Wedding video must have elements

We didn't have any 'must haves', other than "please film the ceremony and some of the reception".

Granted, we also hired a filmmaker coworker of mine, so we had a different style.

We're still very pleased with the final product, though. We have the whole ceremony, plus two different angles of our sword fight, all the special dances, and a lot of fun shots from party time.

We have the basic package since we didn't need everything filmed lol. All we told our videographer is that we want the ceremony, and first dances for sure captured, probably the first look as well.

For the record: you can't have your wedding video set to your favorite rock music, or any other song, without licensing it. Any videographer who tells you otherwise is full of it. All music must be licensed for use, and unless you pay $$$$ for the right to use it (and a popular/mainstream song will be $$$$ for use), or literally ONLY use it for your personal viewing - meaning you never share it on social media - you can't do this. This is a sore spot for me because dealing with couples who insisted they could do this ("I can buy the song on iTunes, so that means you can use it, because I paid for it") or argued with us that "other videographers say they can do it" (then go hire them, and have your wedding video silenced and/or taken down) was so infuriating.

Do not ask your videographer to use your favorite song, your first dance song, or any other popular song. They can't do this. If they say they can, go somewhere else, as they are not knowledgeable in the law surrounding their business.

I personally have never cared for the "well wishes" interviews, I think they are clunky and weird, and I don't see the appeal of 10 minutes of guests going "we love you guys, we hope you have a great wedding day and are together forever."

I like seeing vows, and I like beautiful movie-esque shots of the couple.

At the end of the day, though, I encourage all who are hiring these services to remember this: you are hiring an artist and a professional. You would not hire Gordon Ramsey to make you dinner and then tell him how to cook it. Don't hire a videographer and then tell them how to film your wedding or how to make your video. It's one thing to say "I have a special item that I'd like to make sure you get some footage of," it's another to say "I want our video put to this music, and I want these elements put in it."

We picked our videographer by narrowing them all down by price, then style. Once we found styles we liked, we further narrowed them down by watching some of their other videos to see what specific shots they tended to use and the feel of their typical videos and chose one that way. So we already know we like how the edited version will turn out.

The main thing we actually care about though is the raw footage. We got a videographer so one day if we want to go back and just see our friends and family in that time. It's just another way to capture the day instead of just having photos. That's all we wanted.