Hows the wedding industry going
 

Hey guys

I am sure we have all been effected buy the economy turn a rounds not just in America but here in Australia Sydney on average videographers, photographers etc have noticed a 30% drop in bookings

Internet inquiries are down 26% for myself thank god for referrals.

How is it going for everyone else have you noticed any falls

Rob.

Well if by "economy turn around" you mean I have 0 future bookings at this point in time, then yes, things dried up and blew away. I am actually in the middle of a last ditch effort to get clients. Purchasing ads in traditional places that I have never tried (preferring to instead remain with an online ad campaign till this point). I'll know in about 3 weeks if my marketing efforts mean I get to stay fully self employed, or if I need to jump back into the soul stealing tech industry working for someone else.

So is it a bad idea to be trying to start out right now? I figured that weddings will ALWAYS happen, as people always want to get hitched. The wedding industry, much like hospitals and morgues, should always be in business.

Things are still chugging along here. Canada won't be as affected as the U.S., and Alberta even less even though it's based on oil. All the planners I've talked to haven't seen a drop off at all, and I'm booking up steadily.

T

The wedding industry is always going to exist (I think) but it is highly subject to fads. Chocolate fountains may be in, then out. Dove releases may be in, then out. Fancy cinematic videos may be in, then out. Just my opinion of course.

You are correct that there will always be weddings, but budgets can easily go up or down. Photography is pretty much a "must have" for any couple, so I doubt most photographers will see a huge impact when the economy dips. They may book lower packages, but they will still book a photographer.

Videography is in another world, though. Around here, the average couple doesn't even look for a videographer when they are planning, so with a tighter budget you can bet that most of them won't end up springing for a videographer. Then you have that small percentage of couples that DO look for a videographer, but the vast majority of them are looking for something really cheap, so again a tighter budget might mean a videography cut.

I might sound all "doom and gloom", but I'm not. I still plan on doing well this year, but that's largely based on faith at the moment. It's still a bit early to say how the market is doing here, since most brides here start planning with 6 months or less to go. Ask me again in another two months and I'll be able to tell you how things are going.

In Cincinnati, I'm booking up. June is close to full for me including Fridays. I am also filling up for October My February-April is not so good, but that is because I quit advertising on the Knot.

Hurray for South Louisiana's oil driven economy. We're not feeling much down this way since that industry is still chugging right along.

It has been a slow 2008 for me, I only have 3 bookings for next year ( 1 wedding & 2 Birthdays), normally I should have 10 by now.

Perhaps it is because of how diverse our market it, and perhaps it is related to the specific demographic that we generally work with, but things on our end seem to be going up. We did notice however, things like after sales in photo and last minute upgrades seem to be more restrained.

I think Travis' initial post really holds the key. Some things in weddings are must haves and others certainly may be skimped on or skipped. The challenge then is to forget about the paradigm related to the value of wedding videos (we must forget that first of all if we want brides to as well) and make a product that is a 'must have'.

P.

Still Motion
 

...... and part of my slow period could be attributed to being on the same page with Still Motion at one of my web advertisement j/k

Make sure you touch base in 3 weeks time to lets us know that your still fully self employed Jason

I don't understand your phrase please explain I'm from down under

Noel do you advertise at all i really think you need to spend money on magazines, wedding internet directories, etc.

Do you have a full time job?

Patrick do you mostly get couples booking you for both video/photo (package Deal) or do you get couples wanting one or the other.

Hi Robert,

I adverstise on the Bridal Network and 2 local Filipino newspaper. I also have google ads. I have a full time job.

How many of you have a full time job PLUS this job?

Yep, that's me. Full-time job plus videography on nights and weekends. We've only been in business for one full wedding season, so it's a bit early to call it slow, normal, or better than expected. We have two weddings booked in '09 at higher prices than we charged last year, so that's a fairly good sign. Most of our brides don't book until about a month or two before the wedding, so we'll see.

I lost my 8-5 job mid summer and decided it was as good a time as any to work on the backlog and to make a push for fully self employed. It is much harder than expected.

I work full time at a television station and shoot weddings on the weekend. I hope that one day the wedding business will enable me to quit the day job.

Shooting weddings is my full time work i average just under 60 weddings by myself a year

Full time for 1.5 years now. Doing 30 - 40 a year (projected). Couldn't imagine doing a 9-5 and 30 weddings a year, but there are guys who do it.

By yourself? A one man crew with 60 weddings? What all do you do/offer?

By myself i honestly cant find anyone to shoot i sometimes get an assistant but very very rare.I do everything from setting up to carry my gear.

When i meet with clients they want to speak to the person shooting their wedding. At present i am building a studio in my backyard wife wont let me work out of a shop she thinks it's dead money so i figured within 3 years i would have payed of my studio and increased the value of the house. Once the studio is complete i will try to expand but till then i am working out of my house it really limits you.

A basic wedding day for my is about 12 to 14 hours on average beginning from grooms,brides, ceremony, location, reception always to midnight. One thing i have noticed that is they like to send the photographer home at 9.30pm because they know the videographer will be their to capture the rest of the evening. so unfair.

Living in a totally different company and market.

But things are good. 100 in the bag for 2009 so far (quota is 130).

Of course 2009 bookings are because of 2007 and 2008 marketing efforts. I have to keep up so 2010 is just as good.

Charging approx $2,500-$3,000 per wedding.

Robert: The Knot Wedding Dresses - Wedding Cakes - Wedding Planning - Unique Wedding Ideas

Oh it's a wedding directory now i understand why its called (The Knot)

100 weddings already booked for 2009 you must be the only videographer in your city that's awesome well done

Yeah I am with you on that. They are happy to pay $4k for a photog who isn't there for there whole day and most of them only stay for the start of the reception. But if we charge above $3k then suddenly that's too expensive..I think all of us in the Oz need to bring our prices up.

The nice thing is that I'm not. There are are other videographers who book around 70++ annually here. And they do great work as well. (The Philippines is smaller than the state of California, and most jobs are in the capital - Manila).

Market acceptance of video here is very high. Took a lot of work but we're finally there.

I am sure you will agree with me Peter but i am sure in Melbourne just like Sydney you get alot off backyard videographers who dont last, flood the market with extremely low prices and make life difficult for the guys acutely trying to make a living.

There are alot of tight ass couples who look at price and not quality aspecially when they ring around getting quotes. How can couples get quotes for video over the phone when you haven't even made an effort to see there work

Jason, in the case of video, it seems folk from Asia, and from what you say, the Phillipines, can be a bit more sophisticated in their view of newer technology.

I try to like the area I live in, but it is hard. Here in Cincinnati there is still a fair number of people that seem to be living in the 80's. It is commonly said here that it takes 5 years for "things" to get to Cincinnati.

On the other hand, the brides here do have internet access which I believe has greatly assisted the acceptance of video.

The sale of Blu-ray players have gone through the roof so i think it's a matter of time before everyone is asking for Blu-ray and then we will see a huge increase in demand for videographers

I think that's a bit more true in Europe and Asia than in the US up to now. Australia and Asia have always been more technically savvy than the States. I remember being in Sydney and Singapore in the early 90s and it seemed like everyone was constantly yapping on their cell phones. At the same time in major cities in the States you didn't see that as much.

Published reports indicate that the sales growth of BD players in Europe and Asia quite significant, particularly in Japan where they sell more BD players than DVD.

With BD players crossing under the US$200 price point, I would expect to see a hockey stick in the sales growth here. 2009 should be the crossover point here with more people wanting BD than DVD, or maybe BD and DVD which brings production considerations into play. I know that I'm wrestling with new workflows that will output a single project to both formats.

I'd love to chat about any possibilities if you're interested Robert. I've got my own gear, eager to learn and willing to travel.

Having worked in the Philippine market, I could really say that Video is a staple of every wedding. It's almost 99.99% that the Bride & Groom would hire a wedding videographer. Even the wedding sponsors would offer to pay for the Wedding Videographer as a gift to the couple.

It's a market that loves video (funerals, 1st Birthday, 7th Birthday, Graduation, 18th Birthday, Baptismal)

Drop us an email paul with your contact number

cheers

LOL I have 3 UNOFFICIAL bookings for '09. One in the Spring, one Summer, and one Fall. Then again this is my second year in business. What type of marketing do you do?

BTW great job, I've seen some of your work before.

JS

The relentless kind.

Blogging/posting new work on a weekly basis.
Same Day Edits
great customer service
excellent networking with fellow suppliers
full page ads in a handful of publications

Sounds like fun! At least in the beginning ; ). I feel as someone has just shaken me and woke me up. I have poured money into my business, but have honestly spent less than 5% of that on marketing. Well, this is a new year! Perfect time to get my act together.