After shooting many weddings, I have come to really enjoy the photo session where I am able to get great shots of the couple, plus glidecam shots going around them. Very cinematic and just had a couple inform me it was the best moments in the whole video. My 2nd favorite part is the ceremony, especially when I am able to be somewhat close to the couple and get awesome close ups of the groom putting the ring on, holding hands, etc.

Just curious what others favorite parts are, and what parts your most proud of?

Bride prep for me. I enjoy looking for little gems of stories that are randomly happeing around the house

Bride Prep for me as well...sometimes the dad's first reaction is better than the grooms!

I agree with the others, bridal prep is the best part of the day IMO. Susanto's point about looking for storylines is spot on. That's my favourite. My second fave is the photo session. least favourite is the speeches...They sometimes go on forever.
My favourite shot to get is the ring shots and the bride/groom accessories shots.

Hi Silas

Some wedding ceremonies (as dull as they sound) can also be the highlight of the day..I do enjoy the photoshoot as the couple are relaxed by then. We have plenty of civil ceremonies and our celebrants often inject some fun into the proceedings which relax the couple and makes a fun shoot too..(one celebrant after announcing that "marriage is for life" ..turned to the bride and groom and said "and that means no parole and no time off for good behaviour"..the couple loved it as did the guests!! However Church ceremonies are dull and formal so they are often boring!!

I must admit that I find doing the guys prep is fun but more often than not the bride is highly stressed and running behind time so it's not always the nicest shoot for me.

My favorite without a doubt are my guest interviews during pre-dinner drinks..I get some great advice, comments and overall happy thoughts from everyone I talk to!!

Sorry guys..someone has to be different!!!

Chris

Hmmm, I think the part I enjoy the most is saying "goodnight" and driving home.

Oh wait you said IN the video. I guess it really depends on the couple. While I do enjoy the prep (when I do it) the photoshoot time is enjoyable as long as we get to do something cool (see the comment "depends on the couple") and THEN saying goodnight and driving home. ;-)

Depends on the couple will now mean to me the couple from yesterday. Small wedding, big dress, she= big personality, he= a bit more quite. Picture a rural setting, snow falling, cold (15 maybe 20 degrees with a bit of a cutting wind and snow falling and blowing all over the place) After the photo shoot in the church the photog and I (we've worked together for over 10 years maybe about 100 times) we go outside and the brides dad had set up 5 snowmobiles for the B&G and the wedding party. OK figure it from there. We had a great time and honestly some of the shots really looked like a picture postcard. Yellow sleds, covered with white dress, some shade of purple for the bridesmaids, black for the tuxes, white snow on the ground and falling from the sky and the kicker, beautiful green pine trees in the background. Then off to the towns watering hole (remember I said "rural") a fun time with the bridal party walking down the middle of the main street (traffic stopped and waited-try that in downtown Chicago-they WILL honk before they run you down) then into the bar for some really fun stuff. THATS my favorite part but alas, not all are like that. <sigh>

My best part is the bride prep, my favorite part is the last dance. ;-)

Hey Don, you should consider writing as a sideline. You did a great job of making that story come to life. Sounds like you had a good time with that one.

Jim, ha. I can't spel to good gud but I supose I culd get my 7 year old granddaghter to do that for me. :-)

Yeah, it was really a fun time. Honestly one of the few I've had at a wedding lately. The weather (heavily overcast and snow-not heavy but enough to make it uncomfortable) the colors and the people made it a pretty fun day. Actually looking forward to editing this one.

The only wedding I've shot in a few years happened a few months ago when a friend asked at short notice, if I could record his sons event.

HE didn't want a video after seeing a vid camerman stop the bride and her father almost at the altar and make them go back to the church entrance and come in again, for some unknown reason. Can you imagine that.

Anyway, knowing the groom was a fun guy, I managed to inject some fun into the reception vid. eg: Just after the main meal was served I asked the bridal party (on cam) to tell me whether they were having, the fish or the beef. I moved along the bridal table and each introduced themselves and said what they were eating.

In post, I found that scene was too busy and went too long for the fun of it .. so I just used the very pretty bridesmaids and the bridal couple.

And the bridesmaids were very softly spoken over the general hubub so I captioned each of their selections with, 'fish' or 'beef'.

It was a very expensive wedding and part 2 in a job like that is to see what the viewing reaction would be, especially the brides parents who paid for it all. I was there to watch and thankfully her mother laughed and blew me a kiss and her father had tears in his eyes when he told me later he could play it for HIS mother who was very ill and couldn't attend.

The video was our wedding present, has to last forever and be transfered to some future yet unknown format .. and it nicely rounds out the year in what has been a tough one for my wife and I.

Happy Xmas to all and good videoing in 2011 :)

Cheers.

First dance...... IF the couple is right...then it can't look bad. :-)

I don't have a best part but my favourite is getting paid - no hold that, it's probably getting the deposit, then you have anticipation as well.

Before I went to DSLR it was definitely the first dance. Now it's a bit more stressful following focus.

I love staging shots. Like someone said, after the wedding the couple is loose and you can get some amazing shots of them together (which is kinda what the day is about).

Brilliant Philip!!!

I never thought of that and it IS a great part of the wedding process. Getting money up front for work you are only going to do next year is a great feeling!! In fact it's rather neat to be able to look at your booking calendar and know that you have work for the next 12 months and beyond AND you have already been paid a substantial portion of it for doing virtually nothing!!

One particular highlight was a bride who emailed me and said "I want to book for September 2011..send me your bank details" .. she was quite happy to book from information on the website. I emailed her the contract and she returned it signed a few minutes later and deposited her payment. I STILL haven't even met her!!!

and yes...the initial payment is probably nicer than the final one...the anticipation of a job to come!!

Chris

I like the Bride prep & the park shoot. My favorite would have to be the bouquet toss, that means I have done all the amenities of the day and can finally relax.

For me, it is more or less everything but the ceremony itself. Absolutely love trying to find little stories to tell with the bride and groom getting ready, the bridal parties interacting and at the reception. Lately, some of the most fun has been with couples that choose to have us put together a love story. It's fascinating to listen to them talk about how they fell in love, how the proposal happened, their first date.. or even the stress they are going through trying to plan the wedding. Has really helped give insight into the couple and given us ideas on things to look for at the wedding.

At one recent wedding, the couple had the love story playing in one of the rooms on the way to the bathroom. Everyone ended up sitting there to watch it at some point during the evening and kept commenting on how great it was. The couple's mothers were especially pleased with it.

Honestly, the whole shebang is exciting. There's something about the pressure of capturing it when you know there is no 'retake' that gets the blood flowing - and with working around the problems that inevitibly crop up.