hi folks, i'm a newbie to wedding videography (2 weddings shot) and I'm just wondering, what's the longest speech you've ever shot?
the father of the bride at the first wedding I did talked for 40 minutes. I had to change tape between because I thought FOR SURE I'd have enough space on my first tape (20 minutes or so). Does that happen often? It sucked, I counted the pages, 15 singlespaced all together. sheesh.

The longest I've ever done in 25 years of weddings is 26 minutes.
It seems rare to go on for more than about 2 to 3 but some ramble for up to 10. I always tell the people giving speeches, "if you are not a professional speaker here is a tip I got from one. Be Bright, Be Brief, Be Gone" 90 seconds is a toast - anything longer is a speech.
Don't worry I don't think you'll have too many that run 15 pages but the FOB has liberty. He paid for the wedding ;-O

Don

I think I've gone 20 minutes or so, and thought I would die. I can't imagine a 40 minute speech at a wedding.

I would expect that to be a rarity in your future work...

Not sure if it is a UK thing but I often see 30 minutes speeches from Grooms and Best Men, usually the FOB is much shorter, more of a toast but I always set with a fresh tape ready for the speeches.

very bad luck to have a long speech from both groom and bestman! Never needed more than an hour for all.

2.5hrs is the longest speech session I've shot...

I had to charge the client extra for the edit itself as it far exceeded the actual edit threshold, in addition to multiple camera requirement and media.

Yes my feet got sore and yes, they were DEAD boring.

The last 3 weddings i did, 2 of them lasted around 1 hour 20 min. it seems to be normal enough in Ireland to last the 40min plus on average

I think 15 minutes is my longest toast. The more they've had to drink the longer it takes it seems. I just can't picture somebody droning on for 45 minutes without the crowd dozing off.

My biggest issue though is some of the sermons these catholic priests deliver... 45 minutes isn't uncommon for me.

My biggest issue though is some of the sermons these catholic priests deliver... 45 minutes isn't uncommon for me.

I think even that's regional. Here in Montreal, a full catholic wedding with mass and communion is rarely over an hour long. I pop in a fresh tape just before it starts, and can't remember the last time I had to change tapes during the ceremony.

Hopefully not too OT...

For Belgian weddings it's usually the groom who speaks for max 3 minutes, usually it's just to welcome the guests but 2 weeks ago I had a English/Norwegian wedding in Brussels and it seems that in both countries speeches at the reception are very common, in total I recorded 1 hour and 15 minutes of speeches done by various familymembers but the English best man won first prize with about 20 minutes on his own.
He also had a whole pile of notes in front of him, I never expected that it would last that long and I was handholding my dvx during the speech, after 10 minutes my arm started to cramp and I had to lower it to waist height so I could hold it with 2 arms and continue monitoring on the lcd. The day after it felt like I climbed a mountain. :)

I find that the father of the bride or groom usually talks the most - sometimes as much as 30 minutes. In the end it doesn't matter though since they get trimmed to about 3 minutes anyway. :)

Jeez, I'm horrified at these numbers you guys are throwing around. 30 minute speeches? Are you serious? Down here, you rarely have a speech, and if there is one it lasts all of 2 minutes. I'm glad I don't have to waste an hour of tape on long, drawn out speeches. I'd think that would be boring for everyone involved.

Ethan, you're lucky. Every wedding I've been to has had longish speeches. typically though the best man speeches are the worst. they're ten minutes of inside jokes trying to embarrass the groom. Most of the best man speeches I've heard have been fairly crude and uncouth too. FOB speeches I can deal with better because you can hear the love he has for his daughter in his words and that's usually cute to hear. but those best men....ugh.

I did one wedding where the speech lasted an hour and a half. It was a Russian-Jewish wedding and half the speeches were in English then repeated in Russian. It was torture and the bride was a nightmare. Just a painful shoot.

Then last year I shot a Laotion wedding that had a two hour speech and I didn't have a clue to what anyone was saying. It was a great, fun wedding, but shooting the speech was a nightmare.

I did one wedding where the speech lasted an hour and a half. It was a Russian-Jewish wedding and half the speeches were in English then repeated in Russian. It was torture and the bride was a nightmare. Just a painful shoot.

Then last year I shot a Laotion wedding that had a two hour speech and I didn't have a clue to what anyone was saying. It was a great, fun wedding, but shooting the speech was a nightmare.

Did the couple requested to put to 1,5 or 2 hour speech completely on dvd? Can't imagine anyone finding it fun to listen to 1 person talking that long.

I've only done five weddings, all relatives or friends, but I have said to the couple something like: "Tell those who are giving speeches to think about the fact that what they will say is being recorded and can be viewed years later. Without wanting to cramp anyone's style, it seems better to me that matters of substance befit a wedding, and will be of lasting value, whereas trivial, inane or crude contributions will only be an embarrassment, on the day and in the future."

Did the couple requested to put to 1,5 or 2 hour speech completely on dvd? Can't imagine anyone finding it fun to listen to 1 person talking that long.

Luckily, I was shooting for another company and didn't have to edit it. So, I really don't know. I'll see if I can find out.

It was tough to shoot, but I really felt bad for the guests, just sitting there waiting to eat and having to sit there for that long.

What is it with speeches at weddings lately? It seems like everyone wants to get up a talk. Maybe it's just me, but the speeches seem to be getting longer too.

What is it with speeches at weddings lately? It seems like everyone wants to get up a talk. Maybe it's just me, but the speeches seem to be getting longer too.

Everyone just wants their 15 minutes(or in some of our cases, close to an hour) of fame, even if it is just to their friends and family.


I guess most of you folks edit the speeches for the dvd? to make them shorter and more riveting.

Did the couple requested to put to 1,5 or 2 hour speech completely on dvd? Can't imagine anyone finding it fun to listen to 1 person talking that long.

I just had a conversation with the guy that cut both of those videos and he cut the speeches down a ton. No complaints. The couple probably thought they were way too long too.

When I know I need the shot and the shot could likely last more than 10 minutes, I usually change to another blank tape. That part of the reception can be lengthy so I don't take any chances. I've been very lucky actually... my biggest issue actually surrounding weddings tends to be battery changes. I have 3 4-hour batteries but wouldn't you know it, right when I'm running out of battery something is happening that I can't cut for. Wedding videography is challenging work--I love doing it but that day of shooting is so exhausting!

Here's what I do now and even way back then when I first started with mini DV. (1996)
Before the introductions start, I change tapes and batteries. PERIOD. Tapes today are cheap compared to what they used to be and we should all have enough batteries to run for a long long time. I decided that in order not to be in a postion of getting caught short, change the tape and battery no matter what. I've had as much as 30 minutes on a tape and wouldn't you know it, the intros, toasts and cake cut ran 40. That could have been problematic. If they run short great, I keep going on the same tape for the first dances and even sometimes open dance.
No sense in letting a couple of bucks louse up an otherwise nice job. Just my opinion, YMMV!

Don

I think this is a regional thing.

Hers in the Uk (well, Scotland) there are typically 3 speakers.

First is the Father of the bride, then the groom, then the best man.

Average time I've found (I've shot and edited about 150 weddings over the past 4 years or so) is about 8-10 mins per speaker.

My record is 1hour 45 mins (mins you that was 4 speakers, the grooms dad was speaking also.

And my shortest was not that long ago, 8 mins in total for all 3 speakers.

I find that as long as the total tim for speeches is under 30 mins its quite watchable, but it all depends on the peeople, theres nothing worse (or more boring) than someone standing up, reading from a sheet of paper and not once looking up.

The post about Irish weddings is true I think, I've covered a few Irish/half Irish weddings, those speeches tend to be a wee bit longer, and in a couple of the Irish weddings they atually openied the floor up to the guests, passed the mic about! That was an interesting one, as no one told me about this! So getting a good angle on random speakers in random seats, was not easy.

James Strange

StrangeWorx Productions
www.strangeworx.com

On the other side of the coin, I had one where the FOB, Groom and Best Mans speeches were all over and done with in 5minutes!

On the other side of the coin, I had one where the FOB, Groom and Best Mans speeches were all over and done with in 5minutes!

I had a Best Man toast of roughly 10 seconds. He was a little nervous. :-)