04/02/2026
Good morning, everyone! Happy Easter! Jesus loves you. 🙂 Feel free to come check out my church at Pathway Church of God on Sunday if you're looking for a place to worship! I'll also be taking some free Easter pics that morning before and after the service.
Now for a little self-reflection. I've learned a valuable lesson over the last few months — one that actually came from church.
Anxiety and fear are forms of pride, just inverted. They're an attempt to control outcomes and minimize friction before they even happen.
For me, that showed up as over-promising and undercharging. I wanted so badly to provide the best value possible that I inadvertently created a new problem: the wait. When I personally see that $1,700 price tag, I see something that I personally could never afford. And as such, I have tried to make sure that I gave so much that it would be worth the value, without question.
I could have delivered a standard wedding film of 10 minutes, kept my pricing, and called it done. Instead, I've been delivering what most videographers would consider a full film as just a sneak peek, and then going back to produce an even longer highlight film often 17-30 minutes long, plus the full ceremony and raw footage. When you factor in the shoot day, file management, hardware and software upkeep, a week of editing just the highlights film and staying current on technology — that's an enormous amount of work priced way below what it requires for a person to maintain a living. 30 weddings at $1,700 a piece (before I pay taxes) is $51,000. I don't have to tell you how today's economy jives with that.
Over the last ten years, what I thought was a favor to my clients ended up being a hindrance. You all have handled it with grace, and I genuinely appreciate that.
This past year I cut back on bookings significantly and I'm close to the end of my backlog of full wedding films (I will make a new list soon so you can all get a better idea of where you are in line). I still need to circle back on ceremonies and raw footage for a lot of people, but it's becoming manageable again — thank Jesus! I've gotten quite a few sent out over the last couple of months, and I'm getting more and more focused on that portion of the job.
I've only filmed two weddings so far this year and have been scraping by to make good on past obligations. I'm finally heading back into a busier season, but I'm still recovering from booking around 30 weddings in 2024. To everyone who has been patient with my ADD-addled delivery system — thank you, sincerely.
Going forward, I'm going to be more intentional about organization, turnaround times, and pricing. I'm raising my rates significantly. Not because I'm checked out, but because it's the only way to deliver the quality you deserve in a timeframe that actually works. Fewer weddings, faster delivery, better experience for everyone.
My pricing has never reflected the quality of the work when it comes to the true going rate for the same product. It's time to get those two things on the same page — for my future clients, and honestly, for me too.
Thanks for trusting me with your memories while I figured out how to make this fair for everyone. For those of you who are still wondering where the rest of your stuff is, I am getting close to being able to wrap up all obligations. I'm ecstatic! Here's to following your dreams even when it's full of guesswork :)
