Mr. Moolchand Dedhia is what one would call ‘world famous in India’, having been the gaffer (or lighting director) on International films such as Slumdog Millionaire, The Darjeeling Limited, and most recently – Eat, Pray, Love. If you ever sit through the credits of a Hollywood movie that was shot in India, you’re sure to see his name. And if you’re clamoring to know where he trained, well, he started out lighting the stage at… weddings.

While Mr. Dedhia’s success story might be what is known as an ‘outlier’, the Wedding Industry is definitely a latent market for aspiring filmmakers. Especially in New York, with Wedding Videographers charging anywhere between $1,000 to more than $10,000 for a wedding package.

However, if you don’t want your wedding videos to cost more than the wedding itself, here are some ideas to lower the cost, especially for your Sangeet, Mehndi or Puja -

Craigslist: This is usually kind of hit-and-miss, but you’re sure to get a few good responses with the right kind of listing. Post an ad with your requirements, and what kind of budget you’re looking at.

If you have your own video camera, you might be able to find a film student or someone who is looking to expand their portfolio, and will do the job virtually free. If you don’t own any camera equipment, mention in the ad that you’re looking for someone who has his or her own equipment.

Buy a Camera: Keeping in mind that the average professional videographer charges the equivalent of an Indie film budget, you might as well just buy your own camera and have a friend or a relative handle it during the wedding. This can actually turn out to be better than hiring someone, since a familiar person is likely to get more candid footage than a stranger.

Collage (a la Up in The Air): Remember how George Clooney’s sister asks all the wedding invitees to take pictures with a cardboard cutout of the couple, as a sort of wedding present? Why not ask around and see which of your guests has a camera or camera-phone, and encourage them to take footage at the wedding. You could request your guests to send in their videos or photographs, and create a collage as a gift to the lucky couple.

You could even ask your guests to send in photographs or recordings of the couple that they might already have, and put together a little something to screen at the reception!

Leave a Reply