After the music stopped playing, the guests have gone, the flowers have wilted, all you would have are your memories…and your wedding photos. Having said that, it’s now time to highlight the almost-equal importance of your wedding video. If the wedding photos are the still memories, your wedding video is the animated memory. It’s the one that moves, speaks and reaches out to touch you. And with a little research and preparation, you can have the best wedding video for your special day.
Know the parts of a good video. It’s important that you should have at least a backgrounder of what you want to have so that you can negotiate well. Borrow any of your friends’ wedding videos so you yourself can identify which parts you want to be focused on, and which parts you think are unnecessary. A good video often have these parts :
- Bride and bridesmaid preparing in their dressing room
- External aspect of the church
- Arrival of the wedding entourage
- The wedding ceremony – including the bride’s getting-off from the bridal car, her walking down the hall, until the wedding service ends. Two cameras are normally used for this.
- Any distinctive touch in the ceremony –a special song, lighting of the unity candle etc.
- Reaction shots of the couple’s family
- A shot of the wedding photo shoot after the wedding
- Wedding party leaving the church, and their arrival at the reception venue
- Grand entrance of bride and groom to the reception
- First dance of the couple, mom’s dance with the groom, dad’s dance with the bride.
- Other parts of the reception program : best man’s toast, cutting of the cake , garter and bouquet toss, special dances
- Guest book signings
- Interviews with the guests, interviews with the couple
- Guests saying goodbye
In shopping around for a good videographer, consider those that have substantial experience in taking videos. Check out the sample materials. Should you decide to hire a studio, make sure you are checking the sample footage of the actual videographer assigned to you, and not someone else’s work.
Know how to spot a good video. When watching demo tapes or DVDs, check out the following :
- Clear images – the lighting shouldn’t be too dim nor harsh
- Sound quality – you should be able to comprehend what everyone is saying, the music should compliment the visuals and not overwhelm it. The videographer should have a wide range of musical selections.
- Transitions and special effects – they should be smooth. They should help in improving the story, not clutter it.
Sense the videographer’s personality. Chemistry is important — check if you are at ease in working with each other. Remember that he will also be interviewing your friends and family during the wedding – is he polite and courteous enough to do the job and elicit a good response? You would also need someone dependable and reliable. You would want to make sure you would eventually get the end product of this deal, which is your precious video.
If you can, check out references. Were the references happy with the overall experience that they had with this videographer?
Consider all the things you want in your wedding video, and negotiate. Guided by the above tips, you should be able to clearly communicate what you want for this important aspect of your wedding. (In the process, don’t forget to give the cameraman your own musical selections, your own preferred questions for the interviews – just to instill a more personal touch.)
Come up with a contract. Having negotiated your preferences, draw a contract to ensure that you will have a great footage of the wedding of your dreams. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to have fun during the wedding preparations.. the journey is as important as the destination, after all.
Photo by utt73
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