Well, no. It really depends on what you want. A wedding photographer and a videographer capture some of the same things in different ways. A wedding photographer can capture all of the details of your day—the table settings that you spent so much time selecting, the look on your fiancé(e)’s face as you see each other for the first time on your wedding day, the awesome dip you spent forever practicing for your first dance. But no matter how talented the photographer, a photograph simply can’t capture the sound of a groom choking up as he reads his bride’s wedding-day letter aloud, the jokes in a best man’s toast that brought down the house, or the piece of marital wisdom offered by the bride’s grandparents at the reception.

It really comes down to the audio. We experience the world through our senses. Photographs use our sight, while videos take advantage of our sense of hearing too. This can be a powerful combination when it comes to triggering our memories. I always say that photographs remind us of the day, but a video can transport us back to it.

In deciding whether you want both a wedding photographer and videographer, my best piece of advice is to think about how you will remember your wedding in 10, 20, or 50 years. Do you see yourself showing your wedding video to your kids and grandkids and watching it on every anniversary? Or do you see yourself leaving it in the cupboard, unwatched and forgotten about?

When my husband and I were planning our wedding, we knew we wanted both wedding photos and a video. To make the video fit in our budget, we did some of the décor ourselves, opted to skip the extra flowers at our ceremony location, and offered only a single flavor of wedding cake. To us, the trade-offs were totally worth it. In the year and a half that we’ve been married, we’ve already watched our video four times: once when we got it, once with my husband’s family, once with my family, and then again on our one-year anniversary (a tradition we hope to continue every year). We also sent a copy to my grandparents who live in California and couldn’t make it to Massachusetts for our wedding. My Grandma loved it and said it felt like she was there. This ability to share our day with loved ones made our investment in a wedding videographer totally worth it!

Not all couples want a wedding video, though, and that’s okay! Whether you are sure you want a wedding video or are simply considering the option, I’m happy to talk it through with you. I offer both photography and videography services, and I’m happy to work with couples to customize either a photography or videography package that suits their needs.