All of our packages come with a pre-wedding consultation where we can go over the list below and show you examples where necessary. Ideally, pre-wedding consultations should be done in person to make sure everybody is on the same page. If meeting at our studio is not possible, a phone consultation is much more effective than handling everything by email.
General Info:
1. Contact info: We will need addresses, phone numbers for all addresses, and any other contact information needed to get in touch with you. It’s always best that we have contact information for the couple as well so that we can get in touch directly in case of weather changes, etc.
2. Itinerary: We will need a detailed point form itinerary of all events happening on your wedding day. This includes all the events at the reception: time of speeches, time of bouquet toss, etc. Please merge this section with the contact info section so that we know where all your events are located. Please also include the location and time when we are to first arrive in the morning, and keep in mind the number of hours that your contract includes. Please note that we require one hour of setup before the ceremony for video and 20 minutes of setup for photo. A ceremony program will be helpful as well.
3. Special requests: If something out of the ordinary is happening at your wedding and you would like to make sure that it gets covered, please let us know. For example, if you are wearing your great grandmother’s necklace and would like a shot of it, please tell us. More than likely, we will notice it anyway, but the better prepared we are, the better the video will be.
Note: “bride coming down the aisle” is not out of the ordinary and will automatically be captured. Please keep your special request list down to 10 or fewer items.
4. Dinner at the reception: Will dinner be provided for us or should we provide our own? Please note that coverage will be interrupted if we need to provide our own. If you are providing us with dinner, it is always best if we eat during your cocktail hour. Not only will we be refreshed for the start of your reception, but it will also ensure that we actually get to eat. Most couples have speeches throughout dinner, which means that we are on our feet covering the speakers.
5. Size of your bridal party: Please let us know how many of you there will be, how many groomsmen, bridesmaids, and flower/ring children. Also, please specify whether they will all be standing during the ceremony or sitting.
Video:
1. Audio at the ceremony: We will need to know about instruments, singers, and any readings that will be at your ceremony to make sure the audio is properly captured. Please make sure to note what kind of audio there will be (reading, singer, organ etc) as well as the location of the audio (ex. reading at the podium, organ in the balcony). Please also let us know whether your ceremony music will be played by a person or a stereo. Please speak with your officiant before the wedding day about wearing a microphone. Your officiant may tell you that they will already be wearing mic, however this will not provide good audio for your video, and our microphone will not interfere with any in-house mics.
2. Speeches/Lighting: Will your speeches all be at a podium? Is the microphone for the speeches provided by the reception hall or your DJ, and will it be wireless or corded?
If we feel that it can improve the quality of the video, how do you feel about lighting for the speeches? We always bring a studio light with a diffusing cover that makes appearances much more flattering without being uncomfortable to the eye. We may recommend that we use it if the reception is particularly dark or has bad/unflattering lighting. By default, we will use our discretion during the reception as to when the lighting will be used unless you have any concerns/requests.
3. Music selections: Please provide us with several song selections for each part of your video. You may want to leave some of the decision up to us. Highlights montages are best done to instrumental and dramatic music, which is often hard to come by. If you would like to have input, please provide at least 3 songs per section (3 songs for the preparations, 3 for the dancing footage, etc) or a master song list of at least 20 songs. Often couples will provide a list of 5-7 songs they really like and ask us to use their music if it fits and otherwise use our own discretion.
4. Video style: You have probably seen several of our highlights montages. Some of them are slow and romantic, while others are a bit more upbeat. Please let us know if there is a certain pace you prefer and also feel free to note down any specific highlights clip you particularly enjoyed. If you want to make sure that other portions of the video are a certain style, such as the preparations being fast and fun, or the credits being slower, please note that here.
5. Ceremony style: You have the option to have your ceremony shown in two styles: documentary and cinematic. In the documentary style, we keep about 90% of the ceremony as-is so you can watch it years later and see it as it really was. Most of our couples are going for the cinematic style, where the ceremony is cut down to the most important parts – the vows, rings, etc. and the editing is much more dramatic. A cinematic ceremony will be about 30-40% of its original length which makes it much more artistic, and entertaining and is often viewed many times more than a documentary style ceremony. The cinematic ceremony also fits better with the rest of your video as it has a faster pace and is more powerful. Please let us know which you would prefer.
Taking the extra time to make sure that all of these questions are answered fully is probably the single biggest thing you can do to improve the quality of your video.
