You know you want a wedding video but how do you find the RIGHT wedding videographer for you? A wedding videographer can be a big expense and you need to be sure the wedding videographer you choose understands you and what you want.
Follow my step-by-step advice to getting a wedding video you’re 100% happy with.
What do you want from your wedding video and your wedding videographer?
What’s your WHY? Sit down with your partner and have a proper think about this one. Get brainstorming! Why do you want a wedding video? For yourselves? So you can witness things you didn’t witness on the day? Or do you want something you can show people who weren’t there? Maybe elderly relatives who couldn’t come, friends who live abroad… or perhaps future generations? Special people in your lives i.e. children/grandchildren who weren’t around when you got married.
Think about what you want your wedding video to show. Voices and sentiment i.e. vows and speeches? Outfits, music and dancing that sum up the zeitgeist of the era? What’s the overall vibe you’re looking for? Emotional and heartfelt? Or fun, funny and upbeat. Do you want audio or just visuals to music?
Research/shortlist
So now you’ve got a good idea about what you want from your wedding film, you can research who will capture it. Your chosen videographer carries the perspective through which future generations experience the event, so it’s super important to sign up the right person. No pressure!
So where do you start? Ask friends and family for references, if a family member had a wedding video that you loved you could think about getting in touch with their wedding videographer. Ask your photographer for recommendations – they are bound to have worked with videographers (usually with a similar style and approach to how your photographer works), search hashtags on Instagram and use search engines to find wedding videographers who cover your area. Gather as many as you can and start shortlisting. First things first you’ll be able to get a feel for the videographer’s style from their website. Do you like the colours/graphics? Do they have an up-to-date blog? Is their social media up to date? What ‘feel’ are you getting from all this? If you’re not getting good vibes at this stage, disregard them.
So, you’ve ‘culled’ and have a pretty good shortlist to start sifting through. It’s time to get out the popcorn! You need to watch as many wedding videos as you can, and not just sample videos, get in touch and ask for full-length wedding videos. You’ll get a great feel for the style you like by doing this, and you’ll be able to narrow down your shortlist further. Make a note of what you like/don’t like. How did the video make you feel? What story did it tell? Did you like the way it was edited? Did you feel anything was missing? What coverage did you particularly like? Getting ready/ceremony/speeches/dancing? Do you want snippets from all the speeches? What additional audio did you want to include?
Watch multiple videos from the same videographer and then you’ll be able to tell them which you like and why you like them. That will give them a really good idea of what you’re looking for and how to approach filming on the day.
My style and my approach
My style is discreet/candid/unobtrusive/documentary. I don’t tend to direct or ‘stage’ footage because I want to capture natural moments as they unfold. I'm a fun creative wedding videographer... I don’t want to turn your wedding day into a film set! If I get footage of poses or group shots, it will be because I’m shooting the result of the photographer’s direction. I use parts of the ceremony/speeches audio to build the narrative and compliment the visuals.
For me weddings are all about people. Obviously my bride and groom’s love is the centre for the story of each wedding video, but I also love seeing how your guests interact with each other, I like to capture them smiling, laughing and celebrating all the special moments with you.
Video
This video of Syrah and Sam’s wedding tells the story of their day and their relationship. In my conversations with them prior to the big day, I discovered that they wanted a fun, unconventional wedding and fun wedding video and something less traditional, so I made sure that came across in the wedding video. They wanted a fun creative wedding videographer... and that's what they got! I featured all the quirky little details like the unique confetti bar, giant paper flower backdrop, photo booth caravan, temporary tattoos, the cool CAKE balloons, donut wall and ice cream parlour. Their wedding was at The Bond Company in Birmingham, this venue is really cool and fun, so capturing the location and feel of Birmingham was also really important to them. Knowing all these details helped me create a fun creative wedding video. It was such an interactive day for all their guests, and It was a pleasure to capture the fusion of cultures and the coming together of two families. The speeches were heartfelt, and the bride’s speech was very funny! I used specific parts of the individual speeches to tell their story. I used music that was upbeat and fun and I got light-hearted footage of the couple doing silly poses and dancing against the white brickwork outside – this fit their personalities as individuals but also as a couple. The industrial architecture and colourful graffiti worked in fantastic juxtaposition with the beautiful bridalwear so I used it to my advantage, as I knew they wanted something unconventional.
Wedding videos can sometimes be overlooked and deemed ‘non-essential’ but the biggest regret for a bride post-wedding is not having a professional videographer to capture it. See this article from Wedding Ideas magazine that shows couples who organised a professional wedding video were really glad they'd spent the money www.weddingideasmag.com/if-i-could-do-it-all-again-real-brides-biggest-big-day-regrets/
Rather than looking at your wedding video as an expense, look at it as investing in your legacy!
I'm a fun creative wedding videographer based in the West Midlands but I travel all over the world for weddings. I have all my wedding videos on Vimeo so I can send full examples to my couples. Enquire today so we can start discussing the different options.
I can’t wait to tell your story.
Caitlin x
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