Confetti Down the Dress?! Wedding Videographer Horror Stories & Advice

In this episode of Unpacked, we sit down with wedding videographer Laura from Vision Wave Weddings to talk all things weddings, filming love stories, and the reality of working in the wedding industry.

From starting out filming £400 weddings to capturing over 450 wedding days, Laura shares how she built her business, what really happens behind the scenes, and why wedding videography is so much more than just “content creation.”

We also dive into:

• Wedding videographer horror stories
• The biggest wedding guest icks
• Why guests should NEVER wave at the camera
• Confetti disasters
• Content creators vs videographers
• Wedding regrets couples have after the big day
• Advice for brides and grooms planning their wedding
• Funny wedding supplier stories
• What makes a great wedding film

If you're planning a wedding, work in the wedding industry, or just love hearing hilarious behind-the-scenes stories, this episode is packed with laughs, advice, and real wedding industry insights.

🎥 Guest: Laura – Vision Wave Weddings
🎙️ Podcast: Unpacked

#WeddingPodcast #WeddingVideographer #WeddingPlanning #WeddingTips #WeddingIndustry #Videographer #WeddingContentCreator #BrideToBe #WeddingAdvice #VisionWaveWeddings

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Unpacked. Hello. Today we are joined by the lovely Laura. Hi.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

Okay, so we know you, don't we, really, from the plow. I'm just gonna say we we've yeah, you two have definitely spoken at the plow shows.

SPEAKER_03 0:22

We have, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

And I've obviously heard about you. Zap has been very much highly recommended of you. He's like, yes, you need to get this woman in. So we've obviously got you in for a podcast, and you're obviously doing the hub show as well. Yes. Um so we're looking forward to that. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Good fun.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Hopefully. Uh uh, but yeah, tell us about yourself. Like what we do, how you got into it.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

How I got into it. Wow. Okay, so um my company's Vision Wave Weddings, and I've been filming weddings since 2013. So since I was a little kid, basically. Um, I did a film degree at Staffordshire Uni, and when I graduated, the guy that we used to rent the cameras from at uni uh basically popped me a message on Facebook and said, Oh, we've got a couple who want a cheap wedding film, they want a student to do it. Um, and he was like, I don't really trust a student. He says, I know you've bought your own cameras because I like to buy things before I know what I'm gonna use them for. I am the epitome of all you have no idea for sure. Look at my uh garage, it's full of stuff. And so yeah, I was like, Yeah, okay, I'll do it. I did it. I charged £400, which is a bargain. Um, and then um that was it. I thought, okay, this is good fun, I'll do this on the side. I'll I'll have a normal PAYE job as well. Yeah, um, but my intention was never to do it full time, I never thought it'd be a possibility.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

So when did that happen then?

SPEAKER_01 1:46

In 2017, I got married, used my PAYE job to pay for the wedding and the honeymoon. And then in November, I was like, I am done. Um, and basically, I was getting that many weddings that I was working seven days a week. I didn't have a minute off. I'd get home from work at like five o'clock, have dinner, and sit and edit till ten o'clock at night.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

So it's the editing that takes so long.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

It does, it does, it takes such a long time, and the prep before a wedding, as you guys probably know yourselves as well. Um, and then yeah, 2017 November, I I left my PAYE job. Uh, had a nice little quiet winter at home, and then the following year it's been crazy ever since, basically. Oh, I bet that was exciting then. It was, yeah. Um it was a little bit nerve-wracking. Yeah. I kind of I felt like confident in the bookings I'd already got in, so it wasn't really like I think the biggest part was losing out on the £20,000 a year from my job, but yeah in the end that didn't seem that much of a bit of a little later COVID and then.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Yeah, which was wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

But I think that really actually gave my business a boost. Since then, I've doubled the amount of weddings.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

I think it'd give a lot of businesses a boost, to be honest with you. Hopefully that carries on. It allowed us all to be more creative, didn't it?

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Yeah, and I think uh I don't know if the mass of people getting married after the wedding and they'd have sorry, after COVID, they'd had delays, so they'd managed to save more, which meant they'd got more budget for for a videographer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

So uh we found that as well. Yeah, yeah. Obviously with the added extras. We're not necessities, are we? So we're not, sadly. Unfortunately, we should be though. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

So what prep work do you have to do then before a wedding?

SPEAKER_01 3:25

It's very, very admin-based in a way. Um basically making sure I've got all of the details for the day. Addresses are a big thing, um, especially if they're not getting ready where they're getting married, or like even churches. You know, I'm always on Google Maps trying to find is this the right church? Sometimes I'll ask for what three words locations, which are a lifesaver. Yeah. Um, they are one of the best things ever invented. Um, but yeah, it's mainly timings and stuff before the wedding. Um, and then obviously charging up all my kit, which everything's on charge today because I've got a wedding tomorrow. God, yeah. It takes takes hours and hours and hours to charge. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

So uh is it just weddings that you do or do you do other?

SPEAKER_01 4:04

I used to do commercial work as well, but um I just don't have time for it. I don't really have the passion for it at all. It's okay, it's good like during Covid I did a little bit. Um, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

You like the weddings?

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Yeah, they're just good fun, and I know what to expect with a wedding. Yeah, usually.

SPEAKER_02 4:22

So do you do a lot of the same venues?

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Because um mostly, yeah. I would I I kind of prefer that though. I know there's some suppliers that like to be at different venues and they like to go all the whole width of the UK. I would rather stay about an hour to two hours from home, yeah, stay at my local venues. I'm quite often at the plough. Uh Foxtel Barnes is probably one of my most popular.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Yeah, lovely venue, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Heaton House Farm as well. I like quite a lot, but I'm only like 15 minutes from Heaton House, so it's ideal. And the plough, I'm only two minutes from there, so it just was great. I could, yeah. My car broke down, I could just wander along.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

I think it's important though that you actually do know the venue extremely well, though.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

In a way, it must help, mustn't it? It it does help, um, but I don't ever feel like I'm drowning if I'm at a venue for the first time. Yeah. I think some couples think that I must need to go to a venue before I've uh before I film their wedding there, but I don't because they're usually pretty similar, and there's always somebody on hand on the day to quickly show you around. So I can quick I can I can learn on the day quickly where I need to be and where I need to go. And I do sometimes look at other videos of the venue.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Yes, see what other people have done.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

To see what's there, basically.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Um but I do like to be at the same venues because I you know once you know the staff, I don't know, it just it doesn't feel like you're going to work for the day.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Yeah, it's like a bit of fun, really.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

You just go and hang out with basically your friends. Oh, I don't hang out, obviously. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Um get a video over here, please.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, uh I think that's nice because we don't have colleagues, do we, in this job, really? We have other suppliers that we know, and then they kind of just become your colleagues.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

So do you tend to find that going to the same venues, the videos come out quite similar, or is everyone's video pretty different?

SPEAKER_01 6:09

I try and make them different. Yes. Um but obviously it when I'm doing the highlight films, especially, a lot of what I do in the film is based on what the speeches, what they say in the speeches, so that has a massive impact.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

So if you can say a highlight film, what's that?

SPEAKER_01 6:26

So that's like a shorter version of the day that goes on social media. Okay, like and mine are usually about seven minutes long, and sometimes they could be five that some companies will do, and sometimes people will do them about ten minutes, but mine are about seven, um, and that's literally like the best of the best bits of the day. Um yeah, it's kind of it's really hard to explain.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

And I suppose it depends on the guests as well. Yeah, it does. I do pressure on the guests, but it does depend on them. Yeah, if they're like quite introvert, yeah, it's a nice way of saying it.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Just say boring. Yeah, if they're quite introverted, obviously the film can feel a little bit more flat. But I use different music as well for everyone's films, so um, I try and choose music based on what they like. Uh so I think that adds a different vibe for the day, really. I try and keep it different, but obviously when you are shooting at the same venues, especially the bridge shot at Foxtale Barnes, which is like one of my favourite shots, but I can't open every film with that. I know there's some photographers that have laughed at me in the past because all of my films open with either a kissing shot or a walk-in shot. I'm trying to stop that. But then I think, well, if couples are booking me for that, then yeah, exactly. If you like your style, then I do try and mix it up though.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

So is there a set is there like a specific set style that you follow, or can brides and grooms like choose different ones or like to stick to my style?

SPEAKER_01 7:49

I think it's quite a personal thing when you get your own style. I um I would say I'm quite heavily influenced from like American wedding videographers. Um I watch a lot of American wedding films, I enjoy them, I always find them more interesting. I don't know why. Um they tend to focus a lot more on the emotions of the day and heavily rely on speeches for like storytelling or a highlight film. Okay, so um yeah, that's kind of my style. Obviously, I'm led more with couples who like if you're having a more upbeat day and obviously you've put a lot of emphasis into your evening section of the day, I'm not gonna make your film more about like the slow moments. Yeah. So I try and get a feel of what the couple are into and go from there, but I do try and stick to like a broad style for my films because I feel like if you've got too many different styles, it can get confusing for couples who are looking at your work because they might be like, Okay, well, what what kind of film am I gonna get?

SPEAKER_02 8:50

Do they ever make demands? Do they ever say I want this to happen in my video?

SPEAKER_01 8:54

So people will maybe say, like, I want this specific bit capturing, which is fine. Usually I would be capturing it anyway.

SPEAKER_02 9:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Um, but I don't have people come back asking for re-edits, it's not really something that I offer.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

Yeah. Because I think, well, that's your day, that's what that's what's happened.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Yeah, and I you know, at the end of the day, as someone who's filmed, I don't know, nearly 450 weddings, I do know what I'm doing now. So finally, after the after I don't know how many years it's been 12 years, I do know what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

Is there a particular qualification for it?

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Or can anyone become a but anyone can do it, you just gotta have the equipment really passion, I guess. Yeah, yeah. Um obviously I did a film degree expecting, thanks to the university, to be in Hollywood right now making movies. Uh that doesn't happen as easy as well.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Now you're on our podcast.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Yeah, to be fair, you might as well be in Hollywood, I could be in Sunny Congleton with my dogs and my husband, um, not in Hollywood, because Hollywood seems like an absolute pain. So I don't think I could go with the the actors and actresses. No.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

What is your biggest piece of advice to your bride and group?

SPEAKER_01 10:03

So I would say it's your wedding day. Don't listen to everybody having an opinion of your day. It's your day. Be true to yourselves, you know what you like. Um it's very easy, I think, to be led by your friends, your family, your bridal party, and what they think you should have. And by social media as well, what social media is telling you, you should have this for your wedding day. Yeah, you don't need any of that stuff. The most important thing on a wedding day is are you getting married? Have you gotten married by the end of the day? If that happens, great, nothing else matters. Yeah, like anything else can go wrong on the day. Yeah, and that is probably my biggest advice.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Yeah, the day is what you make it, isn't it? It is, yeah. So if you sit there being miserable in the corner, your day's gonna be miserable. If you're upbeat and just dancing about and spending time with your loved ones, then you're gonna have fun.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

And it's how you look back on the day then as well. If you were kind of down on the actual day, when you look back, it's not gonna be what you hoped it would be. And then I think that I feel like that's why a lot of people get a bit of post-wedding blues. Do you think? I think so, yeah. I think they put that much pressure on themselves to to make this day something that it really doesn't need to be. Yeah. The most important thing is you guys get married and that's it. Yeah, that's all that matters. Doesn't matter who you have there, what you have. Yeah. Are you married? Great. Yeah. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

Um I did have more advice.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

Let me just say have a scatter because I have not got a m the memory for this in September. Oh, ignore the budgets that websites like hitched and stuff tell you.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Oh really?

SPEAKER_01 11:37

So I found basically I used to be on um one of those websites, I can't remember which one it was, I think it might have been one called BARC. And they would email me um inquiries or people that were looking for suppliers, and the couples used to set a budget, and I don't know who was giving them this budget idea, but they were like £500, and I'm thinking, you're not gonna get a good videographer for £500. Yeah. So I think sometimes when I've looked at these websites that tell you this is what you should expect to spend on a videographer, especially, they're so much less than what a good videographer actually does cost. Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Um I wonder where they're getting these figures from then.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

I have no idea, but I would take a bucket of salt. The photography ones tend to be right, but they always rank the videographer as less budget, and I actually find we're usually about the same.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

So I don't know who's making it. I've seen it on selfie mirrors though, they've they say all the budget allow like 150. And I bet that's right. And I'm thinking the ink and the paper genuinely is like 96 pounds a roll. And I'm thinking And then you've got to staff it, deliver it, say it all. Yeah, exactly. So it's just not gonna happen. All the props get nicked every single time.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

So I'd be propless if I were you kidding.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

The amount of times I've gone chasing after that lobster head, because it's my favourite one. I'm like, right, where's my lobster? I'm coming for you. It's the air guitars that make me look.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

I know. And the wigs get through on the wigs. Have you got one of the Tom wigs with the ginger hair? Yes, that's my favourite wig. Why? Um I don't know how, but we ended up with one at home and we used to wear it, we still wear it on Christmas Day and play a game where we've got a wrapped-up parcel and we wear oven gloves and we have to unwrap it.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

I feel like that is the most bizarre tradition. It's hilarious.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

So we also have one, so she can wear one for the hub. Yeah, on Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

We'll bring you some oven gloves.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

And it surprisingly suits me.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

That's my ick.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

I made it. You made it. Not in Hollywood, but I'm on your ickles. You're on the ickles.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

What is your biggest dick speaking of? I've got a few. Go on, I'll be honest.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

I love it when people have got a few.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

I've got one, two, three, four. Oh wow. Five. I've got five. I mean it was fun. I put a lot of effort into these. I love it. I'm not these aren't in any particular order, but I hate when guests wave at the camera. So when I'm right, my style is documentary filmmaking, right? I'm doing a documentary of your wedding day, supposed to be natural, okay? No one's supposed to notice I'm there. And I'll be getting a great shot of like, I don't know, your cute nan or or grandad or something. And then there's some dipstick in the side of the frame, and he's just like, and then I have to explain to the person that I'm filming, you don't need to wave. And then I look like an idiot because I'm basically telling this guest, please don't wave at the camera. And you'll get some people that do it all day. Every time the camera is on them, they wave, and I just think just look moronic. Yeah, so to be honest, you're just making your bride and groom waste money. Yeah, you're you're the friends that you whose wedding you are at, you are literally wasting their money. Because every time my camera points at you, you're waving and you're wasting my precious time and their precious money. I mean to never wave. I hate it. And then get to the point, especially in September, if you wave at the camera, I'm just gonna stare at you and smile. Like um, but if you do it in earlier in the wedding season, I will explain, like, oh, I'm filming, you don't need to wave just that natural. But by September, I'm tired of saying it. So if you see a wedding in September that I filmed and someone's waving at the camera, that's why it's because I'm tired of telling people.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Have you got another egg? It's a great egg.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

It's just a funny one. Um being ill at weddings. Oh fucking, guys. What are you playing? If you've got something contagious, just stay at home. Um, the amount of public sickness I have seen at weddings this year is unreal. Really? Like there's bathrooms, there's this wonderful invention called a toilet that you could go and do that in. Um, just go there. Don't make the venue staff clean up. I don't want to look at it. Um, but yeah, people being ill at weddings, I'm I'm over it. I'm I'm constantly using hand sanitizer, it's in my pocket right now. I have nasal spray to stop me catching germs. Oh my god. I am a big time germophobe. So yeah, germs at weddings. That isn't it. Probably my biggest ick. Over the waving. Over everything else in life, illness is my biggest ick. I'll text my husband at a wedding, like, somebody's just been sick, and he's like, oh no, she's gonna freak. Somebody just coughed, I heard it from across the dance. Yeah, I won't breathe then for the next 20 minutes at that. So if you see me pass out at a wedding, it's probably because I've been holding my breath.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

The camera just yeah, just press the red button, it's fine.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Um yeah, that's my my next one. Go on. He's a good one. Yeah, literally, just reel them off. Speeches in between wedding courses of your meal. I hate so hard. Why? So during the wedding breakfast, I will often use that time to back up your footage. Um so it's a good time, it's a nice time for me to sit down and rest my little feet, you know, rest my legs. Sometimes I'll put stuff on charge, I'll get stuff prepped for the evening, like getting lights ready to be put in onto your first dance floor. Um, and then we've got speeches between courses. So it's like you only get like five minutes to quickly sit and be like and then you're up again. And then you go back down, you sit back down, you've done a speech, you sit down, five minutes later you're back up again. You don't get time to sit down, and when you've been on your feet since like nine in the morning, and it's now four o'clock, and this is your first opportunity to sit down and and go for a wee. Yeah, like I haven't been for a wee until four or something. I need I need to have my coconut water, I need to sit down, eat my pasta, and then I'm feeling recharged. Um, but yeah, there are there are a little kind of trend that's probably started in the last few years, and I know it's hard for venues as well. Um plus I can't leave my cameras set up in the wedding breakfast room and just keep coming back to them because then they're in the all of the wait staff's way, which makes me feel like a horrible person. So then I have to pack all the cameras out of the way, yeah, put them back in place, mic everyone back up again. So yeah, that is a bit of an ick. I didn't even know that was a thing, to be completely honest.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

Even as a guest, that's annoying. If you've had your starters and you're thinking, oh yeah, I'm ready now, and then you've got to listen to 20 minutes of speech.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

If sometimes people do it where it goes speeches, sorry, starters, speeches, and then the the rest of the meal. But I even think that's a beer. You've teased your yeah, and I think you lose your guest interest as well, to be honest.

SPEAKER_02 18:34

You'd lose rhyme.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Yeah, same.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

I feel like it breaks the flow up a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

Yeah, and it can be hard for the catering because then it's like you don't know how long that speech is gonna go on for. Sometimes they're gone for a while, um and then you you stood there with the main course thinking, ooh, fresh lamb, warm, ready to go out, and then smell it. Yeah, so no, not for me. Sorry guys, I agree with that. Any more for any more? I have two more. So the next one is rude or inappropriate speeches.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

I've had dads do really rude and inappropriate speeches. Really?

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Yeah, like oh gross.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

That is gross, like completely weird speech. No offense to that dad. I can't remember which one it was.

SPEAKER_02 19:21

Um yeah, we'll play the video on the follow for more.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Um yeah, I'm not because I use them such a lot in like the highlight films, like I was saying, um, I can't use your rude, inappropriate speeches to make a nice highlight film that I'm gonna put on my website and my social media. And you're it's not gonna be the style that you've booked me for. Yeah. That's the the thing. Like, obviously, I'm trying to make wedding films that suit the style that I do, and when couples book me, then I assume they like the style that I've got, and then if they've got really rude speeches, they're not gonna get that. No, I've then got to comb through it and pick out the nicest bits, and sometimes the nicest bits then are from the registrar, which you know, not everyone wants a registrar's audio in the films. No, this is true. Have you got your final one? Confetti down the bride's dress, that needs to die off. We have we said confetti on that the other week, didn't we? I love confetti, but there's always an auntie that's like and sometimes I'll make jokes when we're setting up a confetti shop, and I'll I'll turn around to a just I'll pick on a random guest and be like, you look like you might put it down the bride's dress, don't it just make some laugh. Yeah, um, because it is weird having a camera there all the time. Um, but yeah, there's always somebody that does it.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

It's amazed how many people's icks that is. Yeah, even from different because obviously we've interviewed uh venues, photographers that have got so content, blah blah blah. And they've all pretty much said do not put confetti down the bride's dress.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

I love confetti, yeah. And you imagine if it's the petals, the dried petals, how itchy that is. Yeah, that'd drive me crazy. I'd have to go home and put my like if I was the bride, I'd have to go home, get completely changed, and just come back in my dressing probably this outfit, a flannel shirt and jeans or something, or maybe maybe even my hugs. Yeah, I don't have any, but uh or crocs. I don't have any crocs, I don't have crocs yet.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

That was a dick from a lot of things.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

It's been a dick. Even brides wearing crocs. Bridesmaids, it was wanted to wear crocs for the whole day. Um we're not sure, it was just a customer dilemma. They wanted the bride didn't want her bridesmaids wearing crocs, which is fair, very fair. Anyway, we'll move on to our customer dilemmas. Okay. Are you excited? I'm excited. Okay, so we've got Sue from Congleton. She says, I've got a photographer and a content creator. Do I need a videographer as well?

SPEAKER_01 21:54

I mean, without being obviously I'm biased. Um if you've got the budget. I don't see why not. I think from the content creators I've worked with, and admittedly I've only worked with a handful, but um yes, they film stuff, I totally agree. Um obviously it's always vertical. So I film everything horizontally, which is timeless, you know, it's gonna be on your TV, that kind of thing. Um but the content creators I've worked with, they don't film all of the speeches and they don't film all of the ceremony. It's a snippets, it's snippets, yeah, and they're literally designed for social media trends, which is great if that's what you want, but I don't think it can replace video, basically. I think a lot of people at the moment are thinking content creation is a replacement for video, and I think this is why a lot of videographers are feeling very threatened by it. Right, it's not a replacement, it's a different thing. So um I think if you've got the budget, have it, but don't have content creation because you actually just want a videographer.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Um, you think that they can work nicely together?

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Yeah, I mean, I'm nice, I've worked nicely with with uh content creators. Yeah. At the end of the day, everyone at a wedding is doing content creation. Yeah, your hair and makeup artists are doing it, your florists, every supplier there is doing some form of content creation. And what am I? I'm a videographer. I make films which is content, yeah. So I'm that's exactly what I'm doing. Um I think if you can't work as a team on a wedding day, then you probably shouldn't be doing weddings because it is one big team effort.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

And at the end of the day, if you're all there for one reason and that's to make the bride uh the the couple's day the best, then you should be working as a team.

SPEAKER_02 23:35

So do you do a bit of content creation though? If you if you do that seven-minute film, if you like, the highlight that's kind of yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

So in terms of like me actually putting stuff on like TikTok, I'll take snippets from the highlight films. Um I have got a content creation package which you can add on to my long form package, um, but that's more than anything, a cheaper option for couples who want a bit of the TikToky style stuff. Yeah, um but from me, couples get a one-minute sneak peek within a few days of the wedding anyway. So to me that covers that covers that. Yeah. Um but I get it, people want content creators because they do they are they are it it's kind of nice in a way because it means that I can be concentrating on other stuff and I'm like, oh well, I know the content creators getting loads of that. Yeah. So I don't think they're a bad thing, and I don't think uh it's bad that couples are having content creators instead of videographers, but I think I worry that some of them might make the mistake of having it because really they want a cheap videographer.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Got yeah to some extent.

SPEAKER_02 24:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It does because the one thing when I got married, the we basically the budget ran out and we we couldn't get to the a videographer. It was just like your music there, right? Uh I did, yeah. I love my music, so I'm the wrong person to offer.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

See, I prioritised a honeymoon instead of like um music on the day. But looking back, I would have liked someday so.

SPEAKER_02 24:58

See, that was the one thing I wanted live music, I wanted to recruit anyway. I had a lot of live bands. Um but I really wish now, yeah, because we had the live bands, that we had a videographer. That is my one regret looking back, and I do think I wish I had. And you can't go back and get it again. No, that's it, isn't it? And uh I know with social content, it does cover that slightly, and I suppose it does fall, but it's not the same.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

It's a little bit, but in your life.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

This is the thing.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

The day after my wedding, I was sat in a hotel in at Heathrow Airport watching the speeches again, crying like a baby. Uh, but and then on the plane, I edited because I edited my own film, obviously. Benefit of being a videographer, so I had to edit my own film. Um, but yeah, you know, it's I used to sit and watch my parents' wedding film every Saturday morning. Every Saturday morning morning. The divorce now, so that went down well. Yeah, it was pointless. What a waste of every Saturday morning. Yeah, me and me and my younger sister used to make try and make a cup of tea or a milkshake or something. Yeah. I tried to make oval team once, didn't do a very good job. And we sat, we'd get some biscuits and we'd sit and watch mum and dad's wedding film.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

That's actually so cute. I just don't understand why.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

I've not full of weird tradition. I'm weird, so need me at the wedding because I'm just silly.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Okay, we'll move on. We've got Phoebe from Sandbach who says, I'm worried a videographer will feel intrusive and make my guests uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

So don't pick a tall videographer. No, I'm joking.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

Um don't pick a knob.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

Well, yeah, there is that. Um, I think this is probably one of the biggest things that puts people off. And it's often the grooms that feel nervous about having a videographer. Yeah. So many times I've turned up to weddings, and the groom is very obviously like, I don't want you here.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

Um they won't have pictures. It's always the brides that come on, then the bridesmaids come on. And then they have to go and drag the Yeah, the the grooms only get that confidence in the last half hour.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Men's funny little things.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

All big and big and camera, don't put me in this racket.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

They make me laugh because they're all like confident and cocky, and then actually they don't want to be on film. But um the way I work is I try and blend into the background. Obviously, it is very helpful that I am only five foot two, five foot three. So I do, I'm not much taller than any of your guests. If you've got kids at the wedding, I'm taller than them, that's it. Um but the way I try and make guests feel comfortable is make them laugh.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

So, and if I can tell a guest is feeling awkward, especially in the morning or like before the ceremony, I'll leave them alone. I'll I won't keep trying to film them. I might have a joke with them and say, I'll leave you alone for now. Yeah, just put them at ease and drinks reception, you're all mine, and I'm gonna get moved for you. Yeah, and then really, once you've made a joke with some of the guests, especially if they are nervous, they kind of forget you're even there. Yeah, and you're not just the weirdo with the camera, then you're actually that person that just made them laugh earlier and had like a normal conversation with them. I don't know, I'll find any random topic to talk to with someone. Um, but yeah, and I think uh for couples, I don't I think the day is that chaotic anyway that they don't notice your day. The amount I mean, my Google reviews literally everyone's like, oh, we didn't even notice she was there. I've been referred to as a professional ninja, which is a badge I wear with on. Um but it's funny badge. I might get a t-shirt or something, you know. I was gonna get a full costume and everything. Oh, yeah, let's do it, let's do it. I mean, I yeah, when people notice me, obviously when I'm filming, I will make a joke with them and be like, wait, can you see me? Did my invisibility cloak run out? And I'll be like, oh, that's what happens when you get it from wish.com. And I just feel like if you make people laugh, it just relaxes them straight away. Yeah. Um, and I don't mind if people think I'm a bit of a weirdo or if I'm a bit silly. Don't bother you. No, I'm not bothered. No, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

Um, okay, so Kirsty from Pressbury says, What do I do if my videographer misses a huge moment? Like our first look on my dad's speech.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

So this has happened to me before. Yeah. I have missed the first half of a dad's speech. Gutting. Disclaimer, it was not my fault. So basically, before a wedding, your videographer should be coming to you and being like, Right, this I've got a form that I get couples to fill in online. So, whichever way you want to do it, that's great. But mine's a form. They fill it in, it's got all the timings for everything.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

On my form, it now specifically says if you change the time of speeches or like deviate from these timings, I can't guarantee things will get captured. Right. Because obviously, if I'm running on the day on these timings, because that's the only info I've got on your wedding day, and all of a sudden your speeches are an hour earlier than I was told, Well, how do you expect me to know that? I'm not a psychic. I wish I was, I'd love to be, it would save so many problems, and I'd probably be rich because I would enter the lottery. Um so I'd probably still be doing weddings though. Um I think the biggest thing you can do as a couple, your responsibility to ensure your videographers capture it and your photographer and all your other suppliers to make sure they're getting everything that you want is you need to make sure they know when those things are happening. Don't just drop it on them and be like, oh yeah, we did the speeches an hour ago. So this this wedding where I did Mr. Dad's speech, basically, me and the photographer were told speeches were after food. So I'm always told if they're before, what time, and if they're after, and then obviously a rough time. With speeches being after food, obviously that can change. So if you tell me they're after the meal at six, that's great. But if your dinner service takes longer, then they're obviously gonna be later. Obviously, that's fine. That's not a couple's fault. Yeah, the dinner service is quicker. Again, it's not their fault. It's uh it's just the way it is with the with the meals. What I do during the wedding breakfast is I'll keep popping in, see where you're at. A guest might be coming to the bar and I'll say, Oh, have you had your dessert yet? Basically, I'm waiting for you to have a dessert. And then I know toast drinks are gonna get poured, and I know sweetjes are gonna be probably within the next half an hour. But this wedding, me and the photographer sat, I'd been and checked the room, they were having the main meals. Um, me and the photographer were waiting for our food. Uh, we got our food, I finished, and I was like, and at that point, then I was going double check again, are we on desserts yet? Because if I know we're on desserts, it's nearly go time. Um as I was walking out of the room that me and the photographer in, I said to her, I was like, Oh, I'm just gonna go and see where they're at with food. And there was an evening guest there, and she said, Oh, they've started speeches. And I was like, What? I wasn't as polite as that. I was like, What? Pardon, kind of thing. Um, and she was like, Oh, yeah, they've started the speeches. I absolutely bombed it down the corridor, and they'd started the speeches and not and they were still eating the mains. Oh god, it was whilst doing the speech whilst doing speeches.

SPEAKER_02 32:03

Warnick.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

So yeah, warn it. Make sure you tell everyone the timings. Um, absolutely not my fault. No. Um, I had I then had to quickly throw cameras in the doorway.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

Um to get I wasn't in a good spot at all, but it was the only place I could be. Uh crawl into the wedding breakfast room, throw microphones at people. Oh, and then luckily I only missed probably two, three minutes of the dad's speech. Yeah, but not my happiest moment. I was literally shaking. I'm trying to record. It was horrible, it was horrible, but not my fault. And the same family booked me for another wedding, so I was there. And the exact same thing happened again.

SPEAKER_03 32:43

But I was ready. I was ready.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

You won't do that to me again. Okay, next and final one. We've got Esme from Stockport who says, My parents are quite strict and uptight. However, me and my friends are not. Can we have one video that is tamed down and a feral one for me and my friends? Feral one.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

What on earth could be in a feral wedding though? Do I need to do I want to know that? Probably not. It's not gonna go back to the ick where we're on about like uh rude speeches. Um I mean, you I guess you could. You could do, but do you want to be showing your your I want to be at this wedding? I might not want to be because I might be sick at that one. Yeah, but I guess you could. That's something you could you just need to speak to a videographer. Yeah, yeah. I know some videographers obviously focus more on having a party vibe film, so that probably would be a perfect match. Yes. Um, but I really don't know what is in a feral wedding film. I might Google it when I get home, but maybe not. I'll put a VPN on and then Google it. I don't see that that would be an issue. Um yeah, I'm intrigued. I'm on well, who was the who was the person? Esme from Stockwell. Esme from Stockwell. Tell me what's in a feral wedding film. I'm intrigued. No, Esme, please. It's gonna be something really simple now, like, isn't it? Like, oh, we just want to do a cake smash, wreck the dress afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

Want just like a shot. Yeah, that's it, yeah. Well, that is all of our customer dilemmas. So, do you have anything either of you that you want to add?

SPEAKER_02 34:22

I don't think I think we covered a lot there, aren't we?

SPEAKER_01 34:24

Yeah, so how can people find you? Um, I am Vision Wave Weddings. You can find me on Google, um, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, and TikTok as well. If you want to give me a bit of a follow on TikTok, that would be great because I'm 34 years old and TikTok is not my jam.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

Tell me about it.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Listen, I'm 24 years old and I'm struggling with getting followers on TikTok.

SPEAKER_01 34:47

So it's hard. It's hard. My dogs have got more followers on Instagram than I've got on TikTok.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

His daughter, who is what, 12, has got more subscribers than us on YouTube. Well, thank you so much for coming back. It's been great, and we will see you all next week.