In Spanish they have a phrase: “En casa del herrero, cuchillo de palo” which roughly translates as: “In the blacksmith’s house the knives are made of wood.” Yes, I know, it still makes no sense! But the idea is that whatever your profession, you never do it for yourself. Hence we, husband and wife team with the expertise to make beautiful wedding videos, do not actually have our own wedding film, or indeed any professional photos of our wedding! We did get a friend to video it, but guess what? It’s still waiting to be edited! I’ve chosen to illustrate this post with some personal pics, which I hasten to add are NOT the work of Viva la Wedding. But just in case anyone out there is umming and ahhing about whether to have a video, here are ten good reasons why you should:
1. Wedding videos have moved on
We’ve all seen some cheesy wedding videos, all soft focus ,with terrible merge effects from one shot to another, and with the couple’s first kiss framed in some hideous heart-shaped lozenge. You may have sat through a three-hour extravaganza, having to smile and say “How lovely!” whilst simultaneously pinching yourself so as not to fall asleep. But guess what? Modern wedding films are a world away from all that.
A good wedding film should have your personality running through it like the letters in seaside rock. You want to see your humour, your warmth, your values; everything that makes you love each other. It should tell your unique story in a style that suits your taste, and most of all it should be fun to watch, even if it does make you shed the odd tear!
2. Your children will thank you for it!
Ok, they probably won’t actually thank you. They may even laugh at your hairstyle or choice of fashion, but they will love watching you! There’s something mesmerising about photos of our parents when they were young. I love looking at my mum and dad’s wedding album, and I can only imagine how much cooler it would be to be able to see them walking and talking in glorious technicolour! My mum used to have a scouse accent, my dad used to have hair, three grandparents and a great-grandma were there at the wedding; now only one grandma is still alive. We all change over the years and this kind of precious footage is a reminder of our roots.
3. You will hardly notice we are there!
You might be feeling camera shy. You might be worried about having a lens “in your face” or the cameramen obstructing your guests’ view. But the DSLR cameras used today are lightweight and not at all bulky, which makes cameramen less conspicuous. We can blend in with the guests and so capture more natural footage, as people are less conscious of being filmed. We can also use long lenses to get close-up shots from further away, so in general, technology allows us to be as unobtrusive as possible. Our cameramen, and most videographers we’ve met, are far from being pushy primadonna types who boss you about when you just want to enjoy your day. We are there to film the action, not be the action and we know our place!
4. You are going to look like a film star…
…so why not have a film of it? Seriously, you are investing a whole lot of time and money in looking as fabulous as possible and it would be a shame not to have a living, breathing record. A video is great for capturing every detail of your gorgeousness: the groomsmen walking towards camera looking handsome and trying to hide their nerves (speeches: aaargh!) the bride’s dress swishing as she turns, that cute way you tip your head back when you laugh. I could go on. You might not realise it yet but you are SUCH a babe! And why shouldn’t you enjoy it? (That goes for grooms too by the way!)
5. Weddings cost a fortune.
So why would you shell out even more on a video? But then again, why would you miss having a record of all those gorgeous little details that you spent so long planning and that you worked so hard to pay for? A panning shot can take you right there, as if you are standing, surveying the room just before the guests come in for the wedding breakfast, or letting your gaze flow from the beautiful covered buttons of your dress to the lace of your train. A lot of couples have told us they consider the money they spent on the video to be the best investment of the whole wedding!
6. Video captures raw emotion.
Maybe the groom has a wobble in his voice when he talks about the bride in his speech. Maybe the bride sheds a tear when she receives a message from him while she’s getting ready. Maybe dad’s proud smile as he walks his daughter down the aisle speaks volumes. Getting married is a big step and every wedding has emotional moments which live on in your memory. How much better, though to be able to watch them again…and again.
7. Things will happen…
…that you don’t expect, that make you laugh, that weren’t meant to be but that somehow make your day, and a video will capture them all. From a pageboy saying something cute to your auntie throwing flamboyant shapes on the dance-floor after a few too many glasses of bubbly. Maybe someone has planned a surprise for you and your face is a picture when you see it. There are so many moments that are funny or special, and those moments often say more about you than the parts of the day that are carefully planned. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to relive them?
8. Performances deserve to be captured
Maybe you’ve booked a wedding band or a string quartet. Maybe you’ve planned a choreographed first dance. Maybe you’re lucky enough to have friends who are going to perform a song or a dance for you. All this is worth capturing. Even speeches and readings are a performance of sorts. Those words are carefully-chosen, even agonized-over and it’s a pity to let them be forgotten afterwards.
9. Sometimes people can’t make it…
…to your wedding but they want to see you tie the knot. We have done rush edits for grandmothers in hospital, and we know a lot of couples who have sent copies of their video to loved ones abroad. It means a lot to these friends and relatives to share those important moments with you and a video is the most immediate way of letting them do that.
10. A home video is not the same
Even if it is nicely filmed and avoids the worst sins of wobbly camerawork, overuse of zoom, and deterioration of quality as the cameraman gets steadily inebriated, a home video is never going to be as good. We always film with at least two cameras so there are different viewpoints that we can edit together. And we edit, skilfully, so that you don’t have to sit through hours of footage, fast-forwarding till you get to the good bits. A professional video shows you in your best light and encapsulates all the most important moments of your day. More than that, it’s a highly personalized memento that you will still want to watch in five, ten, even fifty years’time. Yes, we are biased, but we think it’s a worthwhile investment!
You can find Viva La Wedding on The Love Lust List in North West Videographers.
