Our First Budget Readjustment

You know?  You plan and you plan and you think you cover everything.  But then something comes up and requires a budget makeover.  You see, I was convinced that we didn't need a videographer.  I'm more into still photos, and we had hired an amazing photographer (more on that later).  I changed my mind when I saw this:

Source: Disney Weddings

That's my cousin and her husband, and that's their wedding video montage.  I watched it, I cried a little, and I fell in love with the idea of having one of our very own.  Short, but sweet.  Intimate, but accessible.  It was perfect.  So really, it wasn't that I wanted a wedding video, just a video montage.  Unfortunately, you need to have a wedding video first in order to create a highlights reel from it.

I moved some things around (mostly our floral budget...that category keeps taking hit after hit!  Just not a priority to us, I suppose) to accommodate $2000 for videography.  If that sounds steep to you, you're in for a big surprise.  That's the low end of videography.  Videography is wicked expensive.

I researched potential vendors (via The Knot and Wedding Wire) and narrowed it down to two.  The biggest factor in narrowing it down was price.  The second, if we're being honest here, was the quality of their website.  So many videographers' sites didn't actually have video!  Some did, but either the video quality was mediocre, and/or the rest of the site wasn't really up to par.  Maybe I was being superficial, but the way I saw it, these vendors are artists.  The little bit of extra effort it took to construct their site in a way that complimented their work made such a difference.  Flash was a bonus.

I requested demos from the two vendors that made the cut.  When they arrived, I was a little disappointed with the first one.  When I watched the second one, I realized that I was tearing up at the love stories of complete strangers.  This videographer managed to capture every wonderful, unique aspect of the couple they documented.  It wasn't just about that day, it was about the couple's lives together.  Hive, allow me to introduce you to Three Ring Weddings.

Three Ring Weddings markets themselves as producers of "love stories."  They even interview the couple a few months before the wedding to get to know them.  This helps them come up with a story line so that the wedding video takes on a true storyline.  I ate this up.  Best of all, they actually listed their prices directly on their site.  I know!  Unheard of in the wedding world!  They offer a new "economy package" that was just under budget.  We immediately put down a deposit, friended them on Facebook, and bragged about how they made the Little Black Book on Style Me Pretty.

All in all, I was thrilled with our budget readjustment.  I can't wait to see the results!  Did a new wedding wish force some flexibility into your planning process?