Friday, January 27, 2012

On Videography

When we started planning our wedding, Mr. Turkey and I were 100% set AGAINST hiring a videographer.

We saw videography having a number of "strikes" against it. Besides being expensive, what was the point? We already had a fabulous photographer to capture the moments of our day. We also worried about intrusive filmers. At a recent wedding, we found ourselves tangled up with the videography team on a number of occasions, including when they forcibly removed us from the dance floor to film a message for the couple (liked the idea, not the execution). Many of the guests commented after the fact about the hassle.

And even gorgeous links like Lioness' love story (never even knew this existed!) or Bee preview reels (most recently, Seal) couldn't convince me. I just didn't think there was a "use" for videography beyond sharing it on a blog and posts like Fox's just furthered that point of view. The Turkeys were non-believers.

But then something changed. Well, two somethings changed.
First, a friend, A* (getting married in summer 2012), told me that she had just booked a local videographer. When I shared that we were not going the videography route, A said that prior to finding this vendor, she had been in the same boat. However, she had found a great price and rapport with this individual. I didn't ignore her, per say (very happy she had found success), but I did file it away in my email brain without plan to revisit.

Then the second "something" changed. Although I knew, from the start of our engagement, that there was a possibility that my grandmother would not be able to attend our wedding, it hadn't become official. However, there were some changes, just after this conversation, that made this possibility more of a reality. Besides being sad, it was disappointing to know that she wouldn't be able to experience our wedding through photographs until almost 2 months afterwards (non-Facebook photos, that is; assuming the 4-8 week turnaround for pro pics). There were also certain moments that she wouldn't be able to experience at all, like the sounds that accompanied all the "sights" of the day - our vows, my father's speech, etc.

So, I ended up revisiting the videographer that A had recommended, Blossom Productions. I spent more time than I care to admit looking through the site, watching the preview videos and reading client's comments like this: "It was like you were invisible, but caught everything!!!" When I finally broke down and teared up at someone else's video (who I didn't know), I figured maybe it was time to share with Mr. Turkey. I chose the below video to share.


I don't know if it was the juxtaposition of the current music with the classic shots or listening to the couple's vows and feeling like we were there, but Mr. Turkey and I were starting to come around. We decided to contact Blossom and get a better "feel" for the situation.

Within minutes of our phone conversation, I was nearly sold and this was without Alicia trying to sell me at all. In fact, I started the conversation with something like, "I don't think we really want videography but A recommended you" (I'm sure she was psyched). However, she didn't hang up the phone on me and listened to why we were opening up and answered my 100 questions about how they interact with the guests, where they stand in the church and, the most important question, when would we see a preview?

She also shared her overall view on filming weddings, which fits the tagline featured on their website: "An event isn't a documentary waiting to be made. It's a story asking to be told." Besides loving that perspective, our conversation left us feeling confident that the filmers wouldn't be underfoot and ecstatic that we'd have a preview video within 2 weeks. Oh, and we clearly LOVED Blossom's work.

In case you didn't figure it out already, we ended up doing a 180 and were all of a sudden FOR videography. For those keeping score, that's the 2nd time that the Turkeys flip-flopped.

As time has gone on, we are even happier with our decision / switch. Besides my grandmother, it seems as though there are several (older) relatives, on both sides, that may be unable to make the day. It will be so wonderful to be able to share a preview of our wedding with them after we return from our honeymoon!

Anyone else have external circumstances change their opinion on something they were dead set against?

*Any other "Pretty Little Liars" fans out there ? Yes, I fully admit I'm an ABC Family watcher.

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