Filming the Ceremony in Church

By Tracey, Midway Media

When a bride and groom decide that they wish to have their wedding day filmed by a professional videographer, in particular the wedding ceremony, they must find out firstly, if their chosen church allows the ceremony to be captured on film and if so, if there is a fee payable.

Most churches are perfectly fine in allowing the ceremony to be filmed. Churches generally have their own set of common sense rules/restrictions that a professional videographer should adhere to, such as:

1. Not to move about during the actual ceremony as this causes a distraction

2. Additional lighting equipment may not be allowed as this can also cause a distraction

3. Not to get in the way of anyone, particularly the Officiator carrying out the ceremony

4. To ensure that any filming equipment used, such as tripods, do not cause any form of obstruction for members of the church and congregation

5. The relevant licence to record the ceremony has been obtained

6. To ensure that any additional audio recording equipment, such as radio microphones, do not interfere with the churches’ own audio system

7. Some may only allow for one camera operator during the ceremony (to be checked by bride and groom, especially if their chosen videographer works as a pair)

8. Some churches allow the filming of the signing of the register. There are some churches that do not. This is very much dependent of the Officiator and they will advise accordingly.

What is this ‘extra fee’?

There are many churches that charge an additional fee for the ceremony to be filmed. This fee can range from £50.00 to £500.00 plus, and is very dependent on which Parish the church belongs to. There is no set fee, hence the varying scale of what can be charged from Parish to Parish. This is not the church’s doing, as the fees relate to a performing artist who can charge an amount via guidelines set by the Performing Rights Society. So basically if the bride and groom are having an organist, choir, singer or any other performing artist, this extra fee is for that performance being recorded, for DVD purposes. This additional fee is payable by the bride and groom and not the videographer. The videographer obtains a separate licence, which costs around £30.00, to record copyrighted material to use on the couple's wedding DVD. This is usually included in the total cost of the wedding package, that the bride and groom pay, meaning there are no additional monies to pay.