Re: How to get this look....
 

It's funny how we critique videos ... but then when you ask some one completely inexperienced they look at nothing but the content.

I've noticed as videographers / cinematographers (and/or related) we over-analyse. Especially technical things. A client is only looking at the over all feel and content.

And an over all feel can be created with A. Content B. Music C. Effects if you get all three right ... you don't need to worry about your exposure being wrong, or your footage being too shaky. There is always a way to make all that look good in the eyes of your client.

In regards to that video ... it's definitely a plugin like Magic Bullet Looks and some flare overlays.

Re: How to get this look....
 

With a lens this wide, focus isn't as critical as you think. You can preset your focus to about 10 feet and eyeball your distance, it will be in acceptable focus. Try it for yourself and see. If in doubt, stay as wide as you can go, and almost everything will be in focus.

Re: How to get this look....
 

If I where to shoot this video I would use a samyang 35mm f1.4 and put a nd filter on it to shoot wide open and handheld, I guess you do have a much wider stocklens you could use for those few wider shots you need? I think it's important to do what she wants and not what we think is best, if you would shoot it all with a Tokina wideangle you never get that look on your t3i, the video in question was most probably shot with a 5dII so the dof will always be a lot more shallow but if I look at about 80% of the shots in the video they all have that soft creamy looking backgrounds so your best bet to mimic this is to use a f1.4 lens with a filter attached, just shoot at 30fps in 1080p and you are good to go.

There is already some great advice here but most are from a personal point of view and not with the client in mind, if I look at the video there are 3 things that are prominent; 1. very shallow dof 2. shaky handheld shots 3. a bit extreme coloring (of which Finn already explained how to achieve that same effect in post), so if apply this your client will always be happy.

Also one thing to bear in mind, the author of the video can see where their videos are embedded so he/she can follow this discussion as well. Not that this matters that much but just that you know.