01/23/2026
There are a lot of couples shopping for a videographer right now, and I wanted to take my 15 years of experience and boil it down into three questions that engaged couples need to ask videographers during consultation calls before booking them.
If you're not videographer shopping, enjoy the video below of The Milliondollaman anyway.
If you have any other questions, DM me, or contact me via www.jamisonashleyfilms.com
1. Lock in a Professional Contract with specifics:
If ANY of your vendors don't have a contract, just walk away.
Don’t rely on a "handshake" deal. Ensure your contract explicitly includes a"No-Show" Clause: A guaranteed refund policy if they fail to appear. After one year, newer vendors tend to realize "This business is too much for me to handle" and fade into the night, abandoning clients who have booked them and taking their money with them. The contract should also have a delivery deadline: A firm date for your films, with financial penalties or credits if they miss it. For some reason, Videos sit on footage and edits for MONTHS (Mine are done in 2 weeks or less). 3 months is too long, but sadly, it is standard. Ask them to include a delivery date in the contract.
2. Request a "Full" Wedding video:
To sell you fast, many videographers only showcase 60-second "highlight" reels on Instagram or FB. Ask to see a full-length wedding film they have made for one of their past clients (These tend to be 3 to 8 minutes long). You need to see how they handle tricky lighting (like the reception) and consistent audio quality, not just their best 10-second clips. (Audio is KEY! What's the point in having pretty images if the words being spoken can't be heard or are distorted?)
3. Ask about Backup Redundancy
Wedding days are chaotic, and gear DOES fail. Ask if their cameras record to two memory cards at once. (This prevents losing your footage if a card fails, which they do!). Ask if they use MULTIPLE audio recording devices for your ceremony and toasts. Remember, batteries die, and frequencies can be lost. You don't want to lose all the audio spoken on your wedding day! And ask who their "backup" filmmaker is if they get sick or have an emergency on your wedding morning? It's happened 2 times to me in my 15 years of doing this. Luckily, I have a solid network of videogs, and the wedding had coverage, and I edited it.
USE ME as a resource y'all, whether you hire me or not. I have seen EVERYTHING over a period of 300+ weddings. I want to keep my niche in the wedding industry respectable and professional by helping couples get their money's worth, even if it's with another videographer.
