What exactly goes into the day of a wedding videographer? While every wedding and client has their own unique needs, this is what we did for Trinity and Chris’ beautiful wedding in Carmel.
These folks were super cute and so great to work with! They were originally planning to get married that previous year, but like many other couples during COVID they had to delay their wedding. Fortunately we were able to accommodate and film on their new date.
Even though we had phone meetings with the couple, we also decided to attend the wedding rehearsal the day prior to the actual ceremony. Attending a rehearsal as a videographer is completely optional, but we definitely prefer to be onsite before the actual wedding date to familiarize ourselves with the space. Plus the rehearsal was in Carmel, so it’s a super pretty place for us to spend the day anyways! Not to mention the Ghirardelli close by in Monterey haha.
Early that morning of the ceremony, we loaded up my little Prius with all the essentials – three cameras with their lenses, two tripods, a gimbal, a drone, mics and an audiorecorder, radio headsets for us to communicate with, and a camera cart. We then headed off toward the coast where the wedding was being held.
Because we attended the wedding rehearsal the day prior, we came in familiar with the location, the day’s schedule, the wedding coordinator, where the couple/guests/vendors would be placed, etc. As Ruben prepped the video gear on the cart, I flew the drone to film some establishing shots of the venue. Afterwards we set up two cameras on tripods and one on a gimbal in the ceremony area. Then we connected our audio recorder to the DJ’s setup in addition to clipping on a backup mic on the officiant. We placed our remaining equipment on our camera cart and left it with the vendors at the reception location (luckily all within the same vicinity of the ceremony).
Filming the outdoor ceremony went super smooth. We knew our roles and our radio headsets kept us up to date on what each of us were filming. A little before the ceremony started, we filmed small details of the setup – the floral arrangements, the gazebo, a cute decorated swing set nearby, etc. As the wedding party entered, one camera on the tripod focused on the groom, while the other camera focused on the bride. With those cameras locked down by Ruben, I walked around and filmed with the gimbal to capture various wider angles of the ceremony. Another benefit of attending the rehearsal was that we knew exactly the order of the procession and where everyone would be standing or sitting. This particular wedding also included a tea ceremony. So we knew exactly what to capture and when and where we needed to be.
Cocktail hour also went by smoothly. Ruben went inside and filmed the guests mingling in the hall next door, while I went with the photographer outside to capture portraits of the couple and their family. As the sun was going down and the mountains behind were being covered by clouds, I thought it made for a super cool backdrop for the couple. Probably one of my favorite shots from this wedding!
The reception soon started and we filmed all the usual major activities – the grand entrance with the wedding party, first dance, toasts, various wedding games, cake cutting, and guests dancing in addition to capturing all the small cute details of the decor. We once again set up the audio recorder with the DJs (to record all the speeches) and had one camera on a tripod and another on a gimbal (which was super helpful for the first dance and squeezing between all tables full of guests). As it got late into the night, we eventually shared our goodbyes and congratulations to the happy couple as they continued to party on the dance floor. We drove back to San Jose, knowing we’d have to get up early the next morning for another project in Los Angeles. Overall a super fun day with a great couple, fun guests, easy to work with vendors, and a pretty location!
Want to see the final result from filming this wedding? Check out the video: https://vimeo.com/665879430
