A beautiful day with Zach & Alley surrounded by family and friends. Their family property transformed from pasture to a fun and inviting space to celebrate the beginning of their married life together! With the lake, hills, and dance floor covered in market lights, the location transformed hourly into one magical experience after another. So, here is their highlight film… Enjoy!
Someone once said… audio is 80% of a film… Have you ever watched a TV show where the “synch” was off? Even in the beginning days of films… someone played a piano or organ in the theater. On your wedding day, your audio is what allows us to tell your story, and it’s what takes you back in time 20 years from now.
Now for the scoop…
So… what’s the deal with fear of microphones? I get the whole speaking in public thing, and maybe people think that when we put a mic on them it’s going to blast thru the PA system. Well, the good news is that the mic’s we use when recording your wedding ceremony video will not go into the PA and will only be used during your film.
Maybe we should think of microphones as our friends. Have you ever watched a movie, video, or something on your smart phone and couldn’t understand the words? or was scratchy? or maybe even a WINDY day? Often the film work can be beautiful, but if the audio “sucks” (a technical term) the complete experience is not so great. Creatively, I feel that audio is probably a little more important than the filming, especially during a wedding.
Since we are (hopefully) only going to film your wedding day once. We tend be overly cautious about using multiple microphones / recorders as we don’t get a second take or do over. Our typical wedding ceremonies are recorded with several audio systems.
on the officiate
on the groom / partner
sometimes on the bride / partner
thru the sound board if a system is used for additional speaker / readings
in front of live musicians if they are a part of the ceremony
When combining great audio with our multi camera approach, we feel our wedding ceremony films are pretty amazing to watch.
Some of the Audio Gear we bring for a Wedding
What about your reception speeches and toasts? While it seems like should be simple, there are several things that can make the process challenging. We’ll use various options to capture these amazing moments on video and audio…
The primary and most common way for quality audio and clear speech? We’ll have a microphone on a mic stand. Often taped to it. Why? Here are a few of the things we have experienced during receptions…
People… Besides the basic fear of speaking in front of an audience… Most people really have no practical experience holding a microphone, let alone holding a microphone while they are reading from a piece of paper or smart-phone. Sometimes it works well, often the mic ends up too far away to pick up the voice or worse… ends up going up and down like a yo-yo. Other times the mic seems to just fall away and towards everyone else. And the most entertaining… when the speaker talks with their hands, or they start channeling Leonard Bernstein and start waving the microphone like they’re in front of an full orchestra.
Pacing… Some people have a hard time in front of a group and staying still, meaning that they will pace, and or walk around. While not in itself a bad thing, depending on the layout, they may walk out of the light, or make it difficult to get a nice stable, close up shot.
What’s in the background? We want the person speaking to not have to visually compete with their background. Bad stuff? In front of a window so they look like a shadow in your film. In front of a bunch of exposed DJ equipment… or by a door leading into the kitchen with staff moving about…
Lighting… often it’s already getting dark when speeches are occurring, so we like to have the area lighted.
Now we do understand that every venue is unique, and you have a vision of how you want your day to unfold. So, while the above describes the ideal way (and why) for us to capture quality audio, and video, we are happy to work with your vision of your wedding.
In Summary.
While this seems like it could be a lot of things to think about, even overkill, your wedding only happens once. Capturing quality audio is important to your enjoyment of your films for the rest of your lives, and even beyond.
If you would like to know more about how we film and capture your wedding day audio, drop me a note and I’d love to chat about your specific venue and circumstances.
Have an Amazing Wedding! – Ken
Technical Note: During your ceremony, if you or anyone in the Bridal Party feels the need to have a smart phone in a pocket. Be sure to power off, or at least place in airplane mode. Just imagine during the vows, a bridesmaids phone goes off playing “I can’t get no satisfaction” as her ringtone… what else needs to be said.
We all love it when the people close to us share stories from our past, sometimes funny, sometimes embarrassing, and sometimes sweet. These are the stories that remind us of who we are, and where we’ve come from.
Family gatherings are where these stories often get told. But with the full celebratory nature of a Wedding, it seems the best stories are told. When you have a wide range of family and friends in attendance, the stories just seem to flow.
Now, if there was an easy, and unobtrusive way to capture these moments… While growing up and attending weddings, it was always like a bad game waiting for the videographer to sneak up on you like a pouncing lion with the dreaded bright light and microphone in your face. While blinded by the light I would hear… “Would you like to leave a message for the couple? ” Actually yes, but at that moment it was like being a deer, frozen in place, staring at the bright light. Not knowing what to say. So while I would have like to have said something special, funny, or sweet, it was usually more of a grunting hello and “Congratulations!” Maybe this is why so many people have a fear of speaking in public.
Fast Forward…. Now that I film weddings with amazing couples for a living. I understand the desire for the comments from your guests. However… having been traumatized in my youth, I just don’t do the roving camera in your face thing. What I’ve come up with instead is a “video guestbook” option. Simple name, and a pretty simple and non invasive process.
We start with finding a great spot where the background has some interest… gardens, sunset, dance floor, etc. Once we have finalized the location, I set up a camera on a tripod, a light (sometimes 2) a wireless microphone and probably the most important piece, a permanent chalk board with ideas on what to say to the couple.
Now here’s the cool part, once we have everything set up, we leave the area. We may stop by every 5-8 minutes checking on things, but your quests aren’t being watched by some person with a camera that they really don’t know. Again, our goal here is a fun and easy experience.
Normally we film for about 90 minutes during the reception. When your guests are ready, they make their way over and leave you some personal and authentic thoughts and/or messages.
After your wedding, when we deliver your films, there is a seperate wedding “video guestbook” video with your family and friends telling stories, laughing, crying and simply being themselves for you to enjoy for many, many, many years…
It’s funny, when someone asked me about destination wedding videos, I used to think about Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, etc. But living and working in the Napa – Sonoma Valley Wine regions, I find that often means Napa or Sonoma for a lot of couples.
Often, a destination wedding consists of a core group of family and friends, maybe 40 – 60 people. Traveling somewhere for not only the wedding but for a sort of vacation. You have the opportunity to indulge in local attractions, customs, music, and sometimes the the location itself.
As I’ve done several “local” destination weddings, here are a few ideas for the Napa – Sonoma area.
⦁ The obvious, wine tasting. ⦁ Probably not so obvious, beer tasting. or maybe a distillery tour. ⦁ The not, not so obvious a culinary tour. ⦁ Maybe a leisurely Wine Train adventure thru the Napa Valley. ⦁ Possibly, golfing, kayaking and zip-lining. ⦁ And finally, why not go for it with a once in a lifetime event like Hot Air Ballooning over the vineyards at sunrise.
Reflection of a Hot Air Balloon on a pond at sunrise.
It really doesn’t matter what you’re in to, the point is that there are lots of really great options for you and your guests. Having us capture those experiences with your family and friends brings another dimension to your destination wedding video.
Bonus: When we have the opportunity to “hang out” for a few days, something interesting happens. I get to know more about you, your history, and your guests. We have the opportunity to capture some really fun footage, and sometimes come up with something very personal to you.
During a Lake Tahoe destination wedding, I was sitting with the bride looking out over the lake and she asked, “What about a cake reveal?” Having never heard of such a thing, my response was “Tell me more”.
As it happens, the person baking their cake is a highly regarded baker, and she was surprising them with their cake. Since we had the run of the resort, we coordinated with the baker to arrive before rehearsal. I would meet up with them, and we’d set up the cake in a walk in cooler.
So, the groom brought two ties down to the rehearsal to use as blindfolds. Once they were blindfolded, they entered the cooler, arms and hands outstretched. As the blindfold – ties came off, their expressions when seeing their cake were priceless!
While this may not be something that you would do, a casual conversation may lead to something neither one of us thought about until that moment. This is sometimes how a magical moment that is uniquely you unveils itself!
So this… is a cake reveal!
Random Thought:
Remember, a destination wedding doesn’t always mean flying somewhere. Maybe it’s your favorite vacation spot an hour or two away. Maybe it’s where you spent your first vacation together. Once you leave the routine of daily life, you create a magical escape. In the future, when you travel back in time with your videos, it’s like vacationing on your sofa.
So, are you going somewhere special and/or exciting for your wedding? Let’s Chat!
Destination Wine Country, Trentadue Winery Wedding Video —
Amazing how the Fall colors look in the vineyards! Ryan and Nicole surrounded themselves on a perfect day to celebrate their marriage. The lawn with the vineyards and mountains in the background were stunning, and the morning sunrise was a picture perfect start to this magical day. Laughter, tears, hugs, and of course Love were the themes of the day.
Here is their Trentadue Winery Wedding Video… Enjoy!
Why do couples have us create rehearsal dinner films?
So, why is creating a rehearsal dinner video important? Well, let’s start by looking at why rehearsal dinners even happen. Wedding historian Susan Waggoner writes, “Hundreds of years ago, attending a wedding could mean days of travel.” Hopefully all of your guests only have a flight or two, but even a full day of traveling is not exactly blissful. Waggoner continues, “The night before the event would find the tent, hut, castle, or manor house jammed to the rafters with friends, relatives, and emissaries, all of whom had to be fed.” I recently attended a wedding in Hawaii, and the night before we had 17 people crowded into a 5 bedroom beach house rented on Airbnb. While it was cozy, there was a lot of stretching out the next day.
Today, many couples do have a rehearsal dinner after the ceremony rehearsal. Dinners are typically attended by the wedding party, their dates and their immediate families. Also, for some couples planning a destination wedding, it also doubles as a welcome dinner. While the themes can range from a backyard catered BBQ to a Michelen Star restaurant formal dinner, at some point family and friends (parents, uncles, aunts, siblings, grandparents, and friends) will probably get up and share a story or just congratulate the couple. Now, many of these people will not be speaking during the reception, so this is their opportunity to share with you their congratulatory wishes.
With this more intimate setting, the stories often get a little more “authentic”. As these stories are being told, there may be someone with a smartphone trying to record, but the results are sometimes not all that great. Also, they may be hard to actually get from that person.
So, what happens when we capture your rehearsal dinner?
First the selfish part (I’m not kidding here). When filming a rehearsal dinner video, I get the opportunity to meet the important people are in your lives. This provides me with a little foreknowledge for your actual wedding day. So when I see something out of the corner of my eye, I have a better chance of capturing something magical for you.
Second, I’ll be there with 2-3 cameras set up to capture these amazing words when they happen. Not only with cameras, but professional off camera audio options.
Third, We even can bring our own professional PA with wireless mics to use. Plus, for the before and after, you can set up a playlist for background music.
So what’s the takeaway? Besides not actually filming your wedding, many couples regret not filming a rehearsal dinner. They really wish they had these special moments on film.
Trend Alert: Since many of the weddings I film are at wineries or locations where there is often a curfew. I’ve noticed a growing trend to move the traditional speeches and toasts from the reception to the rehearsal dinner. The only speech or comments on the wedding day, are usually after the couples entrance, thanking everyone for coming.
