Have you filmed at our venue before?

A misunderstood myth

We’re often asked have you filmed at our venue before. Within wedding videography the reality is that this doesn’t really matter. Unlike traditional photography our approach to videography really is documentary. We are looking to shoot the people there on the day and their natural interactions and emotions, rather than setup and stage managed images. 

This means our knowledge of the venue doesn’t impact the quality of your film in any way whatsoever. Sure, it can be nice to film at a venue you’re familiar with. This is more from the aspect of logistics of the day such as knowing who is running the day, car parking situation and supplier meal protocol. The latter being very important to any videographer working the near enough whole wedding!

 

What does experience count for?

Confetti and Silk pride ourselves on being quickly adaptable to any situation. Most of the challenges that come with wedding video are common no matter what the venue. One of our top tips would be that it’s much better you are familiar with the videographers approach on the day and the style of film that you will receive as a finished article. This will be the single most important element in you loving your finished film above anything else.

New wedding venues are appearing all the time, especially in London and the home counties. It stands to reason that each year most wedding videographers probably shoot over half their weddings at venues they’ve never been to before.  The benefit of this is that they look at venues with a fresh perspective and approach the film with full gusto.

At Confetti and Silk we won’t be going through the motions as we film your wedding day. We’ll be putting maximum creative effort into how we film everything and all the shot choices we make. Conversely, when shooting at wedding venues we’ve already filmed at this approach becomes even more important to avoid you simply getting a film that would be a copy of someone else’s. Our love of the art to film-making means this will never be the way we approach any wedding, no matter what the venue.

 

What challenges do you face on the day?

The location of readings during the ceremony and where the speeches are to be delivered from. All of our wedding films use great quality audio to create more emotional storytelling. Many of these words can be from the speeches themselves but also personal readings or poems given by family or close friends can also be powerful narrative points to include.

To capture both audios in a way that sounds great we need to be able to know where these readings or speeches will be delivered from. For speeches a set point with a mic stand can be great, if you have large table decorations and circular tables in a room packed with guests camera angles can be difficult to get without compromising a guests view. During the ceremony readings can be made either to the left, right or even centre aisle of the officiant. Knowing this location beforehand can help us capture the audio much better.

We place a small audio recorder in close vicinity beforehand to both ensure they are well hidden but still close enough to capture what is being said. It is probably these two factors which are the most important for a videographer to know during the day. They can have the biggest impact on the film.

 

What’s the most important thing then?

It could be argued that it’s slightly more important that your videographer is familiar with your location or style of wedding venue rather than the wedding venue itself. Central London wedding venues have different logistical challenges than Home Counties hotel or country house type weddings.

If you’re having a wedding outside the city then it can be important to know more trivial things such as who to ask for upon arrival. A phone number for a member of the bridal party to use inplace of your own can be important. This avoids disturbing you directly on the day.

In central London it’s important you have a wedding videographer familiar with how to get around the City as efficiently as possible. This can include using the tube, hailing a black cab and knowing what respective distances between locations mean in realistic travel times. They also need to be light with the amount of gear they carry to make public transport easily accessible.

If you have wedding transport and there’s room on the bus for the videographer then this can be the most beneficial thing you can do for us on the day. We will no doubt be able to capture even more footage of the guests. We will also arrive at the venue with everyone, not missing a moment.

At Confetti and Silk we have a rule of only one backpack and one tripod per videographer. This keeps us light on our feet, discreet and speeds up how efficiently we work.

To conclude

It’s far more important that you connect to your videographer on a personal and artistic than if they have been to or filmed at your wedding venue before.  Where ever you’re getting married reach out now and find out about our approach to you unique wedding day.