wedding video - advice needed

Hope everyone had a terrific thanksgiving... I just got my video from my August wedding and was hoping I could get some advice: #1: Is it appropriate to 'tell' the videographer exactly what to do and what I want..such as, 'make sure you don't cut out this part'? #2: The video is in total about 2 1/2 hours. This includes my 1/2 hour ceremony. The reason I was told is that we had a daytime wedding and there was not a lot to shoot since people didn't dance much. During the reception, we asked him not to go around to eat table and make people talk into the microphone. Now, I'm realizing that I think he literally shut the camera off and didn't tape the other 3 hours of our reception. Is this normal? I would've thought he could've walked around, been creative. We didn't get any footage of the outside of the atrium at the Milleridge Cottage, no footage of us getting our pictures taken, and not 1 panoramic shot of the inside of the Cottage or Parlor area. Thoughts??? I'm usually easy going, and for the most part, and he basically got everything he needed to, but we paid what I consider to be a lot of $ and it's bothering me. Thanks :)

wedding video - advice needed

That sounds like a bummer! But, if you didn`t tell him exactly what you wanted beforehand and you didn`t see that as his style on his sample tapings, then there`s not much you can blame him for. It`s still dissappointing nonetheless!!! As for the editing, by all means tell him exactly what you want kept and cut out! Be specific...you paid the $$$, so make him WORK for it!!!

Whoa

If he didn't tape at all during the last three hours of the reception, you definitely have something to grip about. Dancing isn't the only thing that you want to remember when you look at the tape years from now. He definitely should have taken the time to tape the grounds, the room, your family doing whatever, picture taking. That seems obvious to me. I don't think he did what he was supposed to do.

Whoa

If he didn't tape at all during the last three hours of the reception, you definitely have something to grip about. Dancing isn't the only thing that you want to remember when you look at the tape years from now. He definitely should have taken the time to tape the grounds, the room, your family doing whatever, picture taking. That seems obvious to me. I don't think he did what he was supposed to do.

Boy, did you strike a nerve with me! (Long)

I have been really bummed out since our wedding, because so many 'little things' that you would think are obvious were apparently not so obvious to our vendors. I mean, do I really need to tell a 'professional' in the industry how to do their job. They`re the ones going to weddings each weekend, or at least several times a month. Me, this was a once-in-a-lifetime, and while I may have special requests that are out of the oridnary, the typical standards should not need to be gone over. We had several 'Must' requests or typical wedding standards missed, and the blame does not fall on any one vendor. Maybe at this point I`m just really bitter, and I`m nit-picking over even the littlest of things now, BUT some key moments, which are standard at all weddings, were missed by either photo or video, or both. And yes, we`re still missing 12 of our 25 table cameras. Plus, we had a dedication played when everyone was seated for dinner, so the video guy, who was also eating, missed it, even though husband and I got up and danced anyway. To me, there is just no excuse for any of this. Believe me, I was so happy the entire day of our wedding (even with all the rain that didn`t quit) .. I`ve never seen or known myself to be so happy, for such an extended period of time, and I didn`t let anything bother me, with the small exception of the videographer almost forgetting to do our interviews. Other than that I was beaming. Honestly, though, are any of us wrong for not telling our vendors the obvious? Is it up to us to tell the photographer to take a picture of the bride walking down the aisle? If we don`t, should we not be upset when he doesn`t take this shot? I mean, seriously, if we feel the need to tell the photo and video people each and every shot or detail they must get, then we should be telling our caterers not to forget to serve dinner. I don`t think you need a heck of a lot of experience with weddings to know the standard of what shots should not be missed. And, as a videographer, the only thing they`re there for is to tape as much as they can. It`s not his call to decide, 'there isn`t much action, so I`m not going to tape.' Who knows what`s going to happen at any given moment, and for the camera to be off, leaves many chances for missed opportunities. Had your videographer walked around with the camera on, maybe someone would have jumped in front of the camera and done something funny, or said something sweet. Him not even trying effectively eliminated your possibilities. No vendor is there to party, and for your videographer to have missed so much is a disgrace. But, do keep in mind, the camera gets turned off for all the courses, which probably each last about 20-30 minutes. You should absolutely tell him what you want included or edited out of your tape. He doesn`t know you or your family and friends. While he should know the main participants in the day, he`s not going to know if something has a special or hidden meaning, so fill him in on what`s important to you. I know I must sound really upset with my vendors, but I`m really not. I`m just a little surprised at how some things got missed or mixed up. I`m sure our album will still come out beautiful. I`m sure our video is going to be great when it`s edited (thought I`m glad I have the raw footage). And Eddie created some beautiful memories for us. I know I`m a perfectionist, so maybe that`s part of the problem here, but, at the same time, there are just some things no bride or groom should feel guilty about if a vendor falls short of the standard expectations.

Boy, did you strike a nerve with me! (Long)

I think you should address your issues with your vendor. The is no excuse for someone who got paid for 5/6 hrs to not do their job the entire time. And you MUST tell him what you want and don't want. Just think, if he missed a lot becasue he didn't think it was important, then he may edit out things that are, just becasue he either doesn't know or may not have the same taste as you. Good luck

Boy, did you strike a nerve with me! (Long)

Sometimes it doesn't even matter if you go over the obvious. We went over things with our photographer, and certain pictures still weren't taken. In fact, they were the ones who said to us, 'oh, a jewish wedding, you must want table pictures then' (whatever that was supposed to mean). My mom said, yes, we want table pictures! Guess what! They took 2 out of 12 tables! And this was brought up by them! Its amazing!

Jewish wedding wanting tables???

I'm Jewish, and had a Jewish wedding too. I never heard of there being something specific about a Jewish wedding wanting table shots. Is that something particular to Jewish weddings? How interesting. Anyway, we also asked for table shots, and only got half of them - and they forgot to get my husband's parents' table!!!

Jewish wedding wanting tables???

Apparently most Jewish affairs call for table shots. I know we had them at my brother's barmitzfah. The funny thing was that the photographer brought it up, and we all laughed about it, and then they didn't even do it!

Jewish wedding wanting tables???

i had a jewish wedding and they took pictures of all my tables....

Table Pictures ???

We had an Italian wedding and they took pictures of all the tables. I always remember table pictures. None of our guests seemed to think its strange so I think its more Universal than just Jewish or Italian or Long Island.

Boy, did you strike a nerve with me! (Long)

Very true...thanks for all the good points. I actually did see a sample of his work beforehand, and unfortunately just didn't have time to go over w/the videographer what I assumed was his expertise. I mean, to not take some video of the hall (in this case it was the Milleridge Cottage) is just silly to me and seems lazy. It would've been so nice for him to shoot the entire reception room and the outside of the beautiful atrium. The reality is though, he did get all the 'major' and important parts like the entrance, speeches, cake cutting etc. It was the minor stuff that I wish we had captured and unfortunately, I think he assumed that was uninteresting or unimportant because it wasn't dancing. Oh well. I still am Thrilled with how the entire wedding turned out! Happy Holidays to everyone :)