10 Tips For A Great Wedding Video

For a lot of us, our wedding day will be the first time you would have worked with a professional videographer. So what could be expected when your videographer arrives and starts filming your special day. Hopefully this can be a guide for the best results possible.

#1 Book a Decent Professional Videographer

This may sound simple but often hiring someone to film your wedding is last on the to-do-list, and more often isn’t budgeted for. Crazy! There aren’t many ways you can record your day in full and relive it later.

How do you know who’s good and who’s not? How much do you spend? Research! Do your homework and that doesn’t mean sending out a shotgun email to every videographer asking for their prices and packages. It means looking at the work first, connecting to the work second, connecting with the videographer third and lastly checking their packages and prices. There are many levels of professional videographers offering various products. Work within your budget but be realistic. Don’t rely on what your friend spent on videography or by quickly trolling through the internet and surmising an average price. There are many factors why certain studios charge what they do. Remember, spend as much as you can to get the very best product you can afford. This video will become your memories in the future. You’ll only regret it if you don’t. The number one thing people tell me again and again is how they regret not hiring a videographer or not spending the money to hire a good one. You only get one shot at it!

#2 Trust Them

So you like their work and you get along with them, then let them do what they are good at. Providing them a detailed shot list will only distract them from their creative requirements. You need to trust them, they have been doing this for a lot longer than you. They understand what will make a great video and how to capture the real emotions and details of the day. Of course if there are specific items or requirements then let them know, but not a blow by blow list.

#3 Natural Light

I don’t know how many times when filming the morning preps and someone walks in and asks me ‘do you want me to turn on the lights?’. Tungsten lights or the yellow/orange looking downlight/globes do not make for great images. Be mindful of lighting and especially during the morning preparations. Turning the home into a cave with roller shutters down, curtains drawn and the orange tungsten lights turned on will not flatter any persons look. There is a reason why we like to position our subjects near windows. This rule applies to make up also. Most makeup artists prefer working with natural light because they can see the real results in a natural environment and not artificial lighting.

Natural Lighting
Natural Lighting
Tungstan Lighting
Tungstan Lighting

When looking at locations, think about the light in each room. Is the bedroom you’re getting ready in small, poky and cramped? Are the ceremony room walls covered in dark wood with small windows and not much natural light? Does the church have yellow walls and green carpet with little to no natural light. Remember that creative imagery is about painting with light and if there isn’t any then the result would be a flat image without shadows and detail.

#4 The Ceremony

As with tip 3, lighting is important and filming in a barn with little to no light will not flatter any image. There are some spectacular venues both for Civil and Church ceremonies. More importantly the officiant will need to be made aware that a professional videographer will be recording the ceremony and may require the officiant to wear a microphone in order to record their service.

Civil Ceremony
Civil Ceremony

Another point to consider is to ask your guests to not take photos during the ceremony (you can have the officiant mention this pre service). Guests holding up mobile phones as you walk down the aisle or flashes going off throughout the vows are only going to be distracting for you and other guests (and/or ruin the professional shots). Here’s a tip have them sit down when you are walking down the aisle, this will stop them from stepping out into the aisle to take that photo your photographer is already getting.

wedding-unplugged
Guests cameras spoiling the moment

#5 Time

Allow enough time for your day to be captured and for your story to be told. Time is of the essence and the more time we have the better.

Preps

We like to spend about 1 hour with the groom capturing them naturally and preferably not dressed in their suits. For the brides we spend a little more time and can vary between 1-2 hours. Capturing the preps is more than just filming the dress going on or portrait ‘photos’. Your day is bigger than that and essentially filming the events prior to being dressed is also important.

Ceremony

Allow enough time for your videographer to get to the ceremony and set up their equipment. We have quite a lot of gear to set up and it may take over 1/2 an hour to do so.

Location Photo Shoot

Depending on the style of video you choose will determine how long this section requires. For our products, the location shoot is not that essential in producing your wedding film. For the photographer however, this is a major concern because the bulk of their creative shots are captured during this time. Some videographers simply follow the photographer around and film over their shoulder. Again refer to Tip #1

#6 Choose The Right Locations

This all comes down to personal tastes. Living in Melbourne and its diverse range of locations will make your wedding video interesting. Modern, colonial, garden, beach, rural, street art, bars, cafe, to name a few. Be mindful of the travel times also as it will eat into your location photo time.

Video thumbnail for vimeo video Victoria & Justin's Wedding Film ~ Allure Productions Renne & Anthony Wedding video melbourne 3Renne & Anthony Wedding video melbourne 2

#7 Keep It Real

For Allure Productions style of wedding videography we much prefer to capture your day naturally and without interference. For us your day is about more than following your photographer around and filming over their shoulder. Referring to tip #1 again, there are many styles of videography and all videographers will record your day differently. Get to know their work and the video you have purchased.

kasia-Paul-wedding-video-melbourne-10

#8 Know Your Videographer

Out of all the suppliers for your wedding day, your wedding videographer will most likely spend the most amount of time with you. It is a great idea to ensure you are comfortable with the videographer who will turn up to your wedding.  At Allure we prefer to meet all our clients during their first consult and discuss their wedding before providing a proposal. Meeting your videographer ensures you will be comfortable with them on your wedding day.

#9 Great Speeches

Not all videographers utilise the gems within your speeches. At Allure Productions we go through the entire speeches to find those special comments that create a unique wedding film. We love speeches that detail the couple individually and as a duo. Doing your homework and spending some time writing down your wedding speech, including small stories will help make the night entertaining but also help us retell your story.

#10 Have Fun

Your wedding day is special and you want to remember it, more importantly you want to remember it whilst having the best time of your life. You’ve spent months organising it so now is the time to trust your vendors.  The camera does not discriminate and your day will be recorded as it unfolded so ensure you turn the frown upside down :).