What To Expect From A Wedding Videographer

A common question I am asked by couples in early discussions is what the process looks like on the wedding day when I show up to film a wedding. To be honest we try to be as discrete as possible for a majority of the day because we want our couples to live in the moment during their wedding day. What is so neat about filming weddings to me is that I am with the couple from the very beginning, all the way to when they are sent off. I get to be part of the day that guests don’t get to see. I also have the responsibility and privilege to guide the couple and keep them as calm and relaxed as possible as the day goes on. With that said, here are some things to expect from a videographer on the wedding day!

#1 Arrival To The Location

When couples hire me to create a highlight film, I always make it a priority to be with the couple for the entire day. Yup, you heard me right, from sun up to sun down I am there, along with a second videographer if I am able to find one available. As a videographer, we are wanting to ensure we capture every aspect of your wedding day as it happens. One thing that people don’t think about is we only get one shot to capture the wedding day. Once a specific point in time has passed on the wedding day, it is not something we can go back to redo if we didn’t get the shots we wanted or hoped for.

#2 Bridal & Groom Prep

I always like to arrive once the bride has some, or even all of the makeup applied. It doesn’t make sense for me to film a bride getting ready with no makeup because we want to capture our couples looking their best! There are 2 things I focus on during preparations, filming moments with the bride and groom as they are all getting ready, and getting the audio recorders attached to the bride’s dress and groom’s coat. For those who are curious about these audio recorders, they are compact audio recorders that are concealed underneath the dress for the bride, and in a coat pocket for the groom. The officiant will also be mic’d up as well. For the bride, The audio recorder itself is concealed using a thigh strap. The actual microphone is attached by a long wire that goes up inside the dress and is placed near the chest area. Since I am a male videographer, I either have my lovely girlfriend mic up the bride or show one of the bridesmaid’s how to setup and work the recorder for me. The groom’s audio recorder is easy to conceal in his coat pocket and doesn’t take but a minute to have completely setup and ready to go. I will have an affiliate link here to those interested in purchasing this recorder for themselves!

DR-10L Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/3L40EqM

Audio recorders used during the wedding ceremony. Note this image only shows the recorder.

#3 Filler Shots

For my highlight films, I’m always relying on filler shots. In film these are known as B-roll shots which can be anything ranging from shots of the venue, aerial shots of the church, as well as guests dancing during the reception. Filler shots are a key component to a wedding film for me because it helps to tell the story of the wedding day. Throughout the day when there are gaps in the schedule, I will try to capture filler shots. When I have a second videographer with me, their priority when we arrive at the location is to start filming filler shots as well as assisting in filming various angles of bridal prep, first looks and so on.

#4 First Look

Not every couple will do first looks before the ceremony, but a majority of the weddings I’ve filmed make this part of the wedding day. Prior to the wedding day I ask the bride and groom to write letters to each other that they can read out loud either to each other or in private for us to capture their reaction. This is a very sentimental and emotional moment for the couple, so the photographer and I are making sure we stay on top of what’s going on so that the bride and groom don’t accidently peek too early. From there as the first look unfolds, we step back and allow the couple to embrace and have a moment to themselves. If you’ve seen some of my highlight films, I’m able to get some nice closeup shots of the couple during the first look because my lenses allow me to zoom in on the action without getting in the way.

#5 The Ceremony

Prior to the ceremony, we will begin to setup our multi camera setup. Either myself or my second videographer will take the lead on preparing all the equipment ahead of time so one of us can stay with the couple to capture any additional shots they may want. Remember those audio recorders from earlier? roughly 5-10 minutes before the ceremony, we will double check the recorders on the bride, groom and officiant to ensure they are working properly before the ceremony begins. Once the ceremony has begun, our key focus is making sure our cameras are recording and are in focus throughout the entire ceremony. Depending on the church or venue, we may be restricted to the very back, but don’t worry, we are able to get close detailed shots of everything with some of our bigger lenses.

One of the wide angled views from our most recent wedding ceremony we captured.

#6 Reception & Sendoff

Now that the bride and groom are married, the celebration begins! Every reception is different in the sense of how we setup. Some receptions we may setup to capture speeches from family and friends, other receptions we are only having to film everything handheld. What’s important is that we stay prepared to capture your procession into the reception, first dances, cake cutting as well as any additional moments that you may include into your reception. In between all these moments in the reception we will be focused on collecting additional filler shots as well as capture your guests interacting and having fun! Depending on how long your reception will last, we will continue to film what we can without running out of battery or memory space on our cameras. We have to make sure we capture your sendoff! At the very end of the reception as you get ready to walk out to you getaway car, we will help guide the couple on what we want them to do because we want to have a moment for both the photographer and myself to capture the sendoff. We know how excited and eager couples will get to get on the road to their honeymoon, so we won’t spend a ton of time on capturing the sendoff.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully this month’s blog post has given you a better insight of what our role is like throughout the wedding day. A couple’s wedding day is a very special and exciting day, but it does go by very quickly and emotions are constantly shifting around between the bride and groom throughout the day. That is why I find it important to always try to make my couples feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible without getting in the way of the very important moments. I find that my job filming weddings is very rewarding. Yes it is a long day of work, but the footage I get to capture from it all is priceless. I am essentially given the honor to take all the clips of the wedding day and compose it into something so beautiful and memorable for the couple to enjoy for the rest of their lives. Marriage is such a gift, and I am truly honored to be able to be part of the couple’s big day.