wedding Question

A

aonavy

Well-known member
I'm doing a couples wedding and thought it would be a good Idea to go to the rehearsal dinner and get to know faces. Ive read its a good idea to go if I can.

I was wondering should I bring a camera? What should do? Eat? dont eat?

Just want to get some perspective of what other people do


Thanks for the input
 
I shoot weddings in Aus - we don't have rehearsal dinners here, there is a rehearsal of the ceremony (who stands where etc) but that's it. If you've been hired to film the wedding and you've got the time to attend the rehearsal, fine but it only takes 5 minutes to work out who is who and what's happening - what's the point of actually attending the meal after?

if you take a camera, what will you do with the footage?
were you invited to the dinner? or did you suggest that you come along
who's paying for the meal?
 
I decided not to go the dinner and asked if there doing a rehearsal for the wedding it self.

You made some valid points

thanks
 
always important to go to rehearsal. If you have a DSLR, sure, bring your camera along. If not, leave those things behind, you can usually tell what's a good place to shoot.
 
Victor Nhat Nguyen said:
always important to go to rehearsal. If you have a DSLR, sure, bring your camera along. If not, leave those things behind, you can usually tell what's a good place to shoot.
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Tomorrow is the wedding rehearsal and looking forward to it. I'm not sure if I should film it or not. any ideas?
 
If you film it, they might ask/expect to see some of it in your deliverable.

If you don't, you can't up sell it later if/when they ask.

If this is the first wedding you are shooting, I'd take the camera and explore your shots and angles, but do pay attention to the actual plans they are discussing.

And skip the dinner.
 
keylight said:
If you film it, they might ask/expect to see some of it in your deliverable.

If you don't, you can't up sell it later if/when they ask.

If this is the first wedding you are shooting, I'd take the camera and explore your shots and angles, but do pay attention to the actual plans they are discussing.

And skip the dinner.
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Thanks for your advice!

Thats what im planning on doing.

Thanks you
 
Absolutely go to rehearsal. It makes people more comfortable with you and the camera on the wedding day. It also allows you to know the flow, whats happening when, where you need to be, etc
 
aonavy said:
I'm doing a couples wedding and thought it would be a good Idea to go to the rehearsal dinner and get to know faces. Ive read its a good idea to go if I can.

I was wondering should I bring a camera? What should do? Eat? dont eat?

Just want to get some perspective of what other people do


Thanks for the input
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Try to find out what EXACTLY will be happening during the rehearsal dinner. For example if they will be doing rehearsal speeches over dinner, then that may be a good time film it as part of the overall story. Speeches over rehearsal dinners tend to be more genuine and natural as they are not nervously "at the podium". The reactions may be more candid and real as well, and may even reveal their characters and relationships amongst each other.

So in this case you wouldn't be eating since the rehearsal itself would be part of the story.

If however you find it beneficial to learn more about your characters (i.e. "casting") then do what you have to do such as dining with them during dinner.

If the rehearsal is at the same venue as the actual wedding or wedding reception then for sure bring your actual gear so you can measure things like exposure, color temperature and even the angles you may want to use during the actual wedding day.

If you are just doing character scouting then maybe a smaller unobtrusive camera might be better (i.e. a point and shoot)
 
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Go to the rehearsal. It's always good to be as informed as possible before a once-in-a-lifetime event. But don't go to the rehearsal dinner.

There's no need to learn about 'characters'. This isn't a dramatic film production. It's a wedding. Your job is to capture the event. At a wedding, the most important person is the bride, followed closely by the groom. Immediate family members will be obvious -- they will be seated in the front rows, bride's family on one side and groom's family on the other. You will probably see every truly important person at the rehearsal.

Don't go to the dinner unless you get their permission first. This is a private event for close family and friends. If you do go, it should be for the purpose of shooting footage of the rehearsal dinner, including toasts and speeches. Otherwise, there is no need for you to be there. The only faces you really need to know will be the bride and groom, and you'll have no trouble identifying them at the wedding.

And if you do go to the rehearsal dinner to shoot footage, definitely don't eat. There's no reason why the family should pay to feed you. If they invite you to join them, the professional thing to do is politely decline. (I always keep a Clif bar and a bottle of water in my gear bag.)
 
I normally don't go to the rehearsal but I went to the rehearsal at the last one I filmed and it was a great help. Definitely would go to the rehearsals.
 
I only went to rehearsals when I first started, and even then I went to less than 5. Once you understand how weddings work, you can easily figure out small problems and workshop until you've got what you need. The biggest problem I've run into was the couple had their aisle done in a spiral, with their guests' chairs making up the outside edges of the aisle. It was a little difficult to move around in, and with there being a cliff on one side (with guests sitting directly against the railing) it was hard to get the exact angles I wanted. The film still came out looking pretty nice.

Here are two example weddings. The first was a wedding I was very prepared for, with the ceremony and reception taking place at the same venue. The second is a wedding I was very unprepared for, with the bride and groom getting ready 40 miles apart, their bridal party pictures being taken another 40 miles away from where the bride was getting ready (in the opposite direction of the groom prep), their ceremony 20 miles away from their picture location, and their reception 30 miles from their ceremony location. The icing on the cake was their officiant told me they would be staying near the front, when they in fact moved 30 feet back onto the stage platform, and only one cameraman was able to go up there. By far one of the craziest schedules I've worked with, but the quality of the final film was similar, if not better. No two weddings are exactly the same, but they become instinctual after a while.

The wedding I was prepared for.

The wedding I was not prepared for.
 
keylight said:
If you film it, they might ask/expect to see some of it in your deliverable.
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This is so true.

Attend the rehearsal to be prepared. I usually bring my DSLR to take stills of the positions they are end to study that night. Take stills of the different camera angles and focal lengths you may be using. This helps me a lot.
 
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