Shooting my first wedding - Advice appreciated

rlee

rlee

Member
Hey NS,

So I've done quite a fair bit of research on how to shoot a wedding and tried to use the search bar to get some more but I couldn't quite get what I was after. The wedding is in August and for a friend of mine so I dont want to miss anything or cock up... haha. So here are my questions.

1. So... the couple have asked me to do the film solo but I have the option of getting somebody else to help out. They would want me to take control as the other filmer (if I choose to use her) doesn't have that much experience in video work other than a few personal projects. What would you suggest? I would have thought during events like the ceremony and speeches a second person would be good so im not rushing around maning 2/3 careras?

2. Audio. From what I've read up, you want to put Lav mics on the both bride and groom during the ceremony. Now the audio I currently would have would be a lav mic plugged into an external recorder like the H4n. The H4n is quite big, it would be fine for the groom, he wouldn't mind, but for the bride would be way to big. What suggestions would you have here for audio during the ceremony?

Audio during speeches. As many people are doing speeches hooking them up to a lav mic would mean swapping the lav mic after each person/ or every other person if I have to mics. Is this what is normally done? I think they are using a mic themselves so the other option is putting the external recorder by the speaker or linking up to a DJ set. Ive never done either before so do they work, and which is best?

3. Filming events like the bride and groom getting ready, I've seen that using a monopod is better than a tripod for getting around fast and getting unique angles in a short period of time. Has anyone got any experience on this? Will a tripod do or monopod be better?

Equipment I have:

- Tripod

- Two cameras (7D/5D) and posible a third if I have the other person

- LENSES: 85mm 1.8, Tokina 11-16mm or Canon 16-35, 70-200 F4, 24-105 F4

Planning on picking up a vintage 50mm for low light (any other suggestions?)

- Rode Videomic Pro

- External Recorder (H4n or something similar)

- Dont have one yet but ill get a Lav mic

- Slider

- Glidecam

- A ton or cards and batteries

So, right now I think im quite well equipped, but if there is anything Im missing then please let me know.

Im sorry for the long post and if anyone can help out clearing a few things up that would be amazing!

Thanks
 
I am shooting one in two weeks actually and I am really bored at work this morning so I'll give ya my plan.

You are definitely very well equippped from the sound of it as far as picture goes. Even sound isn't too bad. so..

1. Definitely have someone help you man another camera during the ceremony at least. That is a one shot deal and they are not going to pause or restart because you miss a shot. Having someone help by getting maybe a wider shot is very helpful and then you at least have the full thing covered. Then you can use the other camera(s) to get some close ups and even candides of the family in the crowd to help when editing the scene.

2. Sound is critical and the quality of your video no matter what will be judged on how well people sound during the ceremony and reception during speeches. The ceremony can be tough to mic. I am using two wireless lav mics and a zoom h4n. I am putting one lav on the groom as hidden as possible and the other on the pastor or minister on his right side and somewhat lower to get the bride as well as him during the ceremony. Lav mics are omni-directional so they pick up anything in proximity. The groom and the pastor will wear the transmitter packs and i will have the zoom in the back with me and the receiver packs. Putting a mic on the bride could be tough because you don't want to see any of it because she wants to look as beautiful as possible and fidgeting around with her dress could be awkward after a while depending on how good of friends you are.

For audio during speeches, talk to the dj and record a direct line straight from his console. he might even be able to record a track from the mic directly for you. Definitely use the audio from that mic though, then you don't have to try and put a lav on everyone that wants to say something, cuz nobody got time for that.

3. My plan for this wedding coming up is to take my tripod and slider, use the tripod as a monopod with the legs extended but folded for shots unless you can get a good set up shot with the tripod. then I am also going to be using my slider set up on the tripod to get some interesting shots as well.

Sounds like you are well equipped. A fast 50mm will be really helpful later at night during the reception and what not. It was my life saver on my last wedding. The tokina may not do too bad on the dance floor with the glidecam either depending on the light. Everything else will be perfectly fine for the ceremony, but plan ahead on what lenses you want to use on each camera. switching lenses during the ceremony is almost out of the question unless you have a third camera. I would recommend going to the rehearsal to see how its going to play out, talk to the bride and groom and get a feel for how you want to shoot and what they are comfortable with.

Weddings are fun and can be a good challenging shoot. Hopefully this helps a bit. I can post a link to the first wedding I did when I get home later.
 
Shit, just realized I posted that from my friend's account. Oh well. But I was also gonna say, just be ready for the main events too like the cake cutting and boquet toss and all that other jazz. cuz it can all happen sort of chaotic. But you should be pretty good
 
I made a thread like this before my first wedding, Lots of helpful stuff if you wanna check it outhttps://www.newschoolers.com/ns/forums/readthread/thread_id/719556/

 
I shot my first wedding last week, solo and (in my opinion) severely ill equipped. it was chaotic and pretty damn hard but as long as you get the main, important events they'll love it
 
Just got done shooting a wedding. Audio is insanely hard especially if its outside at the top of the mountain with loads of wind (witch mine was unfortunately). As for shooting people getting ready i would use your glidecam. I shot alot of the wee\dding with the glide. Its so versatile and fast to set up each shot. If you use it right Its a glidecam monopod slider and so on. I would also defintly get someone to help. If you miss something you cant do it over!!!!!
 
I'm sure you will nail it. I can't offer advice as I know nothing about filming. Also, please post up the results (if that's ok for you) because I personally would love to see what you get.
 
Thanks a lot everyone! Really appreciate you helping out.

So what I've learned is its best to have somebody else to help out for the important parts. The ceremony and speeches afterwards! Great.

Audio:

@juicedrummer11: What wireless Lav mics are you using? Do the receivers plug into the H4n and record the sound there? In terms of picking up sound from the bride. If you put in on the minister, how can you get the bride to sound crisp but without peeking with the ministers voice? I've come across this video which was quite helpful for miking up the ceremony. Have a look and see what you think, it may help out anyone shooting wedding as well. The user does not allow embeds but here is the link:

https://vimeo.com/53997148

For the DJ set, I have no experience with them. What connection would I need to connect it to my recorder if he cant make a recording for me?

The ceremony I know is in a church so my plan is to set up my 70-200 in the aisle and leave it there and then move to the front and shoot angles from them with my ''assistant'' on the other side filming another angle. I think that should have me set. Just worried the record time will run out on the cameras as they have that 12min max record limit. So will have to go back and forth. Would also try some glide cam shots of the bride entering the church and them both leaving... will see if I can manage that.

@Tgar1024: Thanks for linking me up. Some really useful information in there.

@HWW: I will for sure post up my results. Im sure the couple will be happy with that.

Any other fast primes you think I would need other than a 50? I was thinking of the helios 44 -58mm. Looks like a awesome cheao little lens. Open to suggestions and alternatives if anyone has them.

Thanks guys!

 
I'm going to be using the Sennheiser G3 wireless lav mics i believe. Not 100% sure on the model but I think thats them. The receivers plug straight into the Zoom via the included XLR cable. I checked out that video and like that technique on the bride a lot more so i think i will test it out this weekend and see how it all sounds. I just know it's really important to have good sound on them because they really want to hear their vows crisply on screen.

For the DJ, on his console he should have an 1/4" connector or XLR connection line out sort of thing that you would just plug into the Zoom like you would a microphone. I would double check with the DJ though before hand just in case he is using every port on his console or what not.

For the glidecam entry shots, i would suggest having the other camera going also as the bride enters just in case you bump the glidecam or something. That happened to me and I had to make due with a shitty shot cuz I didn't have a backup on my last one. Just an idea anyway.
 
Good thread so far. I'm also shooting my first wedding video in september. I've done photography for 2 weddings so far, but being that this is video, it's a little crazier with gear and all.

I have a question though... and I know it entirely depends on what the location is going to be like, but has anyone ever used shotgun microphones for a wedding? I have two very nice shotgun mics that I can link up to my tascam, and I was thinking of potentially aiming them from opposite ends of the ceremony (not too far of course, but out of sight of spectators) towards the bride and groom.

If I could do this, it would save me the expense of buying a couple wireless lav kits, and mean that I can use what I already have, which is nice. Anyone ever heard of pulling audio this way, or whether it could achieve good results at all?
 
you could always test it out first and just see what kind of quality you get at certain distances. i am just borrowing the lav mics from a friend so at first i thought about trying to hide a shotgun mic overhead somehow if they had an arch or alter. you could possibly even try sticking them on either side of the isle pointing up toward them kinda like they set them up nowadays on the tee box for PGA events but sorta nestle them in the decorations possibly. i was definitely wondering that too and how well they would work
 
Been out of action for a bit but back to get some more questions answered. Thanks for all the advice so far.

@DingoSean I don't have and shotgun mics par the rode but I'm curious to how your technique turns out. I hope it goes well for you.

So... bit of a problem for me, the bride is 100% against being hooked up to a wireless mic kit. Even with the groom and myself trying to convince her otherwise she's having none of it. Never mind. Anyway... what would you guys suggest for recording her audio now? I will have a mic on the groom as he has no issue. I dont know weather to set up the external recorder near the alter pointing in her direction so sound can be picked up? Il loose the ability to monitor but risk il have to take.

Or do I put a lav mic on the minister? How would you set up sound so it records her as well without the ministers sound being blown out?

Or maybe it requires a set up like DingoSean is thinking of and having a shotgun pointing up from where they stand..?

As for an external recorder. Whats a good one to use? Ive used the H4n before but found the operation to be a pain in the ass. I was looking into the Tascam DR100 but that only had 2 Channels. Will that be an issue you think? The other is the Roland R26 but is far more pricey than the other 2.

Anyway, thanks again for your help so far.
 
I just shot my big wedding of the summer this last weekend and it was a blast! of course it wasn't without its problems but im still pretty stoked on the footage. but when i told the bride i wanted to put a mic on her she was completely cool with it and was down for whatever we needed to do to get the best sound. I taped the mic to the inside of her dress right at the top in between her cleavage haha (best part by the way) and then ran the wire down the waist and into the transmitter where she tucked that into her garter. I had her walk around a little to make sure it wouldn't slide and that it was comfortable. it worked perfectly! for the grooms mic, i attached it under his vest to the tie so that it wasn't visible either. im pretty stoked with the results

when you were talking to the bride about it does she know it will be hidden on her? or that you want to try and hide it on her as best as possible? my other suggestion would be to use one on the groom and the pastor, just place them slightly lower and turn up the levels of the mic so that it is capturing all of the voices right there. in post you will have to decide which ones sound better because if you use both in the same track you might get a bit of a phase problem from both mics picking up everyone. if you fade them in and out as one is talking it won't be a problem. i would still test this though before hand. put the mic on yourself or a friend or whatever like you are the pastor, then have two other peeps stand and talk like they are getting married and see how it picks up. you can try different placements and levels until you are satisfied then you'll know how it sounds.

you could set up the external recorder right on the podium out of sight possibly and that will probably pick them up alright. you would have to check levels beforehand as best as possible though. or if you have a good shotgun mic you could try something similar as well.

as for recorders i have only used the zoom out of those options so idk how the others would be. the zoom worked great for me though, i had it set to 4 channel recording and could monitor the wireless mics as they were getting ready to walk the isle, then hit record and let it run til it was done. im pretty stoked on the audio i got and think it will work out really well. hope this helps a little
 
Awesome thanks a lot!

Do you have your wedding video finished yet, I would love to see it if so?

Yea I've explained to her that it will be completely invisible and nobody even herself wouldn't be able to see it. The groom even tried to convince her and she was having none of it. He tells me she is pretty stubborn haha, so Im pretty gutted we cant convince her but will keep trying.

If I had one lav mic on the groom and one lav mic on the minister but lower down would the final effect be weird? Having super clear audio from the groom and more ambient audio from the priests lav or would it work fine?

Would a wedding be OK with two channels or would you defo need 4? I would assume more is better. Also last time I used the H4n I couldn't work out how to monitor a specific track. For example I wanted to check the lav mic sound was good, but couldn't find a way to just listen to that. The internal mic was also playing so that bugged me. Is there away to listen in to just one track, or was just being stupid, haha.

Thanks
 
ha i haven't even offloaded the videos to my computer yet but im hoping by the end of this week to have some sort of idea of a highlight video or somethin. ill definitely post that when its done.

i don't think a lower lav mic would sound too bad on the priest as long as you did a similar placement with the groom so that way they all sound a bit more ambient than direct. even my mics were placed right about at their chests to make sure they were out of sight and i was happy with that result. you would just have to make sure that the priest wasn't too far away from the couple.

you definitely don't need more than two channels. i just did to possibly catch applause and what not from the onboard mics of the recorder. i don't even know if ill use that or not yet. you can set the zoom to stereo mode only so it uses either the onboard mics or if you click the numbers it uses only the inputs. then you can monitor them from there for only two channels and not worry about the external sound from the onboard mics.
 
So the big day is coming up this weekend. I have one real quick question which hopefully can be answered as quick os possible.

I've managed to get my hands on a Roland R26 for the wedding, and for the speeches I have been in contact with the DJ. He has told me "on the PA mixer we have a phono/ RCA out (L/R), we can provide you the cable which is a Phono/ RCA to minijack cable''.

Will this cable work when plugged into the Roland's 3.5mm mic input to record the audio from the mics? I initially thought I needed an XLR input.

Thanks, and if anyone know a speedy answer would be great!

 
it looks like that would work. you might have to play aroud a lil bit with it when you first get there but it sounds like that input would take over for the internal stereo mic and you would still have two xlrs available. seems like that would work tho. just make sure you have your levels set right so you don't clip or distort anything. good luck!
 
Mate, cant thank you enough for all the help you've given me so far! How's your wedding video looking? I hope it coming along great!

I will have a fiddle with the cable when I get there and see if it works. In this video (should start at the point in reference) it says how you can record a line input into the Analog ports but says nothing about being able to do it into the Plug in mic port, which is what makes me a bit worries it wont work with that cable. Can't for the love of me find anything online about this.

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