Joys & Mistakes of Weddings

[Steven Davis]

Originally Posted by Don Bloom

When my kids got married obviously I took care of the video (or hired a good friend to actually shoot and I edited)....
Don

Just so you know Don, In my brain, I had you giving your daughter (if applicable) away and you holding a camera on your shoulder........... What a great shot that would be. :}

[Victor Kellar]

I'm currently working for a wedding company here, editing some of their backlog ... and they have weddings going back two years ... OK, that's over the top, I admit

But when the wedding biz in Toronto was really booming a few years back, nobody (at least the larger studios) was promising to get a video down in under 6 months ... and that was 6 months from the time the couple brought in their pics, music choices etc.

I've also had the experience of editing weddings two years or so older ... because it took the couple that long to come in with the second deposit that makes the editing possible. Then, of course, they want the thing down in a weekend. After making the studio wait all that time.

There are a lot of considerations for a large studio that determines the turnaround length. I just finished a contract for a small studio (30 to 40 weddings a year) where I had to clear up a backlog before Xmas ... these were weddings shot earlier that summer, like May and June. They had 14 weddings left to edit .. and this is a husband/wife team where only one of them worked part time. I shovelled out their backlog and the studio, as well as their clients, were happy with that.

As an editor, if a studio wants a job done in a very tight deadline .. say, like 12 hours from me getting the tapes to producing the final DVDs .. I charge em thru the nose, cause I have to drop everything else. What they charge, I have no idea; probably they don't. Probably they discount the job to keep the bride happy.

No wonder this biz is going down the tubes

[Don Bloom]

Hey Steven,
You're close. ;-)

Actually for her wedding almost 11 years ago I use 2 cams both stationary-honestly I should have had a friend come in and handle it.
For my younger son who got married 4 years ago I did just that and when my older son got married 4 years ago it was just the immediate family so I just set one up on a tripod in the balconey except the Rev. (fire department chaplain) let me get the procession and then run up lock down the cam and get back down before he started the ceremony. Pretty cool guy.

My daughters was VHS (still is - one day I'll re-do it edit and DVD).

I was thinking about getting a lipstick cam-hooking it to the brides tiara and getting some POV footage. Whaddaya think? ;-O

Don

[Ben Winter]

Originally Posted by Steve House

Sorry guys, I don't mean to be critical but if you're going to take people's money to do a job for them, you're obligated to do it in a completely professional manner regardless of your other obligations, and that includes trying to give them the same level customer service they would get if they went to the best in the business. The attitude of "what can they expect for $600 bucks" / "what do they expect from someone who's part-time" / "they realize I have other things going on in my life" just doesn't cut it. My day job presently has me working on contract as an independent computer trainer, very similar to the structure you're in when you accept a wedding gig except it's for business clients instead of retail to the public. My clients have every right to expect that they're going to get 100% of my attention and energy for the job they've booked me for. Back-burnering a client to attend to a booking from another won't cut it nor will delivering less than 100% quality to the job because there's something going on in my personal life. If there are distractions going on that will prevent me from doing the job properly, I feel obligated to decline the booking rather than taking the client's money and delivering sub-standard performance. If it's just a hobby and you want to do an occasional gig for someone, that's fine - charge for expenses and have fun. If you want to do it professionally and are going to try to actually make money at it, even if it's just a part-time business for you, charge professional rates and deliver professional level service 100% of the time. And the really bad news? If you're a student and the professor announces a surprise exam on Monday that you really need to study for but you have a wedding booked on Sunday that you've accepted a deposit on and need to prep for, guess what you have to defer? Hint ... it's not the wedding.

I should've mentioned the client in question knew full well of the time delay involved...I was actually recommended to her by her friend whom I had done wedding videography for as well, and that job took me 7 months. I make sure, however, to do the best job I can because putting my name on a less-than-my-best product is not good for either party.

There is a saying that goes along the lines of "they may not remember how long the job took, but they will remember how well you did it"

[Peter Jefferson]

"because it took the couple that long to come in with the second deposit that makes the editing possible. Then, of course, they want the thing down in a weekend. After making the studio wait all that time. "

and this is where alot fo the negativity comes from..
like i said in a previous post, no matter what we do, were the bad guys...