wedding.how much to charge?

[curryman]

i have a problem,
i have been asked to film a wedding from bride getting ready right up to reception in the evening then a copy on vhs and dvd(incl of menus and editing)so it's all day filming plus countless hours editing and authoring finishing with a nice cover for both formats, i've checked prices around but they vary so much if anyone could give me a rough idea would me much appreciated, i don't want to rip anyone off but i don't want to be out of pocket either

[WeedVender]

100 to 300

[jeex]

100 to 300 is too little..

i'd say somewhere around $500 - $600..

you're filming and then converting vhs to dvd (with menu's, music, chapters)..

as long as you do a good job, they should have a problem.. think of how much they're spending on the rest of the wedding. heh

i've done stuff like this, and it turns in to quite an event once you have to start editing and "perfecting" it for them.. because this will be something really special for them. so $500 - $600 is fair for both parties involved.

[rhegedus]

I'd go for about £10-15 an hour. You'll probably spend about 12 hours there on the day and another 12 hours doing the editing and formatting (and no.....encoding time does not count!) so I reckon between about £250 to £400 is a reasonable price.

That might sound like a lot, but bear in mind that a guy who comes to fix a duff washing machine will charge £50 just to see it without doing any work! Just don't f@#k up - you will only get one chance, so don't leave anything to chance!

Regards,

Rob

p.s. what part of Wales?

[zzyzzx]

A Million Dollars

[pacmania_2001]

You love using that pic dont you?

[Marco33]

I think encoding time should count.

You are using a tool to do a job.

I don't think you should charge by the hour for it tho.

[acid512]

wow, you've got a job on your hands.
Chances are you are gona miss some bit of the day that they really wanted (small child says something really cute while your takina piss etc), so if you can manage it, try and ofload the filming to someone else.

If possible, get 2 people filming at the busyest parts, so you have got more to play with, and keep the person who is paying for it as involved with the editing of the raw footage as much as posible.

offering a whole package like this is a very big project. Proffesional, this would cost mega bucks, and would involve a team working on it, rather than just you. I would definatly charge on an hourly basis, but the charge is up to you. I would bill for materials seperatly (dv tapes, DVD-r's etc) and try and list this stuff first, so the final bill wont come as a shock.

cant really say anthing else except GOOD LUCK, and post how it all went.

[rhegedus]

I think encoding time should count.

You are using a tool to do a job.

I don't think you should charge by the hour for it tho.

It's the PC doing all the work. I think the 12 hours mentioned should cover it all.

Regards,

Rob

[Marco33]

I think encoding time should count.

You are using a tool to do a job.

I don't think you should charge by the hour for it tho.

It's the PC doing all the work. I think the 12 hours mentioned should cover it all.

Regards,

Rob

Yeah, the PC is doing the work. Those things cost money. Overhead!

[rhegedus]

.....which is included in the charge I mentioned. By your reasoning it would pay more to have a slower PC since encoding would take longer and use up more overheads (electricity, coffee....etc.). The PC was not bought soley for this purpose either, so that cuts the 'overheads' dramatically too.

Even if the PC was bought soley for business use, charging for 'overheads' wouldn't add up: You can buy a PC that is more than up to the job of capture, encoding and editing for about £1000. Say it's got a three year life-span of 12 hours a day 7 days a week usage. That's over 13000 hours of PC usage, which comes to about 7p an hour. Even allowing for electricity, it's still about 10p an hour!

Still want to count the pennies?

Regards,

Rob

[Marco33]

Yes, I said not by the hour.

So if I capture a party that's 2 hours long and charge X to put it to dvd.

I should charge the same for a 2 hour 1 min party even tho I have to re-encode it to get it to fit.

[rhegedus]

You have to encode no matter how long the video is - you just set the bit-rate accordingly or edit.........simple.

Regards,

Rob

[gmatov]

Curryman,
Evidently, none of these guys has had to pay for a wedding, and the "little" incidentals that also need payed for. At my daughter's wedding less than 3 years ago, the "cinematographer" charged 1900 for a 78 minute VHS tape. Granted, it is a fine tape, and I know photographers cost a good bit to do a wedding, but that was IN ADDITION to the same person's 1800 buck charge for the photographs.
You are getting advice to charge 100-300, and 500-600, and 250-400 pounds, which is the same as the 5-600 bucks. Now, that's 15 bucks for 40 hours, wages, and if you're on wages, 15 bucks might not be so bad; however, you are not a Cinematographer. You are not trying to fill up your schedule to make a living. If you had 40 hours of wedding work (or any other kind of photo work for the 40 hours ) go right ahead and figure 15 bucks an hour + your costs, materials, equipment, electricity, etc.
As is, it seems all you are doing is cutting someone a HUGE break, by doing the work that a pro would charge an arm and a leg for, and making a few bucks on the side. Try going to a few shops and asking what they'd charge to do YOUR wedding. If they tell you we'll start at 2 grand, and you're thinking of making 200, well, they might let you eat a bite between scenes or shots. Will you be invited if you don't agree to do the work on the cheap?
If you're doing this to save your dad a few bucks on your sister's wedding, go right ahead.
If you're trying to break into the biz, mebbe go half the going rate, but people tend to think they get what they pay for, as you might see if you peruse these forums. It costs more, it must be better.. Might also be nice to be a fly on the wall when they watch the result when you're not there. If your ears do burn, if you do this, you might think of this.
Good luck