[anchorman]

I'm currently looking for a videographer and at the same time scale back my wedding cost. We have a GREAT photo guy for $800- Engagement photos AND wedding. (At least I think that's a deal.) How much should I look to spend for a video. Someone a bit better than my best man with a video phone, but not as good as Steven Spielberg!

[Visual Media]

You indeed got a good deal on your photography, anchorman. Depending on where you live, you might be able to do as well on your videography -- but it's hard to say. In the bigger metropolitan areas, you would be lucky to find an experienced videographer charging less than $1,000. But with a photographer willing to do your wedding for $800, perhaps you're in a market with a lower overall price range.

Bear in mind that you generally get what you pay for. Variables in videography pricing have to do with how experienced your videographer is, how much in demand his or her services are, how sophisticated the camera and audio equipment is, how many camera operators are on hand, and how much of your wedding day will be covered.

You might get off cheap with single-camera coverage for just the ceremony (though frankly, the footage that people are most likely to watch over and over again comes from the bride/groom preparation times and from the reception). You might find an aspiring film student willing to give you all-day coverage and an edited DVD for $500. Note, however, that the trade-off there is experience for price. A film student who never shot a wedding before is likely to be caught flat-footed by a turn of events (like the first dance being tacked on to the grand entrance, to make up for a slipped schedule) that a pro will have anticipated.

I'll give you my standard caveat: When you're looking for ways to economize on wedding expenses, realize that you'll live the longest with the consequences of your choices in videography and photography. Ten years from now it won't matter much what the cake tasted like or what brand of champagne was poured at the reception; but if you come away with a second-rate video or so-so photos, you'll always regret not having made a better investment. It's up to you to decide how much your memories of a once-in-a-lifetime event are worth.

You might be able to get a bargain -- if you're willing to gamble -- by waiting until close to your wedding date, then calling around to see if a local videographer still has the date open. If you find someone who isn't booked, they might be willing to shoot for less than their usual rate, just to fill their calendar. But that's a big "if" -- one that would likely be a losing proposition for any Saturday wedding during prime wedding season between May and October. It's sometimes possible to save enough on the reception site by booking on an alternate day, like a Sunday, so that you can invest the difference in hiring a skilled videographer. If you want to scale back your wedding costs, you may want to look beyond the "keeper" deliverables -- your video and photos -- for line-item cuts.