Weddingbee

If so, problem solved! Pick up a webcam at your local computer store, enlist a friend to hold a hand-held video camera, or hire a professional to videotape your ceremony and simultaneously stream it to a secure website on the web.

To accomplish the above, you must have your own equipment, including a computer, a video or web camera, a high speed internet connection and the cables to connect them all. You can hire an outside company to provide the online secure website, the software that streams your video to your loved ones, and the login security that allows them to connect to the site. In fact, most of these sites also allow for a video archive - which is almost like getting a webcast and videographer in one, as you’ll have a recording of your special day as well!

If you’re getting married in Las Vegas, some chapels already offer this as an add-on service. Caesar’s Palace, Paris Las Vegas, MGM Grand and Little White Wedding Chapel are among the many venues that offer webcasting as an option. For as little as $200 you can run away to Vegas - without too much complaint from your friends & family being unable to join you!

However, if Vegas isn’t your style - there are several sites that offer packages to get your ceremony webcast to the web, ranging from $349 to $1,349.

Please note that I used the same wedding image for all video feeds - Print Screen won’t capture live video so easily.

I Do Stream Demo Wedding Site with Chat and Guestbook.
I couldn’t get the chat window to load completely - hopefully that’s just a fluke.

I Do Stream
www.idostream.com
I Do Stream’s Basic Broadcast Package ($349) is perfect for those with a budget and a small group of viewers. They offer up to 50 viewers, a 30 day video archive, a guestbook, a chat service for your guests, an email invitation, online tech support, and the ability to download the video to your iPod after the service. While this Basic package requires you to have all the necessary equipment (camera, laptop, Broadband internet connection), the Enhanced Broadcast Package ($595) will send you everything you need including a laptop computer, camcorder, tripod, and one-click broadcast software installed.

Vowcast Demo Wedding Site with Guestbook.

Vowcast
www.vowcast.com
Vowcast can setup a webcast that may also incorporate your already booked videographer - they’ll work with him to set up his stream with your webcast website. You can also rent Webcasting laptops, purchase the setup of an online Guest Book to completely geek-out your webcast wedding and purchase the setup of links to your online gift registries as well. Their standard package ($495) includes access to your stream for 100 viewers and an archived video for up to 30 days.

Webcast My Wedding Demo Custom Wedding Site.

Webcast My Wedding
www.webcastmywedding.net
Webcast My Wedding will set up a customized webpage with your personal photos and information. After this page is set up, you can send out electronic “wedding invitations” for your e-guest list of up to 100 people. For all of the above, you will pay a single One-Time Event Fee ($595) and you will also be provided a video archive for up to 30 days. You will need to provide your own video camera, computer and Broadband internet connection. However, you can also hire one of their Consultants to attend your wedding and set it all up ($750 plus travel).

Live Vows Demo Wedding Site with Gift Registry and Guestbook.

Live Vows
www.livevows.com
Live Vows Full Service Webcast ($895) includes an on-site staff person to make sure your webcast runs smoothly. They will setup your personalized web page that will be active for a minimum of 30 days after your wedding - but this can be extended. They offer unlimited viewers and will even mail you a webcast report so that you can see how many people attended. They also offer a Premeir Wedding Webcast ($1349) which includes all of the above, as well as email invitations, a webcast guestbook, gift registry links, a meet and greet for your viewers after the ceremony, and the extension of the webcast archive from 30 days to 6 months. You can also purchase some of these features a la carte.

These are just a few examples of video webcast sites for you wedding out there. Are any of you planning to incorporate a webcast into your schedule of wedding events?
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“Each film is edited like a fingerprint–unique to the spirit of your special day.”-Well Spun Weddings

Photo courtesy Oh Joy!

Click here to go to another (gorgeous!!) video by Well Spun Weddings.The testimonial videos on the website get me all choked up because in a few months, we’re going to be one of those happy couples with nothing but praise for WSW. I know it can be easy to say “eh, we’ll just have Uncle ____ shoot the wedding” if videography isn’t in your budget, but for us, we decided to save in other areas (*cough* my dress *cough*) so we could make room for our own Wonder Years moments.

*Note: I promise I’m not being bribed by Well Spun Weddings to write a super duper nice post about them…I’m just totally smitten.
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I was scouring local photographers’ websites for links to cake bakers and florists when I stumbled across this bride’s fantastic idea. Basically they wanted “an old school silent film made out of stills to show to their guests. In 3D.” I think that this photograph of their guests is priceless in and of itself.

It’s certainly no Captain EO (think Michael Jackson, 3D in Disneyland, circa 1990), and while the images probably don’t give you that jolt as characters seemingly appear 2 inches from your face, no doubt thanks to the mysterious properties of brown 3D glasses, (why didn’t the 3D concept ever take off?), the inclusion of this lost art in a retro wedding is fantastic.

I also love that Blue Olive touched on the logistics behind the making of the video:

“these aren’t photoshop effects, many of the images were shot on a 40 year old stereo camera that didn’t have much more than a shutter for controls, and the rest with a rigged up digital system that allowed us to take 2 simultaneous photos apx. 65mm apart, which is about the width of our eyes), and we put our video hats on from our independent film days to pull together the final cut. It’s perfectly imperfect - exactly what we set out to do.”

Kudos to the folks at Blue Olive Photography for pulling it off. Click here to view the video.
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A sweet girl I used to work with is getting married this spring on a budget, and after I’d heard she’d asked our boss to be her dj, I offered to do the photography. However, she already had one, so I somehow agreed to do the filming instead. As in…. walking around with a camcorder. Which I know nothing about. So Patrick, my own fabulous videographer, had total faith in me with my photography background and suggested the best way to pull it off was to do it à la The Office or the Bourne Identity series. ie pretty shaky and amateur. And I hope to get in some quirky interviews with the bridal party and immediate family.

Call for help: will you guys come up with fun/embarassing questions for the interviews?

At the time I hadn’t seen The Office, but I’ve since fallen more in like with it than Arrested Development, which also has that shaky reality film type style, I believe. When I was trying to find a decent youtube clip of Arrested Development (which I never ended up finding), I stumbled across clarkandmichael.com. I watched episode one and totally LOL’ed at about 1 minute 20 seconds. So there’s a bit of a random tangent that’ll give you guys reprieve of my wedding dress adventures and play into the nation’s love of Juno that i know a lot of you have watched (I haven’t yet).

So to tie this post up and to bring us back to the topic at hand: me being a little anxious about filming a bunch of strangers…. it’s all worth it because this is what the bride says:

you da bomb. but not like those scary exploding ones in foreign countries. more like the kind that explodes and kitties and rainbows and unicorns come out.

ok i’m done.

So does anyone out there have any tips for me? If not you personally, then I’m sure many of you have a techie man in your life that loves to live behind the camera. I can’t decide if I want to rent a professional not-so-heavy-for-all-five-foot-two-of-me video camera, or get by with a regular family camcorder. I’m sure I can put together something a lot more exciting than a lot of videos that I’ve seen people pay money for, because I know very few wedding videographers are as artistic and cinematic as Still Motion, and I’ve seen way too many wedding videos that are basically shot on stand-still tripods. I’m hoping to get a lot of footage (and be really good at editing it all down, which I realize will take hours upon hours), and put together a fun 10-15 minute recap of the day for her.
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I received an apologetic letter via email from the co-owner of Monster Crayons stating the closure of their business and an address request to return our full deposit. With less than 4 months to the wedding and a could-be-near-freak-out session, I appreciate the fact that they took the initiative to notify their pending clients and offer us refunds. I am currently anxiously awaiting our refund (so I’ll keep you posted on that one) and am in search of a new videographer.

At first I was ready to give up and accept that we wouldn’t have a videographer. But I started searching anyway even though given our budget, it would be hard to find one that offered the amount of coverage we’d like and deliver great work …. but it seems hopeful. It could be a lot worse. I could have found out the day before the wedding, they could have not contacted us, the what if’s are endless but you just have to take what comes your way and run with it. We’ve got two vendors pending, and once we’ve received the refund and closed on a new videographer, I’ll let you gals know how it goes …

Wish me luck!

Have any of your vendors gone out of business after you booked them?  What happened and were you able to get your money back?
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A while back, I was introduced to Super 8 video - the same type of film Mrs. Onion used for her wedding video. It is becoming more and more popular and I knew it was what I wanted. The company which made me discover this type of footage is Fifty Foot Films. I adore their artistic style, the fact that each video has such warmth and romance, and I love the fact that they use music that is ‘unconventional’ and unexpected, yet so perfect.

What is great is that there are more and more companies which offer this service (at affordable prices), but it has not made its way to Canada yet - or should I say to Montreal. I don’t know whether it will ever make it here before my wedding day, so for now I am looking for companies who might be able to make their way to Montreal. I really want super 8 for my wedding… and I hope I can find someone before it is too late.

I’ve visited and called every company here in Montreal. I even called film universities… and no luck… not to mention that when I inquire about Super 8 they all think I am crazy… no joke. But then again, I am used to it. (You’ve all read my Vendorzilla stories) I’ve contacted several companies in the States to inquire about their rates and see if they would travel to Montreal… I’m certain I don’t have all the companies out there. So if you know of any… please share.
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All photos above by Daria Bishop.

Can you find Wes in every picture? Of over 1,800 professional proofs and 400+ non-professional photos, these 6 were all I could dig up of Wes in action at our wedding. He prides himself on being unobtrusive, and most of the day I really didn’t even know he was there. I think I noticed him twice — while I was getting dressed and once I saw him over my shoulder at the cocktail hour, but for the most part I was totally unaware of his presence. This is exactly what you want in a videographer!!

One of the most amazing things about Wes Jones is he shoots with a digital camera and a super-8 mm film camera at the SAME time! He doesn’t have an assistant, he is a one man show. Mr. Onion and I watched all the digital footage first, then the super-8 footage and found ourselves thinking “What a minute, he got that SAME footage with the digital camera!” That’s when we realized that Wes has seriously mad skills!! Worth every penny and we were so glad we hired him.
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We had not budgeted for a videographer for our wedding as we simply couldn’t afford it. Our wedding ended up being even smaller than we’d planned and we had some money left over in our budget, so I took a chance. I emailed Wes Jones and asked if he was booked for our wedding two weekends away. I expected for him to say “yes,” and I’d move on. But much to my surprise, he happened to have our date free! Hooray, I was so excited. One of the things that led me to his work is that he shoots both digital and with Super-8 mm film.

images from wikipedia.org

This film feels like an old home movie which is why I was so drawn to it stylistically. We watched every clip on his website and really liked what we saw. Because we had limited funds we couldn’t afford Wes’s entire package which includes a wonderful edited video of your day. And because it was so last minute, he was kind enough to shoot the raw footage and gave us the option to do smaller edited segments when we saved up the money. Again, this was only possible because it was a last minute booking.

The style worked so well with the vibe of our wedding and Mr. Onion and I were blown away when we watched the footage for the first time a few nights ago. Looking back, I’m so glad we were able to come up with the money to do this because video captures things that still photos just can’t — taking a deep breath, my veil being placed by my bridesmaid, hugging my husband so tight, our vows (which isn’t included in the super-8 footage because there is no audio) etc. I will be so thrilled to share this with our children some day. I just hope they’ll want to see it

Wes is a great guy and was really easy to work with. If this style is something you’re interested in I’d encourage you to reach out to him. I know he travels - he was shooting a wedding in Maine the weekend before ours. He is based in the New York Metro area.
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