how to edit a wedding

B

bobbylong

Active member
ive read tons of posts here about filming weddings, and seen dozens of trailers... but now that i filmed a friends wedding, i cant find anything on how to edit it.

mainly im wondering what to put on the dvd, do i have different menus with The reception, the dances and one of those pretty highlights or trailers? are there any other menus people add? or do you guys do something different with the dvd? most the highlights/trailers i see dont show much of the wedding or any of the reception, just people getting ready... do they do something else with the other parts or just not show much of em? are the highlights usually just to 1 song or do you have longer versions you just dont post on here?

do i include (and where) things like the introduction to the reception, the toasts?

also when editing the ceremony, do you just play all the way through? i just filmed a catholic wedding and it was pretty boring, do i fade and skip most of the communion part and things like that? should i fade and skip the 20 seconds of nothing before people walk up and read, or just play it all the way through? dont tell me to just ask the bride and groom b/c they said they dont know and told me to do what other videographers do.

any rules to follow or any input on what you give to a bride and groom on the final dvd???
 
Ask the B&G what they'd like perhaps to get an idea if they want all of it or the long boring bits cut out.

And dont forget, you can never have too much cowbell.
 
bobbylong said:
mainly im wondering what to put on the dvd, do i have different menus with The reception, the dances and one of those pretty highlights or trailers? are there any other menus people add? or do you guys do something different with the dvd?
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I usually make the whole wedding one video, similar to how a feature film is one long piece that you are supposed to watch all the way through. A main menu plus chapter points, and if you wish, a chapter index menu are really all that is needed to give the viewer enough to navigate through the DVD. Others may do it differently though, but this is how I do it.

most the highlights/trailers i see dont show much of the wedding or any of the reception, just people getting ready... do they do something else with the other parts or just not show much of em? are the highlights usually just to 1 song or do you have longer versions you just dont post on here?
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Personally, when I do a highlights montage, I focus on the bride and groom. I usually show as much from the different stages of the wedding. I like to think of weddings like a film is structured, only the major difference is that there is no major conflict like a film narrative has (unless you get the odd dysfunctional wedding).

Act One is the preparations and pre-ceremony. Act Two A is the ceremony. Act Two B is the reception, up until the first dance. Act Three is the traditional dances, guests dancing, garter and bouquet, bride and groom slow dancing, then I might go into a quick highlights montage or some sort of 'goodbye shot' that I usually stage with the bride and groom later in the evening and after all the traditional stuff has been completed at the reception.

FADE TO BLACK. Then I usually have some sort of end credits. The end credits can be as simple as a black screen with a white text crawl, or as elaborate as grabbing clips or stills from the wedding and making a dynamic credits sequence with motion effects, black and white, Magic Bullet filters, etc.

do i include (and where) things like the introduction to the reception, the toasts?
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Yes. I usually keep everything in chronological order. Others might go with a more nonlinear style, but I've always been a linear kinda guy, from everything to my wedding videography to my screenwriting.

also when editing the ceremony, do you just play all the way through? i just filmed a catholic wedding and it was pretty boring, do i fade and skip most of the communion part and things like that? should i fade and skip the 20 seconds of nothing before people walk up and read, or just play it all the way through? dont tell me to just ask the bride and groom b/c they said they dont know and told me to do what other videographers do.
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I personally try to shorten Catholic ceremonies by doing what you stated. Even on a half hour ceremony I try to cut out any dead space (people putzing around before actually getting to the podium to do a reading, etc.). Of course, you can always use your best judgement, and if you shot with a B-cam for cutaways, then that also heavily affects how the ceremony will be edited.

The main things that a bride and groom are going to want to see from their ceremony are: the processional, bride's father giving the bride away, the homily, vows, rings, kiss, unity candle, declaration of marriage, and finally the recessional.

any rules to follow or any input on what you give to a bride and groom on the final dvd???
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A motion menu for the main menu is always nice, but sometimes, and depending on what package a couple chooses, I often times go with a still image menu.

Chapter points. Again, depending on how much you are making on this video, at least having chapter points is a good idea. If you can, it is nice to also include a chapter index menu.

Finally, in Photoshop create a nice DVD case insert and a DVD label or if you can, print an image from the wedding on a printable DVD.

This isn't the only way, but if you would like, here is my basic wedding video structure.

1) Pre-Ceremony set to a song of bride and groom's choice. This is all the preparations and anything that happens before the ceremony. I take out all the ambient sound and just use the imagery and music track. If you have a ton of great footage, then maybe have the bride and groom pick two shorter songs (about 3 mins. each) to set this opening montage to. I also sometimes put credits over this, making the pre-ceremony scene reminiscent of an opening credits sequence to a feature film. (approx. total running time: 3-5 minutes)

2) Ceremony shot with two cameras. Camera A is the one I man, while Camera B is for a wide shot of the alter area. This is so that you can cutaway if needed. (approx. total running time: 30-40 minutes)

3) Post Ceremony montage, which is similar to the pre-ceremony in that I use a music track to edit the video to. This scene usually consists of the picture taking at the altar, any outdoor pictures, stage little things if there is time, bride and groom leaving in limo, and maybe the bride and groom signing the marriage certificate. (approx. total running time: 3-5 minutes)

4) Pre-Reception intro/montage. I usually show some shots of the cake, guests arriving, cocktail hour, etc. This part I usually keep pretty short. (approx. total running time: 2 minutes)

5) Reception; which consists of introductions, toasts, cake cutting, first dances, regular dancing montage, garter and bouquet, etc. Other videographers don't usually do this, but I like to have about 20 seconds of various shots of guests and bridal party eating/drinking/being merry before the dancing starts after dinner. Just don't include a shot of the bride shoving a forkfull of food into her mouth. (approx. total running time: 30-40 minutes)

6) Ending stuff, which is usually a goodbye shot which leads into the end credits. (approx. total running time: 1-2 minutes)

7) A Highlights Montage is something you might also want to include. Some videographers include them at the end of the video, while I personally like to have them accessible as a separate item on the main DVD menu. (approx. total running time: 5 minutes -- I wouldn't go much over 5-7 minutes because it is time consuming to do a good montage and it is meant to be something short as opposed to the main video)

8) Rehearsal footage, family/guest/bridal party interviews, and a slideshow are nice little 'bonus features' if you have them, however, not something that are absolutely necessary. Something else I've done in the past, is if there is just too much stuff (usually during the reception if there is dinner entertainment) I will include a few deleted scenes on the DVD as a bonus feature. I've never seen any videographers do this before.
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In the end, I usually end up with a video that is about 70-80 minutes long, depending on the ceremony length and how many toasts are done at the reception. On rare occasions, the longer weddings (Catholic) might hit 90 minutes, but even then I can usually keep it shorter than that.

In post, there is not a whole lot you can do with the ceremony or the scene of the toasts at the reception, so my motto is to try to make the parts you do have more freedom with (pre-cere, post cere, pre-recep, dancing) fun or romantic or whatever else you can to make them emotionally engaging and dynamic. The trick is to not get carried away with effects.

If you can do that and have a consistently solid editing style, focused/properly exposed video, legible audio, and are able to keep things moving at a steady pace and edit out any major camera op blunders... then providing a couple with a near-feature film length wedding video definitely gives them their money's worth.
 
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