The big day is here and you have a million things on your mind. To help put one of those things to rest, we’d like to offer some tips and suggestions to consider ahead of time when setting the venue for your wedding ceremony and celebration.
You have made a significant financial and personal investment when hiring our team to capture every amazing moment of this day. To that end, our goal is to produce a cinematic work of art that you will enjoy for eternity. What does cinematic technically, mean? It’s described as the use of images captured on film as the primary expression of dialogue, script, and scene depiction all using optimal light, focus, angle and color. Or to simplify, taking some easy preparation steps to make sure we’ve got everyone’s best look in the most ideal setting.
Here are a few pointers to consider. Of course you’ll want to delegate these out to the wedding planner or other family members who are in charge of the day’s details so you won't have to be thinking of anything other than walking down the aisle to marry your soulmate!
1. SCHEDULE
This is the big one. The more detailed the schedule of day the more we are able to prepare for each event.
· It is prudent to actually insert short periods of relaxation and extra cushion time in the schedule. If things begin to run behind, these cushions not only help you, but they also allow us to work on more creative and planned shots.
· For the first dance, the cake cutting, the speeches, etc., our team needs to change lenses and audio settings. Thus a 5 minutes lead-time before each event will help us be ready and in place for the action.
2. SETTING
· If possible, set it up so the bride can get prepared in a room with loads of natural light.
· If possible, have the hair and make-up artist setup within a few feet of a large window.
· Assign a person to make sure that the brides suite is maintained and kept neat. Use a closet or spare room to place any times not wanted in the final shots.
· If there is an option to take the group shots in true lighting this keeps skin tones looking natural and makes the colors in the end product look all the more vibrant.
3. LOCATION
If the ceremony is in a church or other religious venue, we request to be briefed about the rules regarding movement during the ceremony. We understand that some locations have strict rules against moving during the ceremonies and want to be mindful of that. Our team is very respectful to religious traditions and will only do what is necessary to cinematically capture the event but will never be anywhere or do anything to take away from the formal moments.
4. PERSONAL TIME
Set aside 10-15 minutes during in the wedding agenda to allow us to get specialty footage of the couple together by themselves.
· If you are comfortable with a ‘first look’ we highly recommend this, as it will give us footage of the couple at their most intimate moment before the ceremony begins.
· Another idea to capture the intimate bond of a couple is to have them write their own vows or a personal letter to each other, allowing us to capture the reading on film.
· Or a personalized surprise gift exchange is another sweet and personal moment just between the betrothed.
5. SPEECHES
Although each image, still shot and action sequence we catch will be magnificent, the backbone of your film will be the speeches. These are stories about you coming from people who love you dearly. They will be telling the story of how two became one. It is ok to ask you presenters to have well thought-out and meaningful readings ready for the main event.
In the end we are going to capture a cinematic tale of your day and it will be fantastic. After we have done all the necessary prep work, the best you can do to sit back, relax and rest easy knowing we’re getting all the best footage of your big day!
