Meeting Your Videographer
This is the question, and it is different for everyone. Is it necessary to meet with your videographer before your wedding? The answer is no, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I have done it both ways myself where I have met with the couple and where I am meeting them for the first time on the day of their wedding. The problem I find with not meeting before is first, you don’t know anyone. Next weekend I will be going to do a wedding where the only person that I have talked to is the mother of the groom. The groom I have only talked to through e-mail. It’s not that I mind doing business like that, after all it is a job, but it will lead to t he moment where I have to go around and introduce myself to everyone when we get there.
I will always advise meeting with the couple at least once before the wedding. And I really recommend this for all of your vendors except maybe the limosine driver. The first contact is either on the phone or e-mail, and that is where we get some basic stuff out of the way such as if I have the date free, can they afford to actually pay for the service. Now this may seem rude to some people, but it will save a lot of time. Before I meet with anyone in person, I make sure that they have looked at my web page and that they have looked at my prices. This way my time and their time is not wasted for us to meet when they are really looking for a $500 job.
Once the basic stuff is out of the way, it’s time to have a face to face meeting. I prefer to go to the bride’s house. My work can be messy at times, and this way I am doing the driving, making it easier for the couple. I like to start off the meeting by popping in a video and then asking what they are looking for in a video. I have different names for everything, but they may not know what they are. That is why I let them describe what they would like in their own words and then work from there. The meeting is also a time to see if the couple is comfortable around me. I will be video taping 8 - 10 hours of their life, it is important that we can all get along and joke around to a certain extent.
Many times, this one meeting is enough, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be the last. If they want to do something fancy, or they need to give me photos for their montage, there will be a quick meeting here and there. Another important meeting is the rehearsal. I don’t go to all of the rehearsals, but I do like to try and make it there. This gives me a chance to meet the rest of the bridal party and the parents. This way they already know me on wedding day. It is also a nice time to talk with the people in charge. If it is a Church, I can talk to the priest and find out where I can and can’t go. This can always be done the day of, but it’s nice to get it out of the way. It will also give me a chance to think about camera locations so that on the wedding day, I can show up with my assistant and set up quickly.
That is my take on vendor meetings, so please, take the time to meet with them. I know it’s not easy. I’m planning my own wedding and I have trouble finding the time. But if you do it will pay off in the end.