How to: Have your wedding successfully video filmed.

by Steve Hogg
Cosmic Egg Productions

Wedding videos are becoming more and more popular. Capturing the magic of your big day will give you and your friends and family the opportunity to look back at a special moment in your lives.

I am a Southampton based photographer and videographer and this is my guide to help you get the best out of your wedding video.

If you are wishing to get your wedding filmed I firstly would recommend hiring a professional videographer. It isn’t cheap as there is a lot of work in producing your wedding video including a full day of filming and around two days of editing to produce the final video or videos. It is a fair investment, so knowing how to approach it as a couple so that everything runs smoothly is a very good idea!

Finding the right person for you is a key element. After all you will be inviting this person to your wedding. Meeting with your videographer will let you get a sense of how professional someone is in their approach and if it is someone who is friendly, approachable and calm under pressure. Weddings can have stressful moments as I am sure you realise. Best to meet in person or at the very least over a zoom chat in these Covid times. Another tip is once you have found your ideal person let them know who your photographer is. They will have to work in the same physical spaces so giving them a chance to chat about the location and protocols of working around each other is especially important.

Having a contract with your videographer protects you and it protects your videographer as well. If you have to cancel through ill health (or Covid restrictions) or if the videographer needs to cancel, the contract will cover that eventuality. A professional videographer won’t charge you if no filming takes place. I also refund the deposit. It’s only fair and the right thing to do. Read the contract thoroughly and chat it through with your videographer. Both parties should sign it too. Keep your copy in a safe place.

My contract is combined with the booking form and is in plain English. Please download it and have a read through.

On the big day…

Bridal prep is one of the most exciting parts of the day with several key moments. Getting hair and make up done, bridesmaids, flower girls and mum all getting ready and that all important first look once you are ready and in your dress. It is such a beautiful, memorable and emotional moment, that is definitely worth capturing on video.

To make all that run smoothly your videographer will need to know the timings of that most important first part of the day. The videographer doesn’t need to be their too early but more as people are almost ready so timing is everything. You might be getting ready at home or in the venue. Work out the details with your videographer. Here is an example of capturing those great moments.

Groom prep. The groom, best man and groomsmen will be getting ready too of course! The videographer can’t be in two places at once so will need a second person to film so be prepared to pay a bit extra to have the groom prep filmed as well. Lovely to capture though:

At the ceremony your videographer will need to be in a position to capture you both as you take your vows. A must-do is to get permission from the vicar or venue about any restrictions around filming. Working out together a suitable position for the videographer (and your photographer) is key so that everyone is comfortable and the filming doesn’t feel intrusive. Back a little way and off to the side but with a good view is best. The videographer will ask you the groom to wear a little lapel microphone. The microphone is tiny and the recorder gadget goes in an inside pocket. It will pick up you both. The videographer will also have a microphone on the camera to pick up the vicar or celebrant. The timings are essential details for your videographer.

The wedding breakfast needs consideration too. The closer the camera can be to the top table to capture the speeches the better. For large weddings having the camera away at the back is going to be problematic. Talk through the room layout and best position with your videographer. Give a little time before the speeches to get the speakers hooked up to a microphone.

The reception is a special time when everyone comes together as your evening guests arrive. Your videographer will want to capture the cutting of the cake and the first dances. Again just clarifying times of when the cake cutting is and when the band or DJ is due to start.

The final video. Look to have a highlights video created. Usually around 5 to 10 minutes, it is a great little highlight of the whole day that friends and family can watch and enjoy without having to watch the whole thing! An unlisted link to the video on YouTube means that you will be able to share the video via social media and email. Of course you and your close family will wish to watch the longer version so that should include the ceremony and the speeches in full. Your videographer will give you the video in HD format on a memory stick. Transfer the file to your computer and keep the memory stick in a safe place for future look backs. Here is an example highlights video:

Not so long ago my wife and I were visiting my wife’s mum at home in Scotland. We watched a wedding video on VHS that her mum had came across and it was brilliant to look back at that time and see how young everyone was! That sums up wedding videos for me. Of course in those days it was an uncle with a camcorder. Things have moved on since then for sure.

I hope you found this little guide helpful. My wedding videos enquiry page is here and it has prices and packages that will hopefully suit you and your budget. Always happy to chat with no obligation to you.

Whatever you decide to do, have a fabulous day.

Steve