Hey guys, just Mandy today!

I wanted to drop in and do a quick blog over what you can expect when you book your wedding film through us and how we strive to make this process as seamless as we can.

We have previously written blogs about the Value of Videography, and we definitely want to remind you that the number one regret among modern couples is that they didn’t hire a professional filmmaker. Video is the only medium currently available which allows us to encapsulate both imagery and sound into one format.

The ‘Why’ of Wedding Films

Now, for my brutal honesty of the day. One of the questions I often ask our couples concerning their wedding film is “are there any people who definitely need to be in this video that may not be obvious?”. I know this is a weird question and one that sometimes gives people pause- and honestly it’s not a fun question to ask. I lost my mom in 2020 after a long battle with cancer, and I cherish the videos and recordings that I made of her prior to her passing because they allow me to still hear the sound of her voice years later. I keep these stored on my phone as well as on harddrives and in the cloud because they are so important to me that I can’t imagine losing them.

While I am at a wedding my primary job will always be to capture the couple, but one of the unique things I am able to do is capture the essence of the group around them as well. A wedding day is often one of the only times in your life where you’ll gather your entire family and friends in one place for an extended period. It means that we have the unique opportunity to grab audio, imagery and the personality of each person in attendance.

Further, while not every single clip I shoot winds up in your final film, I do store all of these in back ups for quite some time. I do this because I think of all the videos and images and voicemails and everything else that I had of my mother throughout her life that I erased because it wasn’t a “good” video or the voicemail wasn’t about anything important. Sometimes you don’t realize how much you wanted something that was less than perfect until long after it’s gone.

Wedding Film Process

So to move this little dark cloud right along, my process of gathering these memories for clients is pretty straight forward and only varies in the details from wedding to wedding. When I arrive I’ll introduce myself and get settled into the surroundings we have for the day. I’ll look for places that would make great spots to shot portraits of the two of you, and I help gather your details for flatlays. Becca generally covers that portion of things and I just step in and out and grab those shots as she finishes each set up. Otherwise, during this time I’ll be grabbing clips of you two getting ready as well as running the drone if I’m able to, that way I’ll have some great establishing shots for your highlight later.

Once we get the detail work out of the way I’ll move into portraits of the individual bridal parties and then on to first looks. I always mic up the person who is not the bride for first looks- wether that be a first look with the groom or with her father or with any other important person she might want to do a reveal with.

If you are the groom in this situation- I highly recommend you thinking up what you’re going to say when she walks out. Please remember that the bride has spent a very long time getting things perfect and all she really wants at this point is for you to tell her that she looks beautiful, that you’re excited, and that you can’t wait for the rest of your lives together. You don’t have to be a masterful speaker to do this part correctly- and sometimes your reaction does speak louder than any words ever could. But I still recommend that you think of something great to say during this particular moment to help calm her nerves and provide her with the confidence she needs from you at this moment.

Next there is usually a letter reading of some form that we do separately, which again, I will mic you for. The mics we use are color coded to your attire (usually white for the bride and black to match the grooms tux) and I hide these so they don’t show up in the photos that Becca will shoot during this time. Your job is to simply read the letter out loud. I highly recommend you either write carefully and legibly or type it out if you’re like me and have the handwriting of a second grader. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched someone stumble over the writing of a word and it does hinder the impact that you were trying to make with your letter!

If you’re ever mic’d up, just act natural. You don’t need to be louder or speak toward the microphone or anything like that. Our gear can handle it, we promise. The only thing I ask is that if you do stumble over a word you pause momentarily and then pick up again. When I go to edit that later I can cut it together seamlessly so it looks like you never tripped up!

After letter readings and gift giving, we take some time to capture the two of you together in the locations we scouted during the morning. Generally, I shoot whatever Becca shoots and then occasionally give you a prompt here and there that involves more movement than what is typically done for photography. This might include walking, dancing, spinning like a ballerina, a piggyback ride- it just depends on you two and how reserved or outgoing you are. This is a great time to let me know if you have anything relationship specific you’d like included- maybe a secret handshake you have or something else cute like that.

Afterwards we involve your bridal party and then rest up for the ceremony. Becca does an incredible job of building out these timelines to ensure that we always have enough time to get our content but the couple is still able to enjoy their wedding day without a camera on all the time.

For your ceremony I need to mic both the officiant and the groom. The officiant is the audio I will most likely use, as they tend to stand in between the two of you and capture each of you equally. I mic the groom for this portion but have never actually used it- his mic is there for back up just in case something happens and the officiant audio corrupts. This is one of the parts that I know separates us from many other teams- we have a large amount of redundancy and because of that it’s very unlikely that we ever lose footage or audio or really anything from your day. We deal in your memories and we take that trust very seriously.

After your ceremony the timeline goes off the rails and we capture things as they happen- with our only request usually being that we grab some sunset portraits of the two of you.

There is only one real request that I have for couples during their wedding in regards to their wedding film and that is for you to be sure to never look into my camera lens unless I specifically ask you to. What ends up happening is our beautiful and emotional clip winds up looking like something from an episode of The Office when you look over and say “did you get it?!”. I promise I got it!

If you have any wedding film specific questions please don’t hesitate to reach out at Mandy@raawedding.com so I can ensure your experience with us runs as smoothly as possible.

With love and Happy filming,

Mandy