So our most popular package to date so far has been the silver, which is myself for up to 8 hours from guests arriving through till after the first dance. This does contain audio as well from the ceremony and speeches. The couple then receive a 20 minute highlights and 1 minute highlights of their day.
Our day starts bright and earlier no matter what time the ceremony starts. First of all we make sure everything is charged up, packed and ready to go. Most of this would of been done the night before but like to double check in the morning. All the SD cards would of been formatted and ready to use so that during the day when I am changing them over I don't have to format them. Don't want to make the mistake of formatting the wrong card.
Once we arrive at the venue, we like to say hello to the bride, if she is there and meet the wedding coordinator if there is one to find out where everything is (specially if it's a venue we haven't been to before). Once that's all sorted I will then get on with the exterior shots of the venue as long as its not raining too hard. We do like to get the high and wide "drone-like" shots of the venue to really help set the scene. We will then get the static shots as well before we move inside.
This is where we want to get the general views (GVs) of the ceremony room and the reception if its set up, this is where venues that have a room for each really helps as we can get all the detailed shots before anyone arrives. Getting the shots of the flowers, decorations, cake (if its out and ready) and even people dressing the room. I do like to always try and get the walking down the aisle shot to show that the bride experiences. At this point as well we would of met the photographer and had a chat with them what the plan is for the day and where they want to stand during the ceremony. Its always good to chat with the photographer to try and make sure we use the couples time as best we can. The last thing we want to do is to drag them away from all their guest to spend time with 2 complete strangers.
I try and get all the GVs done before any of the guest arrive that way I don't have anyone walking through the shot and I can use it anytime during the edit. Hopefully by this time the groom has arrived and I just stop to say hello, see how he is doing and then just remind them about grabbing them 5 minutes before the ceremony starts to put the microphone on. With the guest now starting to arrive, I try and get the groom meeting and greeting people and also people entering the venue as well. So it starts to pick up a little now with more people arriving its good to try and get people chatting and laughing, looking at the decorations, filling in the guest book things like that to help build up the story. This is what we have to think about during the whole day, how is this going to fit in the edit? What do I need to get from here to here. I am aways look for transition shots that take us from one place to another. We ask the couple when we meet before the wedding if there is anyone they want to make sure we capture like grandparents, children, parents things like that, so this is our first chance to find them and also get them arriving.
While everyone is arriving and settling down we sometimes get asked to do film the father of the bride first look, which is always a nice touch. This is where I will have a 2 camera set up with my main camera getting the close up of the father and then a GoPro getting a wide shot to show them both as he sees her in her dress for the first time. During moments like this I use this set up as with the whole day there is no retakes so I make sure that I got all angles covered in one go.
We continue the day next week, stay tuned.
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