We here at Merryweather Films take great care to shoot all our weddings well, and craft each video with care and attention to detail to ensure each one is beautiful, cinematic, and representative of you and your day.
We take our role as documentary filmmakers seriously- we love getting beautiful footage without being intrusive on your day. And while we always create videos that couples and families enjoy watching together, there are a few things that couples can do to help us create even more engaging video keepsakes that even your most hardened of friends or extended family members will find themselves enjoying as well!
So without further ado, here are 4 super easy tips for getting the most magical, cinematic and amazing video you can!
1. Remember The Toasters
No, I’m not talking about your gift registry. I’m talking about the people you ask to give a toast at your reception!
Most people are not used to giving toasts or speeches, especially in front of large groups. They may not know what to write or how to prepare. And even experienced public speakers may not know the best things to say (and not say) at at wedding reception. Add to that the adrenaline and/or alcohol flowing through their veins, and you could have a receipe for disaster.
But fear not! We have created the perfect blog post for them. Share it with everyone giving a speech at your wedding, and if they follow our advice, not only will we have great, beautiful soundbites for your video, but you’ll see confident speakers and teary eyed guests at your reception.
2. Think About The Sound
We can’t stress the importance of good audio enough. There are a few decisions you can make to help ensure that you will have some good audio- and not just for the sake of the video, but for your guests as well!
Here are a few small things you can do before your wedding day to help ensure the best audio possible:
Make sure you have a sound system during your ceremony. Most religious buildings and wedding venues have them, but sometimes they don’t. Check out the options and see if you should rent a system. Not only do they help us with the video, but they also help your guests! Have you ever been to a wedding where you couldn’t hear what was going on? It disconnects all your guests from your ceremony and the whole reason they are there. Help them out- have a microphone at your wedding! And if you really don’t want to have one, please let us know ahead of time. We’ll do our best to get the best audio we can.
Tell your officiant that you hired a videographer and that they will need to wear a small lav mic. It’s not connected to the sound system, and won’t project any noise during your ceremony, but it will record the audio for us to use in your video! If they refuse to wear our mic, it’s always good to let us know ahead of time so we can try to make other arrangements.
Tell your toasters that they may be wearing a lav mic as well! Usually it’s hard to put them on women wearing dresses, but if there is a pocket or place we can hide the mic, we love to have our own mic on them.
Tell your band and/or DJ that you hired a videographer and ask them to help us out by providing us with a feed from their board. We always hope for good interactions and collaboration between vendors, but never take it for granted, particularly at a live event with no do-overs. Giving your band/DJ a heads up that video is important to you often helps ensure a spirit of cooperation betwen them and us - which ultimately makes your video better!
Check out this blog post for more information about the importance of good audio.
3. Leave Time for Video “Portraits”
Getting some nice shots of just the two of you is so important for our videos! These shots are usually the most beautiful, most romantic parts of your wedding video. We tend to use them right in the beginning, over your vows, over your toasts, and even as the last clip in your video!
During your formal portrait time, we work around your photographer and let them run the show. However, just as you allot time for your photographer to take some formal photos, make sure to leave us a little time to get our own “formal” shots as well! We generally only need 15 minutes to get a few shots of our own. And depending on the style of your photographer, we may even need less! Please plan a little extra time for our shooters to capture some nice shots for your video- you’ll be so happy you did!
4. Get Ready To Get Ready
The wedding day prep is a beautiful way to start your video. Showing the excitment, joy, and love shared between friends and family members is a wonderful way to set the tone of the video before jumping into the ceremony.
If our shooters will be there to capture you getting ready for your wedding, try to make sure you aren’t completely dressed when they arrive! Some things that you might already be planning to do are great moments to capture on video- check out this list for some ideas!
First look with your father, brother, or other important figure in your life
Opening a card or gift from your partner
A toast with family or friends
A reveal of you in your dress to your bridesmaids or family members
Giving a card or gift to your parents
Writing your vows in a vow book
Getting hair and make-up done
Along with showing these activities, we also try to get some footage of the details- the rings, bouquets, dress, suit, invitations, shoes, etc. Collect all these types of items in one place for your photographer and videographer to have easy access to. It’s ok if the rings are with one person and the invitations are with another, but collect the items you have with you and we’ll arrange a great shot of your beautiful wedding day details!
If you are going to be dressed already (and can’t change that), consider doing these small things after our shooters arrive:
Unbutton or unzip just the top of your dress so that we can get a shot of someone zipping it up
Take off your jacket and put it on again
Pretend to fix your hair, tie, make-up, etc in the mirror
Take off your jewelry, shoes, cufflinks, or tie and put them on again
Wait to put on your boutonniere or veil until the shooters arrive
If you are exchanging gifts or cards, open them after our shooter arrives
Don’t feel awkward if you need to pretend to fix your hair, or put your jewelry back on- I promise, it’s totally worth it! We only use the best shots and occasional soundbites (champagne toast, anyone?) of you getting ready in your Highlight Reel.
