The wedding journal / From our first wedding
Wedding filming.
Two weeks
to go.
What Jo and Andy’s wedding taught us about booking a videographer at short notice.
STILL FROM THE WEDDING FILMTwo weeks before her wedding, Jo called us about filming it. She had only recently started organising the day. That booking became the first wedding we shot as The Camera Guys — and a useful reminder that a short planning window does not have to mean a forgettable film.
It was September 2019. Jo and Andy were preparing for a move to the UAE, and marriage was part of what they needed to arrange before living there together. Jo pulled her resources together and created a day that travelled from Colchester Town Hall to the river at Dedham, then on to Le Talbooth for dinner, speeches and a party.
This is not a guide to arranging an entire wedding in a fortnight. It is what that experience taught us about booking wedding videography when there is very little time to spare.
01 / The first conversation
Get the essentials
into one clear brief.
Start with the date, the ceremony time, the places involved and what you want filmed. A videographer needs to understand the shape of the day before getting into the finer details of an edit.
For a wedding with several locations, the addresses and travel arrangements matter as much as the list of beautiful shots you have in mind. Include the contact for each venue and flag anything unusual early. A boat transfer is a lovely part of a film, but it is also something the crew needs to plan around.
Our questions to ask a wedding videographer before booking are a useful starting point. With a short lead time, put availability, coverage and delivery at the top of that conversation.
02 / Two sides of the morning
Decide what needs
to happen at once.
We provided video only for Jo and Andy, with two videographers. That allowed us to cover both the bridal and groom preparations. Those parallel moments give the finished film something the couple cannot experience together on the day: a look at what was happening in the other room.
Two people are particularly useful when the coverage you want overlaps in time. The sensible question is not simply how many cameras will be present. It is whether one operator can physically be where the important moments are happening.
Make those priorities explicit. If both sets of preparations matter, say so. If your emphasis is the ceremony and speeches, tell the filmmaker that too. The coverage should follow your day.
03 / From one place to the next
Leave room for
the journey itself.
Jo and Andy married at Colchester Town Hall, then took a boat from Dedham to Le Talbooth. The transfer was more than a way of reaching the reception. It gave them a little time together and gave the film a change of pace between the ceremony and the waiting guests.
When you are sharing the itinerary with your videographer, include the time between the formal events. Who travels where? When will guests arrive? Is there enough time for the crew to reach the next position? Those answers help protect the unrepeatable parts of the day.
You do not need to script every moment. You do need to make the practical route clear enough that the cameras can follow it.
04 / The things you will want to hear again
Make space for
the whole speech.
The speeches at this wedding have stayed with us. They were full of personality, and the reactions around the room were just as memorable as the person holding the microphone. This was 2019: handwritten notes, real nerves and no ChatGPT draft waiting in the wings.
A highlight film can draw a thread through those words, but it cannot contain every story. We delivered the full speeches and the full ceremony as separate films, so the couple had both the edited experience and the longer record.
Before booking, establish whether complete ceremony and speech films are included, optional or outside the agreed coverage. “A wedding video” can mean quite different things. Clear expectations now are much easier than discovering later that the version you imagined was never part of the brief.
05 / A film for different moments
Agree the versions
you will actually watch.
Jo and Andy’s full package included a 60-second teaser, complete ceremony and speeches, a nine-minute cinematic highlight and a longer, 27-minute highlight. Each served a different purpose: a quick share, a shaped story, or more time to return to the day.
If you are comparing packages, ask about the length and purpose of each film rather than counting deliverables alone. Our guide to what a wedding highlight film includes explains the distinction between a condensed edit and fuller coverage.
You can see the finished nine-minute film and the supplied trailer on Jo and Andy’s Colchester Town Hall and Le Talbooth wedding portfolio.
Short notice.
Clear priorities.
Our first Camera Guys wedding was filmed on Sony A7 III and A6500 cameras. Looking back, the part that matters most is not the kit list. It is that the preparations, vows, journey, voices and people are still there to return to.
If your wedding is coming up quickly, send us your wedding date and filming plans. We can check availability and talk through the coverage that matters to you.
The next chapter.
Jo later invited us back to capture her 40th birthday at Le Talbooth in photographs and film. Explore Jo’s Le Talbooth birthday photography and celebration film, or read our tips for planning photographs for a milestone birthday.