Wow, Noa, I'm very impressed. I really like the idea of the "Talking Box" as well. Great idea for later when there is some more cash to outlay.

I have a question regarding your one-camera weddings. Do you simply set up your camera in a static position and hit record, and leave it in that position for the entire ceremony? Or do you move around with it, and capture different things while the ceremony is going on? And if you DO move around, how do you decide when to move? Or is it that it doesn't matter anyways since you are going to be making more of a Highlite reel anyway, and not a continuous ceremony?

there is no way i would ever do a wedding.. this is someones 'special day' and i would be way too nervous about messing it all up and them having nothing worth watching!

hats off to all you wedding videogrphers cos you have lots riding on your footage

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K0mat0ast

K0mat0ast on myspace

It's a combination fo tripod recordings and moving around a lot. especially when they play music (which is about 4 to 5 times) I get a few minutes to make those important inserts, these I use to combine with my other tripod footage to make it look like a multicam recording. When I move around It's always handheld recordings. Often I also make a clip with all the highlights of the day, this containes my best footage I made during that day. Then I also have the option to take some shots taken during the ceremony.

I think a base jumper should worry more about messing up It's a part of the game.

quite true. but seriously you guys have balls!

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K0mat0ast

K0mat0ast on myspace

Well thank you, this is the nicest compliment I got from anyone since a while.

Wowo what a great forum. I live in Dubai and am going to do my first wedding vid in about 3 hours.

I will let you know how it goes. I have found the comments on this site extremely helpful.

Thanks

Dubaidave

Welcome DubaiDave! Good luck with the shoot. Hope it goes well. Let us know.

Well, what a day.
On the technical side I seemed to cope fine on m y own with 2 cameras. I had a radio mic on the groom which, while a little low, picked up the vicar and other important bits.

I also passed the mic round during the speeches which also seemed to work well.

It was only a small do. 14 people and it wasn't a real wedding, only a blessing. However they were not already married and the bride thought it was a real wedding.

The day itself went really well. I locked off one camera behind where the vicar would stand and hooked the radio receiver to that camera. I then took the second camera to get the bride walking in. With the stationary camera I got some great shots of the groom arriving and looking worried.

The bride was delayed because the vicar left his bible in a cab and then lost his order of service, then the best man sprained his ankle and had a shot in the butt, they insisted I film all this.

The only problem I had was with the battery of the stationary camera, it was a borrowed camera and the battery lasted just long enough for the service.

Overall it was a very positive experience. and I dint think it could have gone much better for a first time. I will let you know how the editing goes.

Dubaidave

It's good to start off with a small event which gives you a bit more breathingroom. However, some comments, and important ones.

When working alone, as I mostly do, you are allways limited to one camera which can be controlled. Putting out a second unmanned camera is asking for problems. This time it went well but I can assure you that your luck won't last.
There are several things to consider when you use a second cam, first you don't have any control which will result in images out of focus or too dark if f.i. it's cloudy outside and suddenly the sun appears. If you put the cam in automatic mode you have a risk that it will make the wrong adjustments, if you put it in manual you could also have problems in changing conditions.
Second is that you attach the radio receiver to that camera, again you don't have any controll about what happens and third and very important:
If you put your camera on a tripod unattended, ever thought about what might happen if someone (Children f.i.) would trip over one of the leg smashing your borrowed camera to the ground?
Another thing to consider is how both camera's match up with their images, there you have to do some testing because otherwise you end up with a lot of colour correction in post which won't do your images any good.
You allready mentioned it about the battery life which could be an issue if it runs dead just before an important moment.

I must say you do a lot of effort in getting it right, especially considering you are working alone, only you really have to be carefull about the risk you take. I also hope you don't take my comment too personal, because I mainly work alone as well and doing a wedding every week the following months I have a bit experience in the problems you can encounter. The advise I gave was therefore ment well.

I really enjoy reading these 'stories', especially the ones were a lot of things goes wrong and believe me, I allready had my share of it.
Maybe we should have a topic, some kind of "blooper" stories about things going wrong during filming a wedding or any other event, that must be fun to read.

Well done 2dart and Dubaidave! - The first few are hard and then . . . you start getting picky on both visuals and sound. Fine tuning your own performance until it squeaks. Anticipation is the key and the more you study human nature the easier you'll be able to anticipate. I've had operators who couldn't anticipate thunder after a lightening flash.
Most events, especially weddings have a structure and will become very familiar as you do more. The quicker you can anticipate, the more iconic shots you'll have in the bag.
Good on you both for diving in the deep end though and you obviously care enough by your physical and mental preparations.
I have filmed hundreds of weddings and events and still get a great buzz from watching them unfold - the day it becomes just a job, is the day I pack it in.
Keep on practising - it will get better thanks to your initiation.