Still photos are a beautiful way of capturing a priceless split second moment of your day. Video is a method of capturing emotion, reaction, visual motion, and audio of your day. There is a place for both when it comes to reliving your day. It will all come down to your taste, do you find yourself looking at and showing photos of important events in your life? Or do you find you are a "movie" person that loves to pop in a DVD and experience events that way? If you are the former then perhaps a greater allocation of your budget should be placed on the photographer. If you are a movie person, then you may want to shop for the higher end, two camera packages from video professionals. If you are a little of both, then perhaps finding photography and videography packages that fit equally into your budget is the answer.

OK, so you've decided that you are a "movie" person after all. The next question you may ask yourself is, "What style of videography do I prefer?" Two common types found are "Journalistic" and "Cinematic". Journalistic would be similar coverage to what you might see on a news broadcast: complete, thorough coverage of the event. Captured in a 'documentary' style. Cinematic is similar to film and television drama with multiple angles and several creative closeups and artistic touches. The first style is captured usually by one camera, the second style is covered by two cameras. To help you discover what your preference is, ask your potential videographers for recent samples of their work to determine which is most to your liking.

When shopping for a videographer, a couple things to compare will be: type of equipment: Are they digital broadcast quality? or are they using obsolete analog equipment: VHS, SVHS? Will there be a wireless lapel mic and ambient mic(s) available to capture your audio? (no one will watch what they can't hear). Will the final product be on DVD or will they complete it to VHS (some companies charge extra for DVD output) This is important for you in that you may or may not watch VHS videos anymore. Also, for archival purposes, DVDs may be a better solution for you.

What kind of light will be available for the videographer? Still photographers do have an advantage in that they need only a quick blast of appropriate light to catch the moment and that 'flash' has become quite expected during special events. Videographers on the other hand, capture motion and need continuous light to adequately capture the events as they unfold. Does your venue allow for adequate room light, does your prospective videographer have a low-light sensitive camera? If the answer is no to the previous questions, are you willing to consider the use of artificial light by the videographer. These are all questions to consider when considering your videographer.

Nearly every venue we've worked with in Las Vegas is beautiful and a dream to shoot in. However, just a "bride beware" tip, there are a few things to consider when booking the following venues:

***The Bellagio will not allow your videographer or photographer to shoot your ceremony if it takes place in their chapel. You must use their videographers or photographers if you want the ceremony shot. We have found that they do not inform couples of this up front and often times, by the time they've called us and we've brought this to their attention, its too late to change venues.

The reason why this is such an issue that deserves attention is that the Bellogio camera quality is very poor and its direct-to-DVD. Its simply a profit point for them and despite efforts to allow us to shoot in the chapel, they have so far refused all videographers except their own.

However, we can add this footage to your final DVD and will you ever see the difference! The quality of our cameras and videographers side by side with Bellagio's "in house" camera setup, will show you what really sets us apart.

***Lakeside Weddings in Las Vegas lacks adequate audio/visual capabilities. If you order a photo montage or love story montage for your reception, you may want to consider renting a projector for the video and borrowing the PA from the DJ booth for the audio. At this point, they provide a laptop to play a DVD without direct audio out from the laptop or projector to the house

***Guardian Angel Catholic Church on the Strip will only allow 1 camera position during the ceremony and forbids camera operators from moving which has led to blocked shots. This is something to address with the priest when booking this particular venue.

***Christ The King Catholic Church dims the interior lights of the church considerably low for the ceremony and in the past we have been instructed not to use video lights in the church. This is something to consider when speaking to the priest at this location

The last tip will save you lots of stress and will help ensure that all of your events are appropriately covered: Once you find the videographer that appropriately represents what you are looking for in your wedding DVD, be sure to get them a copy of your itinerary with all events, name spellings, and songs of choice for the final DVD. They will love you for it!