What’s included in the Ceremony Package?
The Ceremony Package is pretty straight-forward. It is a video of your ceremony. So, what happens is this: I arrive about 45-60 minutes prior to the start of your ceremony to set up my equipment and try to say a quick “hello” to you if you’re available. My equipment will include two cameras on tripods, a recorder for your officiant, and one other audio source. Depending on your individual set-up, this might be a recorder on the groom, a recorder on a podium, or a recorder plugged into the DJ’s system. I’ll also have a camera on a gimbal that I walk around with for a third angle. I’ll stay for the duration of your ceremony, capturing it from 3 different angles. After, I’ll pack up my equipment and, if you’re available, tell you “congratulations”. Then, I’ll edit the three camera shots and the audio together. So, if Uncle Joe stood up in front of Camera 1 while you were walking down the aisle, no worries, I’ll cut to one of the other two cameras. You’ll receive a video of your entire ceremony, cutting between the 3 shots.
What time do you arrive?
With the Ceremony Package, I arrive 45-60 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony. With all other packages, that depends on your unique timeline. You receive 6, 8, or 10 hours of coverage; so, we usually communicate to find the best hours of coverage for YOUR day. Of course, every couple has different priorities; but, generally, I usually tell couples that you want to make sure I’m there for the BIG moments such as the first look, ceremony, toasts, first dance, etc. Aside from that, you don’t need 3 hours of getting ready footage - just the last few minutes of getting ready as the bride puts lip gloss on or gets her dress on is perfect. In the same way, you don’t need 2 hours of coverage of people dancing. Remember, your feature film is about 4-6 minutes long (depending on your package) so people dancing on the dance floor will take up, maybe, 30 seconds of that.
Can we break the coverage hours up? Like, have you from 10-1 for getting ready shots and then from 4-9 for the ceremony and reception?
The hours of coverage in your package are consecutive and cannot be broken up. Why? Well, usually weddings aren’t around the corner from my house; so, it’s not like I can go home and truly not work for those in between hours. Additionally, weddings aren’t always in an area I’m familiar with enough to just be able to “go have fun” for that in between time. So, I’d just end up hanging out at your venue and working anyways. Remember, if you need extra hours of coverage, you can always add them on.
Can we pick our own music for the feature film?
Sort of? I know that isn’t a clear enough answer, so I’ll elaborate. Legally, I can’t use music that has a copyright unless you puchase a license for it (which can be PRICEY). However, I have access to a music database that has hundreds of thousands of music choices. Usually, I ask my couples their preferred music style and go off of that. The most common answers I get are, “Please anything but country,” or “We love country,” or “Can you start out with something soft and romantic, then go into something more upbeat for the reception?”
I have had a couple of brides who wanted to pick their own song from my music database, and that’s fine too. If that’s something you want to do, let me know and I’ll tell you the name of the database I use so you can peruse it on your own.
What can we expect to see with the full-length video of the Ceremony, Toasts, and First Dance?
You’ll receive a documentary-style video that’s includes your entire ceremony, toasts, and first dance. So, if your ceremony is about 20 minutes long, your toasts are 10 minutes, and your first dance is 3 minutes, then your video will be 33 minutes long. Typically, for the ceremony, I set up two cameras on tripods and also walk around with a camera on a gimbal. For the toasts, I set up one camera on a tripod and then either use my second tripod or my gimbal (depending on your venue) for the second shot. For the first dance, I use the same set-up as for the toasts. I also make sure there’s quality audio recording of the ceremony and toasts. Then, I edit all of the camera angles together to give you the best shots of each moment.