If you're reading this, you're probably getting married. Congratulations! This is an awesome time in your life, and there's a lot do juggle. Local or destination? Chicken or beef? White or ivory? The list goes on! You know you can't do it all, so you'll have to find some wedding pros to come and help you make your vision a reality.

The vendors you choose can really make or break your big day, especially when it comes to your wedding video! This is an heirloom that you'll have for the rest of your life, and you want to make sure that the team responsible for that is really going to connect well with you and create artwork unique to you. There are 4 questions that I think everyone should ask their videographer before they choose them for their wedding day.

1: How Many Weddings Do You Film Per Year?

This question is important for a few reasons.

First, it gives you an idea into the videographer's schedule and availability. Are they going to be shooting so many weddings that year that you're just another date on their calendar, or are they truly going to take the time to get to know you and effectively capture what's important to you on your wedding day? Choosing someone that has a cap on how many weddings they shoot per year will give you an idea into how much time they can put into your big day.

Second, it lets you gauge how experienced they are in filming weddings. You might not want someone that's filmed 5 weddings before in their career, or someone who has 3 weddings booked for the year and is desperate to take everything that comes their way. You'll want to find someone that has experience and does this on a regular basis.

At Hurst Motion Pictures, we've found that filming 20-30 weddings per year is a good balance for our team and our couples.

2: What Input Do You Want From Us?

By asking your videographer what kind of input they want from you, it lets you gauge how much energy and effort you'll be putting into your wedding film. Does your videographer want you to pick out all of the music and every clip you want, or are they confident in their product and process that they create? It might sound counter-intuitive, but finding someone that wants you to make most of the choices for your video probably doesn't have the best process or a consistent product. At the same time, you want someone that will allow you to note the important people and memories that you want captured, you just shouldn't have to tell them how to do it.

At Hurst Motion Pictures, we take the pressure off of our couples by capturing the day with our signature style and taking time to find the perfect music and moments for each film. We discuss "must-have" moments with our couples before their wedding day, so they have one less thing to worry about on their big day.

3: Will You Be Shooting Other Weddings That Weekend?

If your videographer is shooting another wedding that weekend, you'll want to make sure that they're not filming another one on the same day as your wedding. Some videographers will go film a morning ceremony for someone and then capture an afternoon ceremony and reception for someone else. Weddings are unpredictable, however, and you don't want one before yours making your videographer late. You also want to make sure that they don't have one every single day that weekend. Wedding days are long, and having three big days back to back can lead to deterioration in the quality of the videographer's work.

At Hurst Motion Pictures, we dedicate every weekend to one or two weddings so each couple gets the energy and attention that they deserve on their wedding day.

4: Does Our Package Change What You Film?

Let's say that you book a videographer, and you only want a 4-6 minute highlight video. The wedding day comes and goes, and your dad gives an amazing speech at the reception. After the wedding, you contact your videographer and ask for a separate video of the full toasts from the reception, but they don't have it! They say, "Your package didn't include it, so we didn't film it." Just like that, an important memory was gone and never able to be re-experienced. You'll want to make sure that even if your package doesn't include it, your videographer doesn't cut out anything from what they film on your wedding day.

At Hurst Motion Pictures, we capture every wedding day the exact same, regardless of your package. Your memories are safe and preserved for at least a year after your wedding, so you don't have to worry about selecting all of the videos you might want before your wedding day. If it happened, we've got it captured!

You might have thought about some of these questions before, while others you haven't. The most important thing is that your videographer makes you feel comfortable. You want to be confident and be able to trust whoever you choose to capture your wedding day, giving you greater freedom and fun on your big day.

Still looking for a videographer for your wedding in Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, or somewhere else in Ohio? Hurst Motion Pictures has been one of the top wedding filmmakers in the area, and we would love to get to know you and chat about your wedding day!