My first Wedding this Saturday...Any Advice?
 

Hey all,

This my first wedding, I've been doing recitals for a year and a half.

I'll be running 2 Panny DVX100Bs, one on sticks (tall) and one on a monopod.
One Senny G2 wireless on the groom and a Rode shotty on the monopod cam.

No lights needed. The reception is at 5pm and well lit.

My bro-in-law will be running the cam on sticks at the back.

I'll be there for the bride and groom preparation through to garter/bouquet and cake although I may stay for the last dance.

Any advice before we jump in?

thanks,


ian

First, take a deep breath and relax. Second a weeding is much like a breaking news event. You only get one chance to get it right-recreations of parts generally don't work so stay ready at all times for the unexpected. If possible attend the rehearsal to get the lay of the land so to speak and do whatever you have to, to make sure the audio is right since its a hugh part of what you see.
Other than that just be ready to "rpll with the flow" and have fun. Even now after 23 years and about 1000 weddings they are still (for the most part) fun.
Enjoy yourself.

Don B.

First, take this with a grain of salt. It comes with my limited experience in videoing four family wedding-- although each one got a bit more professional as we went along.

Are you saying you will be done before sun goes down, or that reception has adequate lighting. I have VX2000, and even with its low light capability, shooting at the end of the evening will, in some scenes, require an on camera light. If the lights are dim on the last dance, or the the couple is back lit, you may need some fill. You may want to consider a camera light for those dark corners, even at preparation time, unless your subjects are willing to move to a favorable area.

Good luck, and show some results on the other side.

"No lights needed."

I beg to differ...
althought the DVX allows for a pretty infite tweaking of the gamma and matrix settings within a scene file to allow for higher sensitivity in darkened environments (and yes u CAN get it to be as sensitive as a PD170 if u tweak hard enough), a light would benefit you, especially when they dim the lights and you start to zoom in for the bridal waltz... once you start to zoom, be aware that you're losing luminance.
If anything, i run a light off the side of the dancefloor.. I try not to run a light directly from cam if i dont have to, but a light is definatley one of those "must haves" for weddings.

Put it this way, Weddings are not as controlled as recitals and stage shows, so u can throw out any ideas that things will be as pristine as that. Also lighting will probably be non existant so being prepared for the worst is the best thing to do.
Consider that what your considering to do without a light, is like a photographer working without a flash...

Me, i have 3 on cam light kits. 35w, 50w and 100w each way. Then i have a 3 point studio lighting set up for larger venues (i sometimes do "village" weddings with over 500 guests, where even the village idiot is invited... )
Most of the time, i jsut run a 50w on cam light on a light stand to the side

I've only done three weddings so far but I've learned a bunch of practical things I can tell you:

1. Make a shot list of the key moments (mothers lighting the candle, bride down the aisle, groom waiting for her, father handing her off, the vows, the rings, the kiss...) and plan out where the best angle will be. Then when your plan blows up in your face, think fast or you're gonna miss the shot.

2. Plan with your bro how tight he needs to frame those key moments from the back. Make sure one of you is on the bride, one on the groom, both closeups if you can. The more closeups of the emotional stuff the better it will come out.

3. I like to be at the end of the aisle as the bride comes down. About 1/4 of the way, I'll turn and grab a few seconds of the groom, then catch the second half of the bride down the aisle, right up to the father hand off. It edits together nicely.

3a. Find out where the photographer is going to be shooting from during the ceremony. So he isn't in your shot and you aren't in his.

4. Have your bro practice holding the tripod up by the legs and keeping the shot steady, just in case... (beware of people standing). Or better yet, make sure he has a clear shot of everything he needs, even with everyone standing. You need him bad.

5. During the non-key moments, make sure your bro is in a medium safe shot, very watchable, but just so he isn't zooming in and out and panning all over the place all the time. You will need a lot of his shots to bail you out when your footage is too shaky to use, or when you're moving to reset.

6. Give yourself plenty of time to get setup at the church. If you're doing bride/groom preps in the morning, time flies, and things go wrong. You do not want to find your audio giving you problems and having to figure it out (and sweating serious bullets) when you should be catching shots.

6a. I like to get a shot of the groom getting out of the limo. Then later the bride in the limo, waiting. Then one of the groom backstage, waiting. Then the bride getting out the limo. Then the bride waiting inside. Learn to be in five places at once.

6b. During the post ceremony photos, I let the photog run most of the setups and just do flybys and different things. But I'll always have a few shots I want and I make sure everyone knows to hold their poses for a few seconds after the picture is taken so I can do my thing. And tell them to look at the photog's camera, not yours, to pretend your invisible. Unless, of course, you want them to look at you. But I don't like that look.

7. I generally hate camera lights at receptions. I think they look very intrusive. But the fact is the later the night goes the darker it gets. The reception manager will not care about your light situation. But the bride will. The first time I got lucky and the lighting was fine all night. The second time I had unusable footage toward the end, but I had plenty of dancing stuff to edit together so it didn't matter. The third time I warned the bride that if she wants the video to come out I may need her to ask the reception manager to keep the lights up just for a few dancing songs (after the formal stuff), then they can go down. She was into it. And it worked. But I'd bring lights just in case.

8. Ask the DJ if the toasts are over his speakers or if the reception place has house audio. The house thing surprised me once and I scrambled.

9. Find out the path the bridal party will take with their entrances and make sure you have a good line of sight. Everybody stands and everybody is taller than they seem. Scrambling ensues. Shots are lost.

Know this stuff, but don't obsess over it. You will inevitably make mistakes. Don't worry about it. Magic can happen in the editing room. Just make sure your camera is rolling, you can see the shot, and hear the audio. Bring more tapes and batteries than you'll need. Water, fruit, and/or energy bars are beautiful things. It's a long day of relentless ongoing action. You'll need to be in exact spots at exact times with everything working properly. The more you know about those spots and those times, the better off you'll be.
Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

One thing no one has mentioned: Find out what the church's restrictions are!

Some churches/pastors are great, and will let you do whatever you want, within reason. (Climbing on top of the altar? Not gonna fly. :) ) Some churches, however, can have some amazingly restrictive rules. And it's no good arguing with them. Just got to roll with it.

I did a wedding in a beautiful, historic Episcopalian church in Austin a few months ago. (All Saints, for those from the area) During the rehearsal, I was wandering around, making a list of shots. It was going to be spectacular. So, after they're done, I go up to the church's day-of planner, and ask about some of the shots that might be borderline unacceptable. She says no. So I decide to fall back on some more inobtrusive shots. Once again, no. She informs me that the only place I can run the camera is at the very back of the church, on sticks, with no op! Needless to say, I'm a bit cheezed off. Can I at least mic the groom? You guessed it. No. Apparently the fact that we were allowed in at all was amazing, because "We don't allow cameras, or any kind of technology during our services, especially weddings".

So during the ceremony, the photographer and I sat out back of the church, praticing our speeches to the bride as to why her ceremony coverage sucks.

The moral of the story? Check with the church. I wouldn't suggest asking "Where can I be?" at the begining, because you'll likely get a really limiting answer. Instead, plan a couple of really great shots, and run them past the people in charge, along with WHY you need those shots. You'll probably get better results.

Ben,
This is something that the bride should have known about beforehand and if she didn't than shame on her. One thing I do everytime regardless of how many times I've shot in a particular venue with a certain officiant is to fine out before hand what I can and can not do. CASE in pint. There is a certain church in downtown Chicago that I've only shot in twice it's beautiful but very restrictive. Years ago when Banyan Productions was doing "A Wedding Story" they did a wedding there and even THEY had to abide by the rules of the church. You could get the processional from the ground floor but then you had to make your way to one of 3 balconies. One to the rear of the church and 1 on either side of the front of the church. They were rotten for a shooting angle so it was off to the rear I went. I missed a part of the ceremony while running (not really but fast walking) but luckily I had another unmanned camera going so I could manage the footage. The next time I went I sat in a pew as a "guest" used a small camera (PD150) with a very lightweight consumer tripos as a monopod-had the reciever in my jacket pocket (I wore a suit coat just for that reason) and everything went just fine. No one said anything to me and all was well in the land of churches.

You absolutley not only have to check but you must do it early and inform the B&G of any retrictions placed on you so later on no one can say you didn't tell them. Just to CYA!
Don

It was definitely a learning experience. Not exactly the best way to handle my first big wedding (which it was). Out of town, strange church, new equipment. Yeargh. Luckily it was my cousin's wedding, so she was very understanding about the lack of coverage.

I TOTALLY disagree with you guys. The one thing I know about churches is that they love to impose unnecessary rules, just for the asking. If you flake out and go to them ASKING for rules, you'll get them. Lot's of them.

If I do approach the officiant, I quite nicely inform them of where I'm going to shoot, and then tell them I'm doing this so they'll know what to expect and walk away. Quickly.

One time, the officiant lengthily told me not to ever get on the altar. But if you saw the layout of the church, it would be impossible to catch the B&G from any angle but the back and the photographer was directly behind them. I decided to put my tripod right next to the officiant, soon after the wedding started on one side, then the other side. After the ceremony finished, I told him he looked great on film. He was flattered, and that was the end of it. I have another wedding booked in that same church later on this year. We'll see what happens.

The way I look at this situation is, I'm doing a service for my clients. The officiant is also providing a service and should know how much time, effort and dollars are put into those moments. I refuse to be restricted in a way that I can't get close-ups of the B&G during THEIR ceremony. It's unfair to the B&G.

PLUS, the B&G pays us and the officiants. Why defer to the officiant? They aren't paying you. Would you do the same thing with the catering manager? I don't get this at all.

Simple: Annoy the officiant and you may find yourself never allowed to shoot in that church again. (Ever hear of public relations?) Also, you honor the church policies out of respect for the sanctity of ceremony and respect for religious practices. PLUS, you don't want to draw attention to yourself. The bride and groom are the "stars" of the day, not the videographer or photographer. Dang, people! No wonder videographers don't get the respect they deserve.

Creativity has its place, but we're not making feature films here. Why endure (and cause) the extra stress?

Who says anything about annoying the officiant? Or videographer as 'the star?' I don't understand that logic.

The B&G SHOULD be the star, NOT the officiant. Any good officiant will understand I am doing my job. And they have. Being direct with the officiant will win you respect with both your client and the officiant. Not getting good footage because you are scared of the officiant, reflects badly on any videographer.

Michelle... in a way you are right, but the B&G should know the restrictions of the facility when they book and would expect a videographer to respect those restrictions and provide the best video under those circumstances.

The problem with breaking the rules is that it may not only affect you, but other videographers who shoot in that location after you. They may decide not to allow video all together if no one respects their wishes. It's not up to us to decide if the rules are unreasonable.

While I would like to agree with Michelle, I find it hard not to agree with David. I've found a number of officiants that will go out of their way to make our life hard IF we don't respect them AND the rules and regs of the church. I've walked into some venues where because of someone else NOT following those rules it's made my work day hell.
Do I bend over for them NO but I do respect them and always remember that the wedding is generally a religious ceremony and not a Hollywood set.
NOW having said that, I find that more and more of the venues and officiants in my area are more open to videographers doing what we need to do to properly capture the day WITHIN REASON. Most churchs will absolutely NOT allow you on the altar but many are now allowing an unmanned camera there. I'll take what I can get. As long as the B&G know and understand the limitations of the venue things should be fine, however I'm the guy that will probably follow the person who doesn't ask the officiant about what they can and can't do in a particular venue and tick that officiant off and then they'll make my job even harder than it already is which really ticks ME off.
I don't know about other areas of the country but here in the greater Chicagoland area if you tick off the officiant in his church the next time YOU or anyone else works there, well, I hope you get the point.
I always tell my B&Gs about rules and regs and that camera placement is at the discretion of the camera operator (me) based on the R&R of the church and officiant. As long as they know up front it's never a problem.
Oh yeah one more thing. Asking the officiant is the RIGHT thing to do. As for asking a caterer, well they have nothing to do with my doing my job so thats a moot point.

Don B.

*panic*
 

*huff*

*huff*

*huff*

Aw geez, I'm hyperventilating.

hehe.

j/k

Seriously though, thank you ALL for the great advice and guidance.

Re: lights...yeah, I know I need one but right now it's not budgeted...my bad.
However I'm looking at the various LED lighting setups from Varizoom and others. I think I'm going that way and from what I've read here, it better be soon.

JEFF!

Thank you for that list.

You should make a separate post and maybe a moderator could pin it to the top of this forum. Just great stuff there.

PETER!

Three point light set-up? Pray tell, how does that work for you? Is this a setup during ceremony, reception, dancing or guest best-wishes?

As for everyone else.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I'll let you know how it goes on Sunday and, hopefully have a bit of footage together by the end of next week, although I have 7 dance recitals to cut as well.

sincerely,


ian

Putting the officiant first and the bride last is not right. I won't do that. My clients saw a highlight video shot in the same church and was impressed on what I was able to do given the limitations of the small church. I wouldn't have gotten booked if I shot from the back of the church like you all would have opted to do. If given a choice, I'd rather have a bride love her wedding DVD, rather than serve the officiant's ego.

Why is getting the best possible footage for my client equated to disrespect for the officiant? You have chosen the officiant as your priority instead of the bride. Fear of religious authority figures, so much so, that it causes a loss of perspective of who the client is, is no way to do a job correctly.

I've spoken to a lot of officiants. They're really nice people! If you treat them as if they're human, they'll understand you have a job to do. I've never ever had a problem with one. In fact, !'ve had a couple of them in my videos (for other special events.)

I guess I don't understand the obsessive fear you have of the officiants.

I feel for the officiants because so may event people are disrespectful. One of our shooters uses a light for the procesional. The last wedding I edited the officiant looked like he was going to blow a gasket when he saw her light shine on him as she turned around to capture the father giving the bride away.

My advice is get in good with the officiant by being polite and respectful. Ask to help and give out compliments about the church or whatever catches your eye.

The same goes with the DJ become his friend quick and ask questions. Build a rapport with him because it is the nice thing to do and the DJ will help you out if you are caught off guard. It is important to become a team with the people in the event industry. Then when you meet for other events and be glad to see each other.

"Why is getting the best possible footage for my client equated to disrespect for the officiant? You have chosen the officiant as your priority instead of the bride. Fear of religious authority figures, so much so, that it causes a loss of perspective of who the client is, is no way to do a job correctly.

I've spoken to a lot of officiants. They're really nice people! If you treat them as if they're human, they'll understand you have a job to do. I've never ever had a problem with one. In fact, !'ve had a couple of them in my videos (for other special events.)

I guess I don't understand the obsessive fear you have of the officiants."


First off, I'm not putting the officiant before the bride and groom. They absolutely come first, BUT, while they may be in that church once I might be there 3 or 4 or even 6 or 8 times this year so a good working relationship with the church and officiant is vital. Most of them I have worked with over the last 3 or 4 years are certainly more understanding and open to what we do than the ones I worked with 20 years ago. Simply put, most of them were bastards looking to push their "power" onto someone they felt they could AND with the threat of not being able to come back and work in their venue you had to be somewhat careful.
I am only suggesting that going to the officiant is a courtesy that any person of "power" would and does appreciate. Much the same as when I walk into a company to shoot a training video, I give the respect to the person in charge (whether I like them or not) that their position deserves, after all, they are the one signing my paycheck.
I will go back to the church in chicago where even the production company that used to do A Wedding Story was treated the same as any other videographer. Those were and are today the rules of the church and I have seen it where an officiant stopped a wedding ceremony and reprimanded the photographer, right thing to do? Not in my opinion but he (the photog) knew where he could and couldn't go and chose to break the rules therefore making it harder for the next person.
In 23 years and about 1000 weddings I have never been thrown out nor reprimanded and in fact there are certain churches where I know I have more leeway than other videographers because I shoot in them very often perhaps 6 times a year-everyone knows me, knows I do nothing to disturb the sanctity of the service and am still able to get top quality footage and over the years, because they know those things, they afford me a bit more leeway than others.
All I'm saying is the church is the officiants domain and it's only right that when you go to someones house you show respect for the rules of the house, if they say NO SHOES IN THE HOUSE, then it's NO SHOES IN THE HOUSE. I have no fear of officiants, actually I have no fear of anyone-at my age it doesn't pay and you are right most of them today are quite nice and understand you have a job to do BUT ... They have their rules of the house.
BTW, NEVER did I say that getting the best possible footage for your client showed disrespect towards the officiant all I said was that IMO while you do work for the B&G, you are still in the officiants house. You shoud at least obey the house rules, just in case you ever have to go back there again.
I also agree about the DJ or band leader. At the reception they are your very best friend.

I guess we can agree to disagree about how to handle church rules and officiants. Everyone has their own way of doing things and if it works for you, keep working it. Mine works for me and has for a very long time so I'll keep working it my way.

Don B.

Don, I get what you're saying, I just don't agree with it. When I shoot that wedding (with the officiant I mentioned earlier), I'll give you feedback on how I was treated the second time around. You may be right. He might be standoffish, and completely relegate me to the very back of the church. Who knows? I just have a feeling he won't hold grudges and we'll get along swimmingly. I'll keep you posted on the results.

"So during the ceremony, the photographer and I sat out back of the church, praticing our speeches to the bride as to why her ceremony coverage sucks."

But u found this all out at the rehearsal, why didnt u say wnything then to the client? They would then be obliged to pipe up and say something.
Put it this way, by doing it this way, the onus is on teh client to ensure permission to film.
For me, all tis is on my contract and the first clause of the contract covers permission and locations. I dont do rehearsals anymore coz i dont get paid enough to do them, but if i rock on up to a venue ans some schmuck (religious or not) decides to tell me how to do my job, then i'll throw the contract in their face and tell them to talk to the client.
The CLIENT is my boss. As far as im concerned, they have already researched permission and restrictions and the fact i havent been told otherwise IN WRITING, I can only assume that permission has been granted.
Ive had some stupid restrictions put on me, but to be honest, one guys "discomfort" level of being filmed for 45minutes isnt my concern. My concern is with the couple and the job i am paid to do for them.

Dont get me wrong, i respect those who respect me, but its a 2 way street. If a phtoographer can roam around willy nilly and do whatever he wants while flashing and popping away, i can stand static in the aisle 5 pews down and shoot the vows from there.
Put it this way, if i have a client who misses out on their wedding video becuase of some stupid power tripping church or venue officaint, then IM the one whos affected by it, as not only do i have to expain to the client why their video is crap, but then i have to "put blame' on somoene else who cant give their side of the story, so it sounds like im making excuses.

No.. make sure u have permission in writing and if the rules change after the contract is signed, TELL THE CLIENT.

Your a professional, dont put up with this shite..

Sorry, that was kind-of a joke. The bride (my cousin) was there while we were discussing it during the reception, so she knew. And she tried to get us some leeway, at least for the processional. But it didn't fly.

Michelle: I agree with you 100% that asking for what the rules are is just asking for trouble. That's why I put my shot list together first, and present it to the officiant.

I don't see it as prioritizing the officiant over the clients, but as making sure that every part of the production runs smoothly. If any element of my shot list gets turned down, I'm going to push for less-intrusive, but still decent, shots. I'm only going to accept "sticks at the back of the church" in a dead last resort. However, if that's what I'm restricted to, that's what I'll shoot. Why? Because while I have an obligation to provide the best possible video to my clients, I also have to look at the future. If I go climbing all over, and the officiant/church officials don't like it, and decide to restrict, or ban, videography for future weddings, that does no one any good. It's bad for other videographers, my co-workers, as it were. It's bad for future Brides & Grooms, who may well be my clients.

I don't want to have to explain to a future client that the really cool, super-amazing shot they saw in my demo is the reason that THEIR wedding can only be shot from the balcony.

I agree that, in talking to the officiant, they end up being human like the rest of us. Most of them, if you explain what you're planning on doing, and that you plan on doing it with the utmost respect for the sanctity of the ceremony (Because it IS a religious event) most of them won't have a problem. On the other hand, they are human, and if you disregard their rules, or violate the sanctity of their ceremony, they will make life difficult for you in the future.