How much does it cost? (open letter to all former and future clients)
The most common question we get from a potential client is “How much does it cost?” Now its a very valid question to ask because after all weddings are very expensive and we generally have to keep everything in budget to afford what we want. Well the answer is very simple. We are as much as our clients are willing to pay us. It’s a simple concept of supply and demand. If our product was of low quality, we would not be able to stay in business charging what we charge. Although our average invoices range between $4,500-$10,000 we are able to charge what we charge because people do see the value in what we create. If we could, we would charge 5 times that amount because we honestly feel that what we do is worth that, but we also have to be realistic and charge a reasonable rate within our market so that we don’t price ourselves out of business.
The client knows what their priorities are when they start shopping for wedding vendors. The most important thing may be The Dress, or The Flowers, or The Venue, or The Church, or The Band, etc. What we usually hear from clients is “We didn’t know video could look like this, but its too late we spent our budget and only have $$$$ left. We cannot afford to book you.” Now if video was normally booked in the beginning stages of shopping for vendors, clients would be able to allocate their funds easier to afford our product after seeing high quality imagery that they did not realize existed, but unfortunately video is usually last on the list of shopping. So the answer is “Yes you can afford us. It’s just that you spent more of the budget on other products and services and less on this service.” Video turned into a low priority. And why not? We’ve all seen those 1980’s cheesy videos that everyone hates to watch for 2 hours. Thats whats been shoved in our faces for years. Thats all video is. I dont want that at my wedding. The reality is that more and more wedding film companies are doing more and more amazing work but it is still an industry in its infancy. If produced by the right company, wedding films can look stunning, they can tell a compelling story and bring tears of joy to the eyes of strangers who watch it. How much is that worth to you?
The fact is, most clients can afford a Pennylane Feature Film. It’s just not budgeted correctly in the beginning stages. Although flowers can change a bland room into amazing scenery, they will not last longer than 1 day. The cake will be eaten before the night has ended. The music will stop playing at the end of the night, and the reception venue will have another bride dancing her first dance tomorrow, but we will make you laugh, cry, smile, and feel for the rest of your life. We will help show your children and your grand children, what your wedding day was really like. They will laugh, they will cry, and they will get emotional. If you get emotional watching our films and do not even know the bride and groom, how would you feel if it was YOUR world? What is that really worth to you?
If I could, i would charge $5 for our films so everyone that wanted one can have one. But the reality is I have a family that I would love to spend more time with. I have a beautiful wife and 2 adorable daughters that I love. I told myself along time ago that I would learn how to be one of the best in my industry and make a damn good product that clients would see the value in. They would understand why it costs more than our competitors and if they could afford it, they would book it because they believed it was worth every penny. So I open this discussion up to all former Pennylane clients to help me explain the importance of a memory on film. A memory that should breathe life on the screen. Whether happy or unhappy, please post what your Pennylane film is worth to you now, please tell me how much you would have spent now? please tell me if you would have sacrificed your budget on something else materialistic to afford your film? Or whatever is on your mind. I am deeply curious about this topic.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Well, you ask “What is my Pennylane Film worth to me?” That is easy Adam, honestly I thought you would give me a challenge………the answer to that question is IT’S PRICELESS!!!! I would love to speak to couples that are debating this area, to help them realize that it is definitally something that should not be debatable or negotiable. I was fortunate to realize that my film would be very important to me early on in the planning process, because truly all you have in the end are memories that unfortunately fade with time. I knew when I saw your film samples on-line 2 YEARS before my wedding that I wanted your talent and after meeting you, you were one of the only venders that I knew right away that I wanted to share my day with. Now we did have a budget and I am not going to lie by saying I didnt’ think you were pricey, but I also knew that you had something that noone else had to offer. That “something”, was what I knew I would forever cherrish, it was the ability to re-live my wedding day over and over again, feel the same feelings (the calming I had when I woke up, or the overwhelming emotion when I heard the processional or the butterflies when my husband saw me for the first time); hearing the same sounds (the little flower girls laughing, the wind at the beach, our wispers throughout the day). Till this day your work has aloud me to re-live from the morning I woke up on my wedding day, till the end of the last song. You have given to us something irreplaceable, you gave us our wedding day, a memory that because of you will last forever; without fading. I literally feel the exact feeling that I did the morning I woke up on my wedding day when you open our film, it’s AMAZING. You have given us a never ending gift, and we will forever be thankfull!!! I also want to say how amazing the trailors and the dedication to my dad was at the wedding. Once again, the best gift that you can give someone is a memory and you allowed me to do that for my dad on my wedding day, and may I add the interviews; definitally worth the extra money. I mean really how can you put a price on watching yourself, your spouce and possible family talk about your relationship and the people you are? It’s like a fairy tail!!!. I have watched my trailor about a million times, my husband (who is not into much detail of wedding planning), tells everyone at work and his patients who know someone or who are getting marrried to look at our trailor because they have to book you!!! Then when I got our video I think I have a weekly ritual built into my schedual, what better movie than your own love story?!!!! I honestly hope you are around when we have kids and they get married because you better pencil us in!!! So for an ending of this very long ‘comment’, thank you Adam for everything, from the bottom of our hearts we will be eternally gratefull for giving us a PRICELESS gift, our wedding day memory, thank you for capturing the glimmer in his eye before I walked down the isle or the tear that fell after we said our vows……so to answer your question “what is my pennylane film worth to me”…..IT TRULY IS PRICELSS….I was just fortunate enough to realize that 2 years before my weddings, other brides may not have the same luck. So if I can save any couples from the mistake of not choosing you PLEASE GIVE THEM MY NUMBER and I would love to share my experience of your amazing talent and how wonderful it was to work with you during one of the most amazing times in my life!!!—–your number one fans: Cristie and Chris Horsford :]
February 9th, 2010 at 1:02 am
To be honest, we were one of those couples that didn’t allocate much of our wedding budget for a videographer. In fact, we weren’t planning on hiring one at all because we thought spending money for a cheesy wedding vidoe that everyone else had was a waste of money. I only started researching videographers because my parents insisted that we get one. When I saw Adam’s work online, I knew that we had to hire him. His videos were so unique and contemporary that it was worth the drive from Manhattan to Commack in a rental car. The next obstacle was convincing my husband that not only did we need videographer, but we needed to hire Pennylane. My husband was not convinced until he saw some of Adam’s sample wedding videos. It was pretty much an easy sell after that because we signed on the spot. It also helped that Adam was the only videographer at the time to offer Blu-ray DVDs. He spoke my husband’s language!
Based on Adam’s previous work, we knew Adam was talented. He was able to capture the important moments of the wedding in a way that no other videographers could. We were so comfortable and confident in Adam’s skills that we left him with complete artistic control over the entire production. Our only contribution was the music list.
Our video turned out FANTASTIC! It not only captured the emotions of that day so perfectly but it was also fun to watch. We were so blown away by our video that we couldn’t wait to share them with our friends and family.
This turned out to be one instance that I am glad I listened to my parents. I am so grateful that we have a video that has captured the essence of our wedding so perfectly. This will be something that I will enjoy watching again in the future.
Look, Pennylane is not cheap but they offer multiple packages that will fit into anyone’s budget. You just have to make room for it and value your memories as much as Adam and his team do. We recommend Pennyland to anyone looking to hire a quality videographer. You can splurge a little here…you’re worth it.
February 9th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
“What is my PennyLane Film Worth To Me?”
It’s hard to say what the top priority is when planning a wedding, because every detail seems important at the time. We specifically, however, made capturing the day through pictures and film a very high priority, so maybe we’re different than a lot of people. We wanted to be able to look back on the day, with children and grandchildren, when our memories aren’t the best, and remember all of the great times and great people that made it such a special day.
We therefore spent a significant amount of time researching how we wanted the day to be captured. After countless websites, sample videos, and interviews, we were fortunate to come across Adam and PennyLane.
It all boils down to your personal tastes and what you are looking for – if you are looking for a capture of the key events of the day – a wedding video is great. There are a number of vendors you can find that can accurately portray the events of the day, from getting ready to the last dance.
The difference with Adam and PennyLane is the creation of a wedding film – versus a wedding video. It sounds like a subtle difference, but for us was night & day. We spent a significant amount of time with Adam before, after (and during) our wedding to capture the feel of the day – the emotion, the sights and sounds that most people don’t see. We were more concerned about capturing the vibe of our wedding than the verbatim events, if that makes sense, and PennyLane was really the only company we felt was anywhere near what we were looking for.
What we received, for us, is priceless. It’s hard to watch one of Adam’s film without being drawn into the raw emotion – we noticed this even as we viewed the samples from complete strangers. We’ve received a number of compliments from those who have viewed our film and were at the wedding, who were amazed at how different it was than wedding videos they were used to seeing.
At the end of the day, we couldn’t have been happier with the exceptional experience we had with Adam – who was extremely professional, courteous, and helpful. Your pictures capture all of the details you put so much time into planning, and your memory records the journey you personally went on. But if you care deeply about capturing the emotion of the day and the feeling of the room, we highly suggest investing in a wedding film.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Our video was worth every penny. I was proud to show it and those who watched it enjoyed just as much as we did. It was tasteful, modern and very relevant to our style. I would highly recommend Pennylane Productions!!!!
February 10th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
I was fortunate enough to find Pennylane Productions with the help of my brother who had worked with Adam on a few different projects. At first I had the opinions described about what wedding video was all about. I expected a really cheesy video but when we saw Adam’s work, we were instantly blown away. It was nothing like I had seen before. Since he was new to the wedding business at the time, our price was somewhat reasonable, but looking back almost six years, I would have paid twice as much for the product that was delivered. We had strangers watch our video with interest, not knowing anyone in it. I have watched recent clips of Adam’s work and I think he has just gotten better and better. I see some of the new techniques he has and I wish I was getting married again so I could use his services again. I wholeheartedly recommend Pennylane to anyone who is looking for a videographer who will give you a beautiful first heirloom to pass on to your future children and grandchildren.
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:11 pm
When we saw Adam’s work on his website, we were amazed to say the least. The highlight reels alone from weddings of people we didn’t even know brought me to tears they were so beautiful, elegant, classy, and timeless. Adam’s work is in a league of its own, and in our opinion, the other videographers we looked at couldn’t even compare…and that is putting it lightly.
We booked Pennylane’s basic package, as we added it to our wedding sort of late in the game, not having really considered the importance of videography. Even with Adam’s most basic package, we received an unparalleled wedding film that literally brings every single person who watches it to tears. The first thing people say, just upon seeing the COVER of the film is “wow…this doesn’t look like MY wedding video” – and I tell them to just wait until they see it…and every single time, they are floored by what they are watching, and are speechless.
People who were guests at our wedding say that our film captured every single moment perfectly, and while the wedding day lasted 12 hours and the film is only 45 minutes or so, somehow Adam didn’t miss one single thing. Our film is priceless, and it was hands down THE best decision we made in terms of vendors that we booked for our wedding.
Not only is Adam’s work flawless (seriously, he’s amazingly talented), but his personal customer service was phenomenal. I can’t even tell you how many times Adam sat on the phone with me answering questions, listening to my ideas for the film, listening to songs that I sent him and downloading new songs just so that our film could be exactly what we imagined. He is kind, honest, reputable, and trustworthy.
When people who were at our wedding see our film, they say “Where was this guy? we don’t even remember SEEING a videographer!” The fact that Adam was able to capture every single important moment (plus some) while being completely unobtrusive, and even seemingly invisible to our guests, is a testament to his talents.
Do not hesitate to spend the money that it costs for a Pennylane Film – it will be the best money you spend on your wedding day, and it will be your most cherished memory. Flowers, limos, cakes, etc. – all definitely important, but all are gone when the day is over. A Pennylane film lasts forever and we will watch it again and again.
Just look at all of these honest reviews of the “worth” of Adam’s work…I do not know one other vendor who would get these kinds of unsolicited praises!! You will absolutely not regret they money you spend for this service on your wedding day. GO FOR IT!!!!!
Thanks again for your hard work, Adam!!! We absolutely love reliving every moment of our day each time we watch our film. You’re the best!!
-Kate & Billy Murphy