Bride Regrets Not Hiring a Professional

I am a professional event videographer. I am only one of many quality professionals who surf in and out of these forums. Here is a short story you might find interesting. It is totally true. The names were not changed to protect the innocent because I...uh...didn't use any names :wink:

I have done a couple of recitals for the owner of a local dance studio and though I already knew the folks beforehand, I have come to know them even better. Recently the sister of the owner, who is also an instructor at the studio, got married. I burned her a wedding demo of my work and gave it to her some time before the wedding. I am not a high pressure salesman and so I never asked about it again. Recently I spoke with a friend of the couple and the bride herself. She decided to let a friend do the videography. The friend said, "There's no need to go to that expense...I can do it for you." She had a brand new camera and was confident she could do a great job. To make a long story short, it was a disaster. The lady got about fifteen minutes of the ceremony. No pre-wedding footage, no post wedding stuff. Only a small part of the ceremony. What she shot was all hand held...no pro tripod...no tripod at all. All shot from the congregation too...no face shots. Then the battery died and that was the end of it. The lady never charged the battery! Of course there had been no pre-wedding footage (preps) to begin with. The bride is sick. She told me that she had thought about calling me but let it get too late. Then this relative offered to do her a great job and it all fell apart. I am posting this here to encourage you to consider a pro. We use enough cams that even if one fails, as they sometimes do, you still get a good shoot. The cameras are far far superior to begin with. The sound is far superior too with most videographers. The advantages are too many for me to mention right now. Of course this all depends on hiring the right pro, which is what this web site is all about.