After discussion with a group wedding professionals about some concerns brides are expressing: How to trust wedding reviews? Which ones are legitimate? And the bottom line: Who to trust among so many wedding professionals out there? This got me thinking…. and thinking… and thinking so more.
Reviews are a catch 22. Reviews are a catch 22 for any wedding professional. They make us look good and bad, but we need them. No reviews: not good – signals lack of experience – “they’re probably just starting” Bad review: no trust – signals bad reputation – “run Forrest, run.” Somewhat good reviews: some trust, some doubt – not enough trust- “Uhm, not sure. Next!” Too many good reviews: too good to be true – fishy – “Really how can everyone just love them. They must be posting those reviews to look good.” So what’s next for wedding professionals and brides. As a professional, how can I prove that my reviews are legit? And for brides, how can you trust they are legit?
Too many options…
First of all, I must admit that it must be daunting for any bride to choose a wedding vendor out of hundreds that are out there. On the other hand, because there are so many options, it means there is a vendor with a style, personality, experience and price range that is right for every bride.
But
Wedding music sets the tone to your big day, that’s obvious. But there are different wedding songs for different moods. You have the first dance, the mother/son dance, and the father/daughter dance. There are so many opportunities to put your mark on the wedding by requesting the DJ or band to play the songs that you like. Here are my choices for the top 5 weddings songs for the first dance. The first dance is a big part of the wedding, the first time that the couple dances together as a married couple. The song should be meaningful, significant to both individuals, and of course agreed upon. Here are my top suggestions for the best first dance songs at a wedding.
5. Coldplay- well anything Coldplay, but specifically “Fix You” which was the song choice for the recent Tony Romo wedding this year. The couple chose this beautiful song to represent their wedding video. The song says “lights will guide you home,” which is very touching and significant. It’s a slow song, and Chris Martin’s voice is beautiful on it. It can make a great first wedding dance song.
4. Mazzy Star- Fade Into You. This is such a beautiful song with a slow pace appropriate for the slow dance. Mazzy Star has a haunting and chilling voice which makes it a timeless song. The words are very couple oriented and represents leaning on and depending on your new spouse.
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers-
Planning and organizing your dream wedding can be a difficult task especially when budget is a major concern. Especially if you are staying in the big city, you will realize how expensive wedding can be. If you have unique wedding ideas, creative and have done a good research, there are many ways in reducing your wedding budget and still achieve wedding of your dream. I would like to share my ideas and tips on wedding planning on a budget that I have personally experienced and still achieve wedding of my dream.
The most obvious way in reducing the cost is by reducing the numbers of guests attending your wedding. Screen through the wedding invitation list again and just invites those close and important relatives and friends. Appropriate decision and selection in your invitation guest will ensure you really scrutinize the list and still maintain wedding invitation etiquette.
Select a day which is non-peak or not in holiday season to get the best price. Catering, wedding facilities and other wedding related services usually will be in high demand on Saturday, Sunday and holiday seasons and thus it will be more expensive. If Saturday or Sunday is unavoidable, try to avoid Saturday or Sunday during holiday season. You still be able to find a good deal on Saturday or Sunday in non-holiday season.
Plan and make an advance booking at least a year of all your
The difference between something that is well lit and something that isn’t can be the difference between a video that’s great and one that’s totally pants. When I shoot wedding videos in LA, I often have to accept whats given to me in the environment, but this does not mean I should accept bad results.
Lighting A Scene
Guerrilla videographers are very adept at low budget lighting. So how do we light a scene? My advice, keep it simple. DV needs as much light as any other video format if you are lighting an image correctly. The rule of thumb is that you start out with a 1 stop, higher wattage key light source, than you think you need, so that by time it is diffused, you still have enough light to shoot at a decent f-stop with. Every time you add a layer of heavy diffusion to a light, you will lose about a stop of exposure. So you will need to have enough light to begin with before you can diffuse it. The advantage of this light is that the bulbs throw a soft, gentle light .
Reflectors
A reflector is a piece of silvery, gold or white fabric stretched over a frame. Lastolite make some really cool ones that explode open into massive circles. They come in two main varieties : silver/white and gold/white (the gold is good for warming up flesh tones). They are always a good investment, but if you can’t afford them there’s a cheaper solution
These days most brides and grooms are not satisfied with only having photographs of their special day. They also want to have a video that they can watch whenever they want to revisit the special moments of that day. Photographs are not always able to capture those special moments and feelings the way that videos can. People with limited budgets often opt to have home videos of their weddings made. They will have a friend or family member to videotape the day using a personal camcorder. Unfortunately, with these the images and sound quality can often be poor. With professional wedding videography the images and audio are of better quality. With the right equipment, editing and camera person, these can look like commercially produced videos.
There is now special editing software that can be used to create different styles out of the images and audio. And, because the equipment is light and mobile the wedding videographer does not have to interfere in the day’s events. Wedding videography is now a special field that many people are choosing as a vocation. These are people who tend to be artistic. They do not only produce videos of the special day, but also other events such as birthdays, engagement parties, Bar and Bat Mitzvah’s, and other special occasions in people’s lives. Some of these wedding videographers even belong to special associations reserved specially for
Over the past two decades wedding videography has improved in leaps and bounds. This has been due to the vast improvements in technology and the skills of those involved in the field. When looking for a wedding videographer one can do a search online. Many professional wedding videography experts have listed themselves on special directories. Others have also created their own special websites where prospective clients can find out everything that they need to know about the professional and his or her work. However, just because a videographer has not created their own site does not mean that they are not able to produce good work. When looking for a professional wedding videographer it is ideal to shop around and consider several. This is because some wedding videographers specialise in a particular style of video and so cannot provide the types that a bride and groom may want.
Important things to consider when looking for hiring a professional wedding videography camera person:
- One does not want to hire someone who is doing their first wedding, unless they can provide excellent references. But, for those with a limited budget this is a feasible route to go, because newer videographers are more prepared to negotiate their fees down. Some may require the work in order to build up their portfolio and may be prepared to do the work for a minimal fee or even for
In order for videographers to be truly successful, they need multiple streams of video business income.
In other words, videographers need multiple sources of revenue to thrive in the great times and to survive in the down times.
What are the main sources of video business income?
Source #1 – The End Client
Whether you are a wedding and event videographer or a corporate video producer, your main source of revenue is the end client. The end client is the person that hires you to produce a video directly for them. Money flows out of their bank account and directly into yours. In my opinion, End Clients should make up about 50% of the revenues you generate for your video production business.
Source #2 – Creative Agencies
Although it can sometimes be a challenge to work with other creative agencies, try to stay on good terms with a handful of them because they can send you a steady stream of work.
In this scenario, the End Client hires the agency who then in turn, hires you to provide video services for a larger project. The money flows from the End Client’s pocket to the Creative Agency’s pocket and eventually, to your pocket.
Agency projects usually work to stretch your creative abilities and they pay a decent rate for your video production services.
In the wedding video arena, an agency might be a
During a Theme Wedding, a “theme” is chosen to enhance the experience of the overall wedding reception and is usually an extension of the couple themselves.
A really interesting take on a theme wedding is the Gothic side of things and there is a lot one can do with it. Here are some wedding songs to enhance to deathly occasion:
1. Only You Can Save Me, The 69 Eyes – This group has an odd way of expressing the feeling of love, but it is done wonderfully in this little number. You can use this song as a first dance or add it to your wedding video.
2. Immortal Love, Vampires Everywhere! – Vampires Everywhere! is a relatively new group out there in the Gothic world. “Immortal Love” should be pretty straightforward; the idea of being with your one true love forever and then some sounds pretty romantic? What’s your take on this song?
3. The Ballad, Snog – The lead singer has a creepy, throaty voice which makes this song stand apart from others out there in this musical genre. “The Ballad” has a Wild West undertone and makes for a perfect couple slow-dance ballad.
4. Mummer’s Dance, Loreena McKennitt – For those of you out there that are into Wicca or other practices, this song caters to you. Play this song right before or after a wedding blessing; it’ is quite contemplative and calming.
5. Sorrow, Tears & Blood, Fela Kuti – Fela Kuti’s music
There are many video editing tools that have made the editing that much better, resulting in better quality images and sound. The industry of wedding videography has greatly improved in the past two decades. Now it is a full-fledged field with its own associations. These editing systems allow the videographer to have a lot of creativity when editing videos. This is why many brides and grooms are paying wedding videographers to capture their special day on camera. Previously these special moments were captured on VHS cassette. But now they are saved on to DVD’s which can be viewed on TV through DVD players or computers and laptops.
This has allowed weddings, and other special occasions, to be digitally recorded. This means that the images and sounds are of better quality. The digital cameras are also preferable, because they are light and mobile, so they do not require lots of cables and wires. This has made it much easier for the wedding videographers to record the special day without interfering in the moments. Digital cameras are also better, because they do not require any special external lighting as they record well even in dim lights. The good quality equipment and the editing software enables wedding videos to look like commercially made productions. But, this is only possible with a skilled wedding videographer.
These days the technology has improved to
Despite lots of proclamations about the demise of marriage and sensational headlines stating that the institution of marriage is dead or at the very least is long past its sell by date, this year another 275,000 (ish) couples in the UK will say “I do”.
In making this commitment to marry each couple will, on average, spend around £20,000 on their wedding, which is a staggering £5.5 billion. In the current economic climate weddings are playing their part in keeping various sections of the economy buoyant.
Most of the average wedding spend goes on the venue, the food, the entertainment and the honeymoon but significant amounts are also spent on the wedding dress, the bridesmaid dresses and the photographer.
Whilst the art of wedding photography has changed little over the years the camera equipment used and the way in which the photographs are presented to the bride and groom has undergone a bit of a revolution. Today most wedding photographers will use top-end digital SLR cameras that allow them to see what they are shooting as they go through the day. These new digital cameras also enable the photographers to shoot significantly more images than would have previously been viable with traditional film based cameras.
The finished wedding portfolios are often played back to the bride and groom on a screen to allow them to select the images they want