Maria-Fe and Jack’s WEDDING VIDEO FEATURE

The Venue

Maria-Fe and Jack met while studying at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA and decided they wanted to celebrate that fact by getting married on campus, in the Chapel they visited as students. I had never been to this part of the USA, so I was on board from the beginning, as I love to explore new places, both in my spare time but also in my work, as building up a sense of place in my films is very important.

Blacksburg is a quaint place with a lovely campus and chapel, so I had plenty of choices of places to film. I also enjoyed some of the architecture on campus so made sure to include this in their film.

Maria-Fe and Jack’s Wedding Day Plans

Maria-Fe was keen for the surroundings they met in to be as much a part of their film as their wedding day itself, so I made sure I had plenty of time to explore both the campus and Blacksburg itself in advance of the wedding. I actually decided to open the couples film with a shot of the oldest cinema in the town, not only because I love cinemas and this sort of American architecture, but also because I had a great idea for how to start the film. I always want my films to pull in the viewer and intrigue them from the opening shot and if possible to do this in a different way for each film, so as soon as I had the idea of a shot of the couple appearing on the cinema screen I knew I had to make it work!

The couple decided they wanted to have a first look and Maria-Fe had written a beautiful speech/prayer to read to Jack which I knew right away I would use in their final film as it was the most personal and heatfelt part of the day.

Before their chapel wedding, Maria-Fe incorporated some of her culture into the day by having a tea ceremony in the botanic garden on campus with her closest family and friends, which was a lovely moment to incorporate into the film.

The ceremony was very touching and included the talented campus choir, so I made sure to include some of their singing in the film.

After the ceremony the couple and their guests headed to a nearby reception venue for dinner and dancing, which was a happy and fun way to end their film.

Wedding Videography Approach

My main aim as a wedding videographer is to produce cinematic, yet authentic, mementos of a wedding day. I want them to be stylish, filled with all the emotions of the day while being infused with a classic cinema flair, which I always have in the back of my mind when choosing which lens to use in a certain moment, how to frame a shot, the sounds and music I will use to tell that part of the story and thinking always about the edit.

Me filming a wedding in Portugal with my minimalist set up.

Once I have these all story telling elements in place I make sure my films are as cinematic as possible, and what I mean by that is I use every tool and technique at my disposal, from the filming style on the wedding day, to the editing and colour grading techniques afterwards, to create a piece of work that feels like a mini-movie, like a short piece of classic cinema, with a proper beginning middle and end, establishing people, place and story as elegantly as possible, woven together with music I choose carefully for each project.

Most importantly though, I use equipment and a filming style on the day that allows me to capture these moments without leaving a heavy footprint on the day- I use very minimal equipment, similar to a photographer, and avoid stage managing the day in any way because the most important element of making a great film is authentic moments and emotions and the only way to achieve these is allow them to happen naturally, unhindered by over posing/staging and manufacturing the events.

View My Wedding Video Portfolio