Wedding Videography

Can You Negotiating with A Wedding Professional?

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I found this blog post the other day by an event planning business called Reverie out of Hamilton, New Jersey.  I thought it would be a great post to share with you about negotiating with your wedding vendors and the view point from a wedding planner:

Negotiating with your Wedding Professionals.

It’s not often that I post something ‘negative’ in nature, so I was hesitant to blog about this after mapping out the idea in my head. But this is a topic that is so near and dear to my heart, and there is so much contradicting information floating around out there on the web. In my own little corner of the internet, I wanted to share my thoughts on the subject of negotiating with your wedding professionals.  It may make me different from other planners, but who ever said I had to be the same?

I received an inquiry last week from a bride and groom who were eager to book me to plan and design their wedding. The bride had been following my blog and social media, and she knew I was The One before even meeting me. Awesome! This is what I love to hear.

So I asked her the same question I ask all potential clients: “Why do you need a wedding planner?” Her reply was this:

“Well, we really need someone to negotiate on our behalf to get us the best deals possible.  We have some wedding professionals in mind but I don’t know if we can afford them without some help.”

WHOA. Stop the train. I couldn’t even find the words to reply for a few seconds, which felt like minutes. I wrapped up the conversation and told her I’d get back to her. I didn’t feel that we were a good fit in the end, and I told her that via e-mail, as graciously as I could.  When it comes to screening clients, my gut instinct has always, always been right.  So I tend to go with it.

As many of you know, I just spent the past six months working toward a re-brand that I feel truly encompasses the style, philosophy, and love behind Reverie Events. Not once during that process did I want to appear like the Priceline Negotiator.

The truth is, we value everyone we work with when we plan a wedding.  The clients, the clients’ families, and last but certainly not least, their carefully curated wedding professional team.  When we set out to plan a wedding, we match our couples’ style, personalities, and budget to whom we feel would be the best wedding pros for them.  Wedding pros we trust.  Wedding pros we’ve worked with on a number of weddings prior, and will continue to work with for years to come.

Let’s say you read reviews for local day spas and everyone seems to rave about XYZ Spa.  You walk in, you love the ambience, and you decide that you want to get a massage there.  But a massage is $100 for an hour, and you think that’s a bit steep.  Would you go up to the front desk and explain that you really want to book their services, but you’d like them to offer them to you for $75, instead?

No, you wouldn’t.  Because that would be offensive.  You trust that the spa is pricing their services accordingly, and that you’re going to get an AMAZING massage for that money.

Even if you were daring enough to TRY to negotiate the price of your massage, the owner might look at you, confused, and explain that their massages are priced accordingly for the services rendered.  The reason they charge more is because they have comfy, heated massage tables, a paraffin wrap for your feet during your massage, aromatherapy, and the use of the sauna, whirlpool, showers, lockers, and little snacks and cucumber water while you rest on a chaise, flipping through a magazine.  If you want to pay $75 an hour, you can go down the street to ABC Spa where there is no locker room; you unrobe right in your massage room and there are no showers or paraffin wraps.  Both companies are pricing their services accordingly, because both companies know their market and how their services compare to others.

The same holds true for the wedding industry.  Your wedding professionals didn’t pull their pricing out of thin air.  Proper pricing comes from years of experience and past reflection on the amount of work done for past clients.  Your photographer looked back on past weddings and realized that to shoot a wedding, hire a second shooter, spend hours editing the photos; to keep a website up and running, pay rent for a meeting space, and to keep their equipment updated, they needed to charge $xxxx for their services.  Your band, your DJ, your floral designer; everyone carefully calculates what they charge in order to continue delivering the standard of service they choose to offer.

Your wedding professional team will be like your family on your wedding day.  They’ll be participating in the best, most emotional, most personal day of your life.  In return, they’re giving you their heart and soul.  Their very best shot at your dream wedding.  And they’ll work hard for you because they feel valued.

So when you hire a wedding planner, hire a planner that will give you your ‘Best Wedding’.  Whatever that means to you.  If it’s the ‘cheapest wedding’, then Reverie Events isn’t the best fit.  But if it’s a wedding designed around love with AMAZING photos, killer floras, little details that will make your guests smile and memories that far exceed your wildest expectations, then we truly look forward to receiving your call.  We’ll connect you with a team of wedding professionals with the same exact passion, heart, and soul.  In life– and especially in the wedding industry– you get what you pay for.

As they say, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.  And because of our respect for our fellow wedding professionals, they respect us right back.  Because of that, maybe– just maybe– you’ll get a free e-session from the photographer we hook you up with, or a comped cocktail hour from the DJ who will have you on the dance floor the entire night.  Because in the end, there is value in feeling valued.

 

 

 

Wedding Memories

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What are your memories worth?

Today ended up being a pretty rainy day so since we didn’t get to do the Easter Egg hunt with the girls, we decided to make today a quite day at home.  So, I decided to take a rare day off and just spend some time surfing the web and catching up on some things.  I ended up on one of the wedding message boards that I like to go to and noticed that one statement kept popping up; “$500 seems like a lot of money for a wedding video.” “Is a video really worth the $800 they are asking for?”and then my favorite one: “I don’t understand why wedding videos are so expensive.”.  These are also questions I hear a lot from brides as I’m meeting with them to discuss wedding video.  Most times I give them the standard “your wedding day goes so fast, you won’t remember anything.” and “you will never see your self walk up the aisle in your wedding dress.” answers but I have always wanted to have a better response to those questions and statements.  This afternoon, my wife came up with the best answer and I want to share it with you, because it makes sense when you think about it. I’m going to refer to post on here about the average cost of a wedding with the information provided by TheKnot.com’s annual wedding report.

  Venue – $12,116

The venue is one of the first places a bride picks for her wedding day.  It is the key to the entire wedding day and sets the tone for the day.  However, the thing most brides don’t know is that half way through your reception, the venue staff is already getting ready for next weekend.  Never thought about that before, did you?  It’s true.  The venue has a wedding the next weekend and the following weekend and the weekend after that.  That’s not to say they don’t care about you, they do, but they also care about the bride next weekend.  Also, how many bride do you think go back to their wedding venue on their first anniversary?  That answer would be none.  $12,116 gone and you get nothing for it in return

Flowers – $1,894

Flowers are very important as well, who could picture a bride without a bouquet?  The flowers provide the beauty that focus on the bride and her day.  But, how long do they last?  Most times, they last about a week.  I know some brides dry the flowers and either press them in a scrapbook or create a shadow box with them.  I guess my thing is why spend $1,894 on something that’s going to die in a few days?  This is the reason I don’t get my wife roses on Valentines day.  She would kill me for spending all that money on something that’s going to die in a few days.  $1,894 gone and you nothing for it in return

Reception DJ – $988

Now, what would a reception be without some great music and an emcee to help move the events of the evening along?  A pretty boring night.  We have some great DJ’s in our area and I would suggest any one of them for your reception.  I, personally, prefer a DJ as apposed to a live band.  A live band has a set list they play, that’s it. If your guest don’t enjoy the band, they most likely won’t get up and dance.  However, a professional DJ can read your guest and make adjustments to keep your reception flowing and fun.  But at the end of the night, after you leave the DJ packs up and is planning for the next wedding next weekend.  $988 gone and you get nothing in return.

Memories

I could go on for the rest of this blog post talking all the different parts of your wedding and how they are nice at the time, but they give you nothing in return.  I mean after all, at the end of your day all you have, besides a husband, are memories.  Memories that fade over time.  It’s a fact, most people only retain less then 50% of an event the next day.  As time goes on, that percentage gets lower and lower.  There are only two ways to capture memories.  Photography and Videography.   For most brides, a photographer is the third or fourth thing they book and I suggest that you get a great photographer.  But, only a video will allow you to not only see your wedding day, you can hear it and watch it move as well.  A professional videographer will capture those moments you missed, moments like your vows, that first dance, spending time with your mother and the list just goes on and on.  So my answer to those brides who say that $800 is too much to spend on a wedding video, I will say this;  how much are your memories worth?  How much are the memories of your day worth to you?  Memories are priceless and a wedding video provides you with a lifetime of memories.

Extreme Wedding Proposals

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Extreme Wedding Vidoegraphy Proposals

 

Every girl dreams about a special wedding day.  Many have the flowers picked out, the colors, some even go so far as having the venue picked out sometimes well in advance of a proposal.  Many times I’ve heard ladies say they have everything they need for the wedding except for the groom.  The proposal is the most important thing that the guys do.  Sometimes it’s the best chance we have to get creative.  The gals have the entire wedding to be as creative as they want.   The traditional wedding is long since gone.  So is the traditional proposal.  We’ve all see the Hollywood proposal; boy takes girl to romantic restaurant, orders a romantic meal, at the end of the meal the boy gets down on one knee and holds up a ring and says “Will you marry me?”.  Today it seems to be a challenge to guys to out do each other in the proposal area.

The proposal race started at sporting events.  The “Fan Cam” would scan across the crowd and focus in on a couple seemingly having a great time, just then the guy would hop down to one knee and pop the question right there in front of thousands.  Things grew from there and got crazier and crazier  Just like the wedding, the only limit on these proposals is the guys imagination. Here are some of my favorite from YouTube.com:

Those just touch the tip of the iceberg that has become extreme wedding proposals. Recently ABC News NightLine did a story on some REAL extreme wedding proposals, some that cost over $45,000. That’s $45,000 JUST for the proposal:

Guys are getting very creative and fun with proposals. As a guy, I think it’s great. I wish I had thought of some of these things when I proposed to my wife, Leeann. I had the ring in my pocket, it was my grandmothers ring. I had it all planned out, the perfect spot, the perfect moment was all set up. Just before we left we got into a little argument (I couldn’t tell you what it was about), and right in the middle of the back and forth, I pulled the ring out of my pocket and said; “Will you shut up and just marry me?”. Needless to say, she said yes and it was also the last time I’ve ever told her to shut up.

Busiest Wedding Weekend of the Year

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Living in Knoxville is wonderful.  It’s a friendly, welcoming place and a place I’m proud of have settled into.  But, there is one thing you have to be aware of when you live her, University of Tennessee Football.  Around here the season starts about mid July when everyone gets ramped up for the fall football season.  What’s most amazing about UT football is how brides will schedule their weddings around the football schedule.  Which leads me to this blog today.

Every year when the schedule comes out for UT football there is almost always an open weekend, or open date.  That’s great for football, but rough on wedding vendors.  You see, every bride who wants to have a fall wedding will want to have it this one weekend because she knows most of her guest will come and it’s easier to find hotel rooms for out of town guest.  This past football season I worked not one, but two weddings. One Saturday and one Sunday.  Now I’ve done back to back wedding weekends before, but this one was a lot of fun.  Let me show you:

First up was Ashley and Eli.  Ashley is the wedding and event coordinator at the Knoxville Zoo.  Which by the way, if your looking for a great venue for your wedding you should really check them out.  Anyway, Ashley has become a very good friend of mine and her one and only, Eli, is a great guy that I have enjoyed getting to know.  Their wedding was at Twin Cedar Farms in Rockford, TN (she didn’t have it at zoo because would you have your wedding at the same place you work at? Didn’t think so).  Bonus points for this one because I got to work with one of my favorite vendors, Brenda Johnson and her staff at One Enchanted Evening.  Enjoy.

 

Sunday morning comes and I find my self driving out the the Wears Valley area that borders the Great Smokey Mountains to a beautiful venue called Trillium Springs.  Hidden in the trees on the side of a mountain, this venue offers both beauty and a private location that has amazing views and backdrops.  The only problem this day was it was a misty, rainy day.  Our bride, Leah, didn’t let it get her down.  The really big change was we had have the ceremony in the pavilion instead of the garden area.  But you know what, it was still beautiful and they had a great day.  Again, I got to work with Brenda and One Enchanted Evening and 2911 Event Planning Studio, but I also got to work with one of the best DJ’s in the area. Corey Goin of Music in Motion.  The man can rock a reception and keep it moving and fun. Check it out:

 

Very busy weekend, but a couple of beautiful brides who both had amazing weddings.  Congrats to both couples.  Man, I REALLY love my job.

7 Minute Movie

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My wife and daughter are really excited about the new “Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2″ moving coming out this weekend.  It’s all they have talked about for weeks.  I think they have seen the trailer online about a dozen times or more the past few weeks.  I, myself, am not a fan of the Twilight movies and will send them off for a “girls night out” fun that mothers and daughters love to share.  I’m sure most of you reading this blog are planning to see it as well.  Think about this as you are going to the movies this weekend.

You stand in line to get your tickets (if you haven’t purchased them online already) that cost you in the area of $9.00 each.  More if you see the IMAX version of a movie.  Then you have to have some popcorn, a cold drink and maybe even a little candy.  When all is said and done, you’ve spend close to $20 and you haven’t even seen the first frame of film yet.  As you sit down in the theater and wait for the movie to start you are so excited and just can’t wait for the movie to begin.  I mean, you’ve only waited almost a year or more for this final chapter of the Twilight Saga.  Then the lights dim and the music starts.  After what seems like 30 minutes of movie trailers and commercials, which I still don’t get, the feature presentation starts.

7 minutes later, it’s over.  That’s right, 7 minutes.  That’s the whole thing, the entire movie; 7 minutes.  You waited months, spend $20 to see a seven minute movie?   How mad would you be?  How upset do you think the others in the theater would be?  I know if I spend $20 or more for a movie, it better be more then 7 minutes long.  But, that’s what brides are paying for today and some of them may not even know it until it too late.

The latest, greatest thing for wedding films is called the short form video.  It’s about 7 to 8 minutes long and only gives you the best parts of your wedding day condensed down to fit into that time frame.  Most Catholic wedding ceremony’s  can be an hour or longer.  Hindu weddings are upwards of 3 hours long.  How do you fit a wedding day into 8 minutes?  My typical wedding day is in the area of 9 to 11 hours long.  I capture in the area of 7 to 9 hours of footage from the wedding day and that’s if I do nothing more then just the ceremony and reception only.  I can’t fathom the work that would be involved in just shrinking 9 hours of footage to just 8 minutes.

The craziest part of all this is the wedding videographer is charging you the same price for an 8 minute video that I charge for a full wedding film that can last on average 90 minutes or more. I don’t understand how they can do that.  I look at it this way, they are charging the same price for a 10th of the work.

Midnight Magic Studios offers brides a full length film of their wedding day.  They get the entire day, from hair and make up to the grand getaway at the end of the night.  No shortcuts, no short form video, nothing but the entire day given to you, the bride.  You didn’t plan an 8 minute wedding day, why try to relive only 8 minutes of it?

Video or Film: What’s The Difference?

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Video or Film: What’s The Difference?

I was asked a very good question by someone last night.  I was asked by a lady at the table next to us last night “What’s the difference between a wedding video and a wedding film?”.   I was having dinner last night with my wife and some friends and I guess the lady overheard me talking about a wedding film I’m working on.  Seems her daughter is getting married next year and she was thinking about getting a video done, but really wanted to know why I was calling it a film.  I know on my blog I have talked about wedding films and how important they are in capturing your magical day, but do you know the difference between a wedding film and a wedding video?

Let me explain it this way; I can give anyone a video camera and say “Go video that wedding over there.”.  I can even give a 4 year old a camera and tell them to push the button and video something.  The question is, would you want to watch that video?  Most of you would say “No”, unless the 4 year old was your child or somehow related.  Even then you would watch it maybe once and that would be it.  But, in the same way if I said to Steven Spielberg “Go shoot that wedding over there.” first off he would look at me like “Any you are…?”.  But for argument sake, lets say I could do that.  That would be something you would watch, a Steven Spielberg wedding film.  That’s the difference.

Anyone can hold a video camera, point it in the right direction and push the button.  You can even record HD video on your smart phones now.  But, there’s no work involved in that, no way to tell a story or to really capture the feelings and emotions of that day.  Think about all the “videos” your family has stored in a closet someplace.  There are birthday parties, vacations, special occasions on those tapes, some of your families most memorable moments.  But when was the last time you pulled that box down and watched one of those videos?  My guess would be “never” or “hardly ever”.

Now think about the DVD’s you have around your house.  I’m a movie lover so we have TONS of DVD’s in our house.  I have two huge bookcases just for those DVD’s.  But, look around at the ones you have and my guess is that one or more of those DVD’s has your favorite movie on it.  For me it’s the Star Wars Saga.  I bet you I have seen those movies a million times, but I will still put in one of those movies from time to time when we are just relaxing or with friends.  I have no doubt you do the same thing.  Those movies tell a story, are full of emotions, and special moments.  Those are films, works of art, someone’s labor of love.

That’s what a wedding film is, a work of art.  A film is something someone will spend hours and hours working on making sure every part of it is just right.  The lighting is perfect, the sound is good and the music is in the right place.  Do you think Uncle Bob is going to spend that much time on your wedding film?  Unless he is a professional editor, my answer would be “No”.   I create wedding films, a living history of your wedding day.  One of the most important days in your life, a milestone moment, the beginning of a new chapter in your life.   I, and my team, work very hard to make sure we get all those special moments that you will never see and all the moments you do see but will have a hard time remembering years from now. Did you know you will never see yourself walk up that aisle in the perfect wedding dress?  You will never see the look on his when he sees you for the first time in that dress.  And years from now, on that day you’re missing your dad the most, you will never get to see that dance you had with him.  I create a work of art that you will WANT to watch.  Something you will want to share with your family and friends.  Something you will put right beside your favorite movies.  In most cases, this work of art, my labor of love, will become your new favorite movie of all time.

Ask your self, as you’re planning the wedding of a lifetime, do you want a simple video that will never see the light of day or do you want a piece of art, something that will tell the story of your wedding day?  Something you will watch now and something you will share with your family in the years to come.  Picture your self watching your wedding film with your daughter as she gets ready for her wedding day.  It will happen sooner then you think.

Memorable Weddings

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Memorable Weddings

Every bride wants her day to special, memorable or unforgettable.  Not only for her self but for her family and friends who come to celebrate with her.   In the past, that meant having some special type of food or an amazing flower arraignment at the alter.  Some have gone so far as to add color to their wedding dress to make it memorable.  Yet other brides will create a special first dance or have the DJ share the couples love story.

Those are all great, but a trend I’m seeing for 2012 involves the bride to “think outside the box” a bit more.  Choreographed first dances are still hot and popular, but they are stepping outside of the reception for those dances.  Here is an example:

This is great, but then some others will use something they have seen on TV, like this take off on GLEE: (stay with it until about the 2:30 mark)

Still others want that grand entrance at the reception. Here is a great idea:

Then there is this:
Now this one you can tell something is going to happen, I mean how often to you see a high school dance team show up at a reception?

All those are great, but this is one of the best I’ve seen. This couple went WAY outside the box for this:

These are all great and I hope they give you some ideas to make you wedding day special. However, there is one common thread in all of these: VIDEO. Everyone of these brides did these special dances or entrances to make the day special and memorable. But, they were all captured on video. Now some you can tell were done by friends or family members and they did their best. But the last video, that one was done with the help of a professional filmmaker. Someone who not only had the technical skill to shoot the movie, but to also edit both the video and music together. To piece it all together so that it really seems like your part of their run for the reception. A professional filmmaker will not only capture your wedding day, but can also put together something that will make your wedding day not only memorable for you, but for your guest as well. Would you remember this wedding:
I think you would.