Videotaping Your Ceremony

There are MANY approaches to shooting a wedding ceremony, and of course it all comes down to personal preference. Here's how we tackle it:



1) Shoot with 2 cameras: to make sure we get a good angle of both the bride and groom, plus lots of close-ups of the ring exchange, etc. Use only 3CCD cameras (better for low-light situations)

2) Full edit without distracting cheesy effects: for seamless, timeless storytelling. Audio levels should be even (you shouldn't blow your ears out when the audience applauds, you shouldn't struggle to hear the vows). Colour balance (in-camera and/or in the editing process) for a nice, warm "film" feel.

3) Use little/no external lighting: it's not a film set, it's a wedding, right? We don't want the "deer caught in headlights" look from our bride/groom.

4) Use a wireless lavaliere microphone: a tiny mic concealed on the groom, picks up all the vows, the officiant, and any funny comments you might want to treasure.

5) Use a shotgun mic on the camera for ambient (room) sound: and mix this with the lav mic audio during the editing process.

6) Be unobtrusive: no cranes or distracting equipment and the camera (wo)men should dress neatly and discretely. You should barely know we're there!

7) Shoot, edt and output digitally to maintain picture quality. Yes, film is known to have a "warmer feel" but don't knock video before you've tried it. The credentials and talent of the shooter is more important than the format: cameras don't shoot people, people shoot people.