Getting Ready - Telling a tale out of a wedding

When a story is told, it usually begins with an explanation of what the story is about, then, a sequence of events happen and the story reaches its climax and subtly it comes to a denouement.

Our job is to reach that point, where a wedding can be told and shown as a story, and the only way to get that kind of results is to have enough time and dedication to details to capture the wedding video including all that happens through your big day.

We like to start with a Getting Ready session before everything actually begins...

We consider the Getting Ready a must, and this has a very important reason to be, we’ll explain why this part of the wedding is so important to record, how we do the Getting Ready sessions and the most common misunderstandings regarding this particular topic.

Our job is to create a cinematic wedding video, worthy of maximum quality, and we’re not talking only about HD, 4K, drone scenes (Which for sure we also cover), but we’re also thinking of every detail that can turn a simple documentary work into a wedding cinematic movie that covers the bride and groom feelings, family moments, the dress and suit, the flowers…

Common misunderstandings

A lot of couples don’t consider important to ask their wedding videographer and/or photographer for a Getting Ready session, we as wedding cinematographers always recommend this to couples.

There are many reasons why couples do not consider it a priority, sometimes it’s time, money, intimacy, etc. and it’s highly comprehensive if that’s the final decision.

The aim of doing this shot on particular is to be able to keep forever unrepeatable scenes, emotions and reactions of your beloved ones and yourselves as well, we don’t mean to irrupt into the privacy of the moment, but to help preserve them in as a movie and you’ll be able to see days, months and years later noticing new things that you couldn't notice at the moment because of the excitement and other sudden emotions that come when you’re about to get married.

Another common wrong thought about these sessions is that the recording of a Getting Ready takes about 30 min.

It’s all the opposite, as there are a lot of details to cover we take at least 2 hours shooting it.

The way we do it at Ruiz Films Wedding Films

Like we said earlier in this article, we take at least 2 hours prior to the wedding to shoot the Getting Ready scenes and we’ll explain to you why with this simple example:

We always get shots of the bride’s wedding dress, and it can seem simple to shoot a 3-second part of a dress, it is a dress, it doesn’t move, apparently…

But the reality is other, it takes around 15 minutes to get that 3-second result. Why?

1. First, we have to choose the perfect background, that means checking a few rooms and outdoors of the venue we’re at.

2. Second, we have to set our equipment; stabilizers, cameras, lenses and lights if needed.

3. Third, we have to set the background and find the right angle because of the light, wind, position of the dress, etc.

4. If the dress is looking loose or wrinkled we have to adjust it only for the shoot.

5. Finally we get to shoot the scene for 3 seconds!!

It can seem like a time-wasting to a lot of people, but these details are our personal seal and knowing how to achieve cinematic fragments out of “a simple piece of cloth” can be the final and magic ingredient to the best wedding video ever!

So, having in mind that we take 15 minutes to shoot 3 seconds out of a dress, you can imagine how much time it will take if the idea is to have short video fragments of the bride’s dress, the groom’s suit, shoes, rings, watch and other accessories, then, it’s also important to record moments like the makeup (And if you’re having a Hindu or Indian wedding this part becomes even more extense), the convivence and toasts between the family and the groom and bride, the empty venue, the setup of the ceremony, saloon, etc.

If there’s a first look, we’ll like to shoot it as well… And the list can go on and on…

Most of this moments are being missed by the groom and bride at the time, usually the groom only know about the preparing of the bride by her explaining and telling him, and vice-versa, but it is priceless for both to actually having the chance to see it on video, it gives you different and special sensations.

Thoughts

The Getting Ready is a crucial part of the whole wedding story of a couple, the scenes there captured help to narrate the tale and to understand many aspects of the following ceremony and party; it’s an intimal and interesting process that once recorded it helps to create an introduction for the wedding film and complete the meaning of it.

We encourage you as a couple to take into important consideration all of the above and we hope to see you on your special day!