, knew about the surprise)
It was such a treat to see the guests reacting to the video, tears everywhere, laughter, shock, and to see our work blown up bigger than life size in 360 degree screens.
Venue: https://www.brockhouseevents.ca
Daniel + Maria’s Wedding was so magical. From start to finish every detail was pure class, and ending with one of the most magical golden ours that we’ve witnessed at Brock House in Vancouver BC, the golden lights spilling all throughout the night.
What Does a Vancouver Wedding Videographer Cost?
Grey House Visual starts at $6500 for full wedding coverage.
That includes:
2 Filmmakers for 8 Hours
Highlight Film (7-12+ Mins)
Fully Edited Ceremony
Fully Edited Speeches
The rest is add ons to custom build your package, or add on footage at later dates.
(We keep all of your footage forever)
FAQ
Why do the packages start at 8 hours?
We’ve found over the years that anything less than 8 hours really rushes the day. We found that timelines were getting crammed to fit more for us to cover in the window, and we didn’t want to take away from the wedding day at all by trying to fit a full day into smaller perimeters.
Do we need 2 shooters?
Simply put, no.
BUT you run the risk of having one of the cameras going out of focus, being bummed, people walking out of the frame, people standing in front of tripods etc. unlike photography we have to have continuous takes to capture rather than being able to move around and point our camera where we need to, we need multiple cameras to achieve this.
How long are the wedding films?
As mentioned above in the pricing section, typically the films we make are around 7-12ish minutes. We don’t really put a hard beginning or end time limit on them though because we want to make you the best film possible.
Do you travel outside of Vancouver?
Absolutely! We travel quite frequently outside of Vancouver for weddings!
Do you take on more than one wedding per day?
No we always put our full energy into each client individually. We have a strong list of friends that we refer the inquiries to that we aren’t able to fulfill, rather than bring an associate team.
How do you choose the music for the films?
We use a music licensing company called Musicbed who has an extensive catalogue of music to choose from!
We usually go off the vibes from the wedding and the vibes from each couple, always open to suggestions for inspo pre-editing!
Hit Us Up
If you’re planning your wedding in Vancouver and you want a film that shows who you are, what your day felt like, and videographers who get out of the way and let you enjoy your day while its happening, reach out here: