Double wedding

[Adrian Tan]

Ok, Sunday's for me will be two sisters getting married at the same time.

I've never shot a double wedding before. Any special tips? Thinking I might have to bring an extra radio microphone for one thing...

[Chris Harding]

Hi Adrian

Some wide angled lenses too!! Seriously depending on the layout I would think about putting a mic on each groom for starters.

I have never done a double either! Let us know how it goes

Chris

[Allan Black]

Pretty daunting. Is there going to be 2 of everything? best men, bridesmaids, 2 lots of cars, guests, speeches, toasts.
Are they getting dressed at 2 different addresses?

Run this .. https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&t...pw.r_qf.&cad=b

Wide angle lens and take plenty of backup and give equal time for each couple or you'll have 2 mothers in law after you.
After this you might end up writing a double wedding contract, with special clauses based on what you find out.

Good luck, when you come to, yes let's know how it went.

Cheers.

[Bernard Lau]

Sounds like fun and a great challenge!
I'm guessing this is just any Wedding but with two couples throughout the day.

Unless the sisters are marrying the same man, you'll definitely need audio sources for each groom. And if you mic the bride, then you need to mic them both. This would really be for the Ceremony unless you mic them up at other sections of the day also.

If you are shooting prep, hopefully all the girls and boys are located together. Otherwise, you'll need more shooters to cover.

Back to the Ceremony, you need to think about blocking and positions of where your main leads will be. I'm thinking that it would be B G B G with the priest/celebrant in the middle walking around.

You probably won't need much extra gear besides more cards/tapes since there'll probably be more speeches and more wireless audio kits.

In the end, it's about knowing what you need to cover and prioritise who you want to be filming.
And to stay calm.

Cheers,
Burns.

[Peter Riding]

I shot one last year. Really its not a lot different to "normal" weddings except at certain points where the proceedings are likely to take longer than normal e.g. the various posed photos, the multiple speeches.

Preparation wise if you can attend a rehearsal great, but at least talk it through in detail with the two brides e.g. are they doing the processional together or one after the other. But be careful not to phase them by giving the impression that it is more difficult than is actually the case.

You're probably no more likely to have cameras blocked than at any other wedding ceremony because the couple will make their vows one after the other, but prepare to tweak your positions if appropriate.

And there are likely to be lots of guests, meaning that space within the wedding breakfast location could be at a premium. So allow for restricted or no feasible change to your shooting positions during the speeches.

I have a stills gallery online from the wedding. It was a mother and daughter, mother remarrying obviously:

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Pete

[Aindreas Lynch]

I photographed one earlier in the year (I'm a photographer in the main) and found it ok. I did bring a second shooter with me so he could concentrate on the other couple while I was working with the other and looking back on it now it was a godsend to be honest. If you can get someone to give you a hand then I would use them, just to give yourself that extra bit of coverage.

[Adrian Tan]

As it turned out... was pretty straightforward. Here's some notes in case anyone's interested...

* Prep -- had to make sure to get decent shots of both brides. While they were lacing the dresses, one sister was having problems, so she got a lot more fussed over, and more attention -- both by bridesmaids, and by myself and the photographer. Maybe a little unfair to the other girl.

* Ceremony -- so glad to have two videographers. In a normal wedding, maybe you have one centre aisle cam, and one 45-degree bride-favouring cam. In this setup, you needed at least two 45-degree cams, one for each couple.

Walking down aisle was a little awkward from coverage point of view -- bridesmaid, bride, bridesmaid, bride. Father walked down aisle with one sister, then walked back up the side of the church so he could walk down the aisle with the second.

* Photoshoot -- was a small luxury, while the photographer was working one couple, to have the other couple to yourself to do things with.

* Reception -- introductions was fairly straightforward. Just needed a slightly wider angle to frame for everyone. A lot of guests, but no more than many other weddings.

Kind of gave up trying to work out which parents were which, for cutaways during speeches.

General stalking of couple -- I normally follow B&G around as they go from table to table getting congratulated by guests, and then get general stalking shots as they laugh and dance, etc. And I often lean, somewhat unwittingly, towards getting too many bride shots and not enough groom shots. -- Well, this was a double danger here. And it was slightly tricky, also, to get good moments with four people rather than just two. But it seemed to turn out OK. Just had to keep reminding myself that there were two white dresses I should be paying attention to through the night, not just one.

Cake-cutting was slightly weird -- four hands on one knife -- and again just meant you had to readjust the frame a little.

Double bouquet and double garter toss, but no problem to cover. Was consecutive rather than simultaneous.

Exit arch a little weird, and we didn't plan it out properly. Normally one of us will walk backward in front of the couple, inside the arch, whilst the other person shoots some coverage from outside. In this case, the guy inside had to make a choice as to which couple to precede.

[Travis Wilber]

Are you making two separate videos or just one?

[Adrian Tan]

Definitely just one. We're paid the same as for any other wedding, so no point spending extra editing time.

[Nigel Barker]

It would be a little weird if they had chosen to share the wedding day to then insist on individual wedding videos (presumably with one couple or the other having the starring role).

[John Knight]

Originally Posted by Adrian Tan

Just needed a slightly wider angle to frame for everyone...

I'd have no worries with this - plenty of practise with my brides! :)