Hints for DIY Wedding Videos

I'd recommend using a professional videographer. Of course, I would say that. Being a wedding videographer!

Your wedding is a once in a lifetime event and having a really beautiful record of it, filmed and edited by a professional videographer, will be worth the investment. A wedding video captures not just your wedding day. A wedding is a unique gathering: a time when your extended family and friends all come together. A professional wedding film will not only record the day you tied the knot but will also be a lasting memento of all those people who helped you celebrate your special day.

If you're still not convinced, watch this film about a couple who chose not to have a professional wedding video.

However, if you are considering the DIY approach and you're going to ask a friend to video your wedding, here's a few hints and tips.

Anyone who's ever watched a home movie, will know that they never look quite like the slick productions made by the professionals that you see on your television screens. You simply can't achieve that without professional equipment and a good deal of skill and experience. But, if you really must have a DIY wedding video, perhaps for budget reasons, there are still plenty of things that you CAN do to improve the results.

1. Choose someone who WANTS to make your wedding video - it's a big responsibility. You want all your friends and family to enjoy your wedding day not have sleepless nights worrying about it. Is someone in the family particularly keen on photography of making amateur videos? Or is there someone you can rope in to do a favour, who you might otherwise not be inviting? Perhaps your mum's best friend's son is a student at film college or doing Media Studies at A Levels and would find making a wedding video to be valuable experience?

2. Keep the camera still - the less movement, the better. Amateur video is characterised by the amount of movement, wobbles, unnecessary zooms in and out! Put it on a tripod or monopod and keep it rock steady. Obviously, there will be times when you want a close up shot of the ceremony and times when you want a big wide shot of the whole congregation, so you will want to move the camera, but in general, the wedding videographer's finger should steer clear of that zoom button. Ask your videographer to frame the shot before important moments such as the engaging of the rings, and then leave it there. He can then reframe for the next important moment.

3. Concentrate on those important moments - What you'll want to see in years to come will be the bride's face as she says, "I do" not Auntie Mabel in full close up singing the last verse of "All Things Bright and Beautiful" so make sure your wedding videographer is aware that you don't want everything - just the key moments!

4. If you must zoom - hold the shots immediately before and after the zoom for at least 5 seconds! And that applies to other camera moves too.

5. Use two cameras - set them up in different parts of the church and make sure that they don't end up with each other in shot. Generally, one camera should be at the back of the church looking up the aisle and the other at one side, preferably facing the bride, slightly behind the registrar or vicar. For the best results, make a plan of who is going to film what and when. For example, one camera could get some shots of the congregation watching the service which can then make good cutaways to enable the service to be edited down in length. Both should keep recording the whole time though, to allow you to have continuous sound. Once again, ask both wedding videographers to keep their cameras still and don't zoom in and out too much.

6. Think about the logistics - how long will your batteries last? Is your tape long enough to cover the entire service? Is there anywhere you can plug your camera into the mains? Where can you carry spare batteries and tapes? Perhaps a discreet bumbag? Or trousers with large pockets?

7. Hire a decent camera - if you don't have one. A broadcast quality camera can be hired for around £120 a day although you'll need a bit of training to use it.

8. Think about how to record sound - poor sound quality is one of the biggest giveaways with amateur video. Hire a good microphone that you can position near the couple and plug it into your camera. Check the vicar or registrar is happy with this and don't leave any loose wires dangling across aisles or exits where granny - or anyone else - can trip over them!

9. Editing. Once you've recorded your video, you'll have to think about editing. Video takes a lot of room up on computer hard drives so you'll need to invest in an external drive. You'll also need specialist editing software. Professional wedding videographers like 4 Life Films often use the same editing software as Television Production Companies - that's how they achieve such a professional look. However, using this kind of software takes years of training and even setting up the system itself can be complicated if you don't know what you're doing. Try something simpler like Adobe Premiere Elements. Alternatively, approach a professional wedding video company and enquire about whether they might consider editing your tapes for you.

Best of luck! It's not as easy as it looks!