Wedding Videography – How To Make Homemade Wedding Videos

The wedding day is coming up for the bride and groom, and they’ve asked you to make a video of it. A cute, romantic thing with music. Nothing wrong, right?

Not so quickly. Even if you have done wedding videography before and have good equipment, choosing and finding an affordable wedding videography can be hard. Don’t make the wrong impression with a wedding video that looks like it was made by a drone videography services. Make everyone think you’re a pro! You’ve come to the right place if you want to take on this challenge but don’t know where to start.

In the first part of this three-part blog series on how to make your own wedding video, I’ll talk about the equipment you’ll need, no matter where the ceremony is. Here’s a list of the things you’ll need to start, whether you’re on the beach, at a venue, or in a church:

A video camera

One that shoots in wide screen and can work in low light is best. So, your first dance scene won’t just be a bunch of grey, blurry shapes moving to music.

A large memory card

Video files take up a LOT of space on a DSLR or still camera that is set to video mode. Get the biggest card you can afford, because you’ll use it up fast. If you want to record on something else, like a Mini-DV tape, bring lots of extras. It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your memory. How can you figure out how much memory you need? Find out how much your camera uses in an hour and multiply that by the number of hours you plan to shoot for.

A power supply

Bring batteries or a power cord and extension cord to make sure you can record the whole party. The average wedding lasts at least six hours, and the average battery life is two. Also, make sure that the microphone and any other equipment that needs disposable batteries has new ones.

A tripod

There will be times when you need to take the camera off the tripod to get some cool shots on the dance floor. But for most of a wedding, you will want to keep the camera steady and safe. This will keep your upper arm from hurting and keep your viewers from getting seasick from watching shaky footage.

A wireless microphone and headphones

Buy, rent, or, even better, make the happy couple pay for a good lapel or lavalier mic for the wedding. If they don’t have it, when the bride and groom get back from their honeymoon and watch the video, all they will hear is coughing and shifting in their seats. They won’t be able to hear the vows.

A second camera

It’s always nice to have a second camera if you can. This gives you a different view that you can use when editing, and if someone walks in front of the main camera, it works great as a backup. Note: A smartphone with a large memory card can be used as a second camera.

Video Editing Software

We’ll talk more about editing later in this series on how to make your own wedding video, but you’ll need some software to do it. Get your free trial of Video Studio Pro if you aren’t already using it.