Who was the first?
 

Trash the dress, save the date, same day edit and so on are all concepts that you hardly find back in my country, mostly because of lack of interest.
there are just a very few that do offer it here and 2 weeks ago I saw 2 different videocompanies claiming on their site that they invented the concept which made me laugh a bit.

Does anyone have an idea how long these concepts have been existing now and who was the first to introduce it?

It is almost impossible to know who was first, but the earliest SDE I know of was from John Goolsby in the late 80s or early 90s. He talks about bringing in theses huge 3/4 inch decks and the coordinator wanting to know when it will be done. Gear wise, we have it pretty easy today.

I have to agree with Mark that it would be nearly impossible to identify who did what first, especially since some of these concepts were probably pioneered originally before the internet was even a useful tool.

Well obviously not as 2 videographers here in belgium claim they invented it. ;)

I understand that this would be impossible to track back, I just wondered how many years these concepts have been alive in America or other countries, I was amazed that even back in the end 80's or beginning 90's this was being applied allready, that must have been an experience. :)

Prolly should check with Al Gore, cause we all know he invented the internet, right? SO he would know... or not...

It always cracks me up when I see people claiming to have "invented" or been the first to do something or another. Most of the time it's just hot air to puff themselves up, and they've got no proof - it's even better when you happen to have actually been the first or know the person who really was! Unless you've got a patent or trademark or other documentation, it's all just about bragging rights - so no surprise there's TWO geniuses bragging about doing something already been done! Bet they'd be great fishermen!

My first SDE was done in July 1989, for my sister's wedding. Back then everything was cut only/video insert edit, so I could finish editing the ceremony in 30 minutes. Then I put an editing station in my van, and my first paying job for SDE was 1991.

At that time I had my Ford van with equipment racks in it. We shot Betacam and 3/4 inch, then later moved to SVHS for weddings. Power came from a bulldozer battery connected to an inverter. I could drive my portable editing station anywhere and provide playback for the reception. My projector was a Sony VPH-1044Q, which weighed almost 100lbs and cost around $8K. I had to set it up, and align all 3 guns for each and every screen we set up. Once it was set, it couldn't be moved. At that time, the projector was only 700 lumens!

For audio, the playback deck was connected to a mixer, which fed a powered Bose Acoustimass Pro, which weighed about 80lbs. With one unit we could fill a large ballroom easily. We never hooked up into a DJ's system because most of the time our system sounded cleaner.

All of our playback equipment sat on pushcarts, which we loaded up into the van via ramp. Equipment was heavy, but easy to move with wheels and straps.

For me, the concept of an SDE was the next natural step of a photographer's slideshow. Back in the 80's, Photographers used to create slideshows with 2 or 3 slide projectors, connected with dissolve units, and tell the couple's life stories through images that "moved". What a blast from the past! I'm searching my closet for my first SDE now... it would be quite amusing to see how I did things back then.

SDE's have been around in the late 80s. Back then and this was in the Philippines, if an A List couple wanted an SDE, they would usually go with Video production companies. An edit suite is set-up at the hotel/venue, after the Bride Prep, tapes get transported to the Edit Suite. The church would have a 3 Camera set-up (seg 2500, Beta Decks, VHS back-ups, etc). At the venue or reception while guest are arriving the edited bride prep and the ceremony is played back using the 3 tube projectors that Warren mentioned.

Warren I remember the Sony 1020 series, it was such a pain to calibrate the grid.

I know it's not quite the same thing as a SDE, but back in the early days of VHS in the early 80s, access to editing suites was very expensive and generation loss made VHS to VHS dubbing undesirable. So many of us used to "edit in the camera", shooting everything strictly in the planned final sequence from the establishing shots and titles through to the B & G going away under a blaze of several kilowatts of halogen floods. The titles took ages to programme in and had to be set up well in advance. But playback of "the story so far" was possible at the reception if there was a big TV available.

I remember shooting on hired equipment (over the shoulder camera, suitcase sized VHS recorder and separate suitcase sized battery pack!) with a separate portable cassette recorder for audio backup. During the ceremony we used a live broadcast style, with an order of service, flowers, several hymnbooks etc all placed ready within reach to use as "cutaways" during hymns and prayers. Since editing wasn't an option (apart from emergency audio overdubbing) we just accepted that we had to get it right first time. It was fun and the results were always well received but I wouldn't like to try that now.

Colin, I'm so glad I wasn't shooting back then, lol. d;-)

Colin,
Yeah that was a real PITA compared to the stuff we use today. That camera, battery and deck probably outweighted me by 50 pounds and you're right about the titles. UGH! Ah, the cassette recorder, ha, old memories I've been trying to forget.

O|O
\__/

The question is a little tongue in cheek and we should remember that people recorded weddings before it became a business. I know of a Manchester company (no longer extant) that effectively made an SDE (though I'm not sure whether it was shown on the day) possibly as early as the mid 70's. They used two cameras and a scanner van parked outside the church.

It shouldn't count though because their business was making broadcast OB and the bride was a client's daughter who wasn't paying.

At around the same time I was a guest at a wedding at Manchester cathedral where the local BBC had two film crews (the BBC was very late in dropping 16mm film for local news so I'm sure it must have been film) and a clutch of redheads to record the wedding of one of their on-screen talents and his former Miss GB fiancee. He's recently retired from a senior post with the English Football Association. I'm still in touch; maybe I'll ask him if he still has the video.

Earliest wedding video - 1905
Earliest wedding video revived for public viewing in digital age - Times Online

Im sure the first SDEs, or at least viewing of video at the reception was in the 50s when the Ampex VTRs were out. Might have been of peoples daughters related to the broadcast or video industry, but Im sure it would be natural for the gearheads of the day to make it happen. I think the concept is 50s, but the current implementation is very advanced.

I believe I saw a photo in a super old Popular Photography magazine of a bride at the ocean in the water. So the trash the dress concept has been around forever. It's certainly more extreme now. I wonder if it happens at high end weddings? I can't imagine getting a $10K plus dress wet or messed up.