Inspirational Wedding Video

 The majority of couples who choose not to hire a wedding videographer will wish they had done so afterwards.  

Now you have selected a wedding venue, and we hope you selected a beautiful wedding castle you need to pick a wedding videographer to capture those memories. 

Video production is one of the most sought after services of today. This kind of services has done well for wedding celebrations.

The digital camera is not the only thing that preserves moments. The way you hold your hands together, the kiss after being hailed as husband and wife, the wearing of the rings and almost every part of the celebration will not be missed.

Modern technology has advanced the quality of the equipment dramatically and the end product is often a lavish, well edited and professional product that you will be both proud of and keen to view again and again.

Almost as important as the camera and the format is how good the videographer is. Its also nice to see sample here they are at “just the right place at just the right time” to catch a magical moment.

A few good samples should be enough to get a sense of their style and professionalism. Be especially aware of companies that over-use effects – this can often be to compensate for poor camerawork and stylistically your video could look very dated within a few years.

 If you are satisfied with the samples you see online, the next thing to do is ask for a sample DVD.

Any reputable videographer will be able to send you at least 2 complete  for your appraisal that are relevant to your type of event.

The commonest weakness in ‘home video’ is the cameraperson constantly panning the camera left to right and back again, zooming in and out, all in one shot, from one location. Zooming and panning should be very rarely used. Instead ask them to take a series of static shots, from a variety of angles (following the 30° rule) and without breaking the 180° rule.

You must read the small print of the contract in order to determine exactly what you will get for your cash as this does vary greatly, but on the whole you can expect the presence of a skilled and qualified videographer at your ceremony and your Reception, with a fully edited and professional movie supplied on the format of your choice.

It is also important to know what format the video will be shot in. You want to see something like Hi8, MiniDV, DV, or even digitally on a hard drive or other mobile storage device.

Ask the Videographer if they are covered for Public Liability Insurance and, if possible, ask to see their policy. They should also have the appropriate copyright licences to record the wedding service and any other copyright material that is included in the video.

The wedding videography industry for example is relatively young and there is a huge variation in the way people operate. You could easily find your wedding day turned into a movie set as your videographer orders guests where to stand and how to ‘act’ for the camera. In our experience, event videography should be non-obtrusive to ensure material captured is genuinely natural and spontaneous.

If you can arrange to meet the videographer in person to assess their professionalism, interest and commitment to producing your film project. This is also the best time to ask questions about their experience, working methods and what is included in the price (see separate notes). If a meeting in person isn’t possible due to distance or timing, then you should at least have a chat over the phone.

Preliminary Questions:-
Are you the person who will be videotaping my wedding?
Will you have an assistant or other videographer with you on the day of my wedding?
Are you familiar with our ceremony and reception location?
(If No to above) Do you visit the ceremony and reception sites before the actual wedding date?
What is your style of video production? Documentary or cinematic?

How many years of experience do you have as a videographer?
Approximately how many wedding videos have you videotaped?

Cost Questions:-

What type of packages do you offer
Can you add in a photo montage, if so, what is the cost?
Does the package include titles for the video, if not, can it be added, and at what cost?
How many hours does this package include?
How is overtime calculated?
How much are additional copies?
How many cameras & operators?
Does the price include full editing?
How many hours attendance is included?
What sort of preparatory planning is provided?
Are ceremonies and speeches filmed in full?
Are video messages or interviews allowed?
Do they offer a choice of music?
How long will the finished film be?
Exactly how will be DVD be presented?
How many copies of the DVD are supplied?
Do they include highlights of the event?
Are travel costs included?
Do they have public liability & professional indemnity insurance?
Is VAT included?
What is your payment policy?
What is your cancellation policy
Do you offer a money back guarantee?

Equipment
What format with the film be in? (e.g. 4:3 PAL, 16:9 Widescreen)
What type of equipment do you use?
Do you bring back up equipment with you to the wedding?
Do you have a wireless microphone?
Do you have liability insurance?

Most importantly on the day enjoy yourself and let the wedding videographer do his job.  Hopefully you did your research and selected a good one – so trust him and try to forget that he is there and enjoy your wedding day. If you selected a wedding castle you will have a magnificent back drop for your wedding video.  We hope you have a fantastic castle wedding.

chocolate wedding cake inspiration

Chocolate Themed wedding

With the rise in popularity of themed weddings such as Renaissance/Medieval, fantasy, 70s, disco, beach, and fairytale weddings, among many others, weddings with a theme centered on chocolates are becoming common nowadays.

If you are having a french wedding you will have a fabulous choice of amazing chocolate desserts by expereienced chocolatiers. The french love chocolate. 

The great thing about a chocolate wedding theme is that it encompasses colour and taste and smell. 

Chocolate fountains are all the rage at weddings.  A chocolate fountain is a great conversation piece and a delight to all of the senses.   Before you get all excited about your chocolate theme and chocolate fountain check that your wedding venue allows them.  Because of health and safety considerations lots of venues have not prohibited them.  You can have one at our french wedding castle venue.

A variety of foods can be dipped into it to instantly augment your favorite fruits, cakes, snacks and whatever else you would like.   The fountain causes your event to have a mellow but lovely sweet aroma that will entice you and your guests to use and admire it. Then wedding favors with chocolates came next and eventually paved the path for modern wedding cakes to be designed and baked in new ways.   If you are having a french wedding you can select a croquembouche filled with chocolate custard as one of your chocolate deserts.

Chocolate is synonymous with romance.

Nowadays, the chocolate flavor does not stop at the wedding cake and wedding favors.

Things to consider are: 

• The wedding clothes that you, your spouse-to-be and entourage will be wearing. This includes the color that should follow the chocolate theme. You can choose from a lot of chocolate shades and you even have an option to have a chocolate theme mixed with cream, mint or strawberry.  The hot color scheme seems to be blue and chocolate. Some called it Tiffany Blue, others teal and even more referred to robin’s egg blue. Any way you cut it, the trend is definitely in.

We often browse the web for ideas, and the color scheme of chocolate and blue has hit mainstream.

If you’re looking for a different twist on your wedding day, perhaps this story may be for you.

Ian Stuart, the winner of Best Bridal designer 2004-2007 created an amazing looking wedding dress is made of white chocolate, and described as “cute, burlesque, contemporary, fashionable and 1950’s” – We describe it as “Tasty looking, with potential to melt, leaving a semi naked bride on a hot summer’s day”.  The creators both  agree that the dress should only be worn for a short while.

The collaboration between Rococo and Ian Stuart fits, because you have two different high profile brands, both cutting edge and both willing to try something new!

Technically brilliant, the dress looks fantastic, and being created by two parties at the pinnacle of their games, makes it a fascinating achievment.

• The design and color of flowers for your bouquet and decorations in the wedding venue and reception. You’ll have to find a flower shop or a flower shop that has chocolate colored flowers such as the delphiniums kissed by chocolate, hemerocallis Ed Murray, lilium asiatic landini, and the penumbra, Sherry Baby (Chocolate Orchid), black barlows, chocolate cosmos, dahlia-chocolate sundae, dahlia karma chocolate , among many others.

• It is easy to incorporate chocolate into all of your menu. You can consider foie gras with dark chocoalate, duck with chocolate sauce, chocolate-dusted scallops with vanilla butter sauce, chicken mole (chicken recipe with chocolate sauce), seared pork tenderloin with cocoa spice rub, and grilled New York strip with chocolate merlot sauce, among many others.

• A chocolate fountain will definitely be a hit for your chocolate-themed wedding. There are also a great variety of premium imported chocolates available, oftentimes available in most chocolate varieties. There are a variety of styles to choose from for your chocolate fountain.

• Chocolate Coloured Decorations – Because brown coordinates so perfectly with many colors—pink, turquoise, melon, lavender—it’s a great color to work with the chocolate theme for your wedding reception.  Chocolate and tiffany blue is very popular right now.

• One of the last things to consider can be the wedding accessories, decor, and favors. Ensure the design, colour and overall outcomes of your wedding accessories embrace the chocolate theme too.

Favors are easier to plan about because there are a lot of chocolate-inspired wedding favors to choose from. These include chocolate bars decorated with wedding themes such as those available from Hersheys line of chocolate wedding favors.

Chocolate wedding favors are a great option. They can be eaten or saved as desired, and almost everyone is at least marginally fond of chocolate. Almost everyone can appreciate fine chocolate treats and those who do not usually have a reason, such as a food allergy, that the couple will be aware of and able to substitute something else for those individuals.

Chocolate wedding cakes are nothing like traditional wedding cakes. Traditional wedding cakes have always had white icing on the outside, and usually filled with a traditional white or ‘fruitcake’ recipe. Chocolate wedding favors are always a lovely addition to the reception tables. Chocolate wedding favors have been used by traditional weddings to thank and appreciate guest’s support. This idea started with upper class people, who are wealthy enough to have elegant gifts to give for their guests.

Planning for a gourmet chocolate themed wedding will be fun and experiencing it will be quite exciting and a different experience which will definitely be the talk of the town and a great memory to share with your future children and grandchildren.

A french wedding is a great opportunity to showcase a chocolate wedding theme.

wedding inspiration boad

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, an inspiration board is a sort of collage that embodies the feeling and tone of your wedding. It is, just as the name implies, the inspiration for your wedding.  Also known as wedding story boards and mood boards, an inspiration board is basically a collage of pictures that helps you pull together color schemes, decorating ideas and other wedding details. You can show your board to your florist, baker, photographer and/or wedding coordinator to help them understand the look and feel you want your wedding to evoke.

Brides snip inspiring photos from wedding magazines and surf the net sometimes for years before their big day.   Your inspiration board is simply all of the ideas, and photos that inspire your wedding. Whether its your dress, cake, table settings, or flowers, its a collage of all the wedding images you love.  For a french wedding google google images for wedding in France, castle wedding and chateau wedding.

Wedding inspiration boards (also called a story or mood board, but let’s be honest – it’s a collage. Sheesh!) are a growing trend. Show your friends and family if you want their input or keep it private or anonymously published on the net if you do not.  Displaying it on your office wall, for example, will undoubtedly invite suggestions from your work colleagues.

You may miss the overall effect when you get down to the nitty-gritty of every fine detail. If you include pictures of everything from food to flowers to dresses to lighting, you’ll have a better idea of what your guests will see on your wedding day, when all of a sudden they walk in and see it all put together. And, as you will know how all of your different wedding elements come together ahead of time thanks to your inspiration board, it will be fabulous on your wedding day.

As you are making decisions it really helps to have a visual reminder of all your thoughts right in front of you. You can create it in Photoshop or a similar layout program or it can be real on a bulletin board o a piece of foam. Swatches, photos, even notes you’ve jotted down can be displayed all in one place, and changed around as you change your mind.

They can consist of dresses, bouquets, shoes, favours, placecards, receptions, programs, invitations. Create your board using pictures from magazines, websites or personal photographs. You name it, you can include it. Wedding Inspiration boards are also a great way to express your wedding ideas and vision to the many vendors who will participate in your wedding.     Scan images from wedding magazines and brochures.  Any wedding vendor you deal with will be delighted to see that you have an inspiration board. 

An inspiration board also helps you stay focused and avoid purchases that do not fit well into your overall vision.

 You can create them easily online without any graphics programes or knowledge.

Do not be intimidated into thinking you need a fancy program like Photoshop to make an inspiration board.

  Remember pictures speak a thousand words.  Our bilingual french wedding planner says most brides having a destination wedding have an inspiration board.

Canon in D like you have never heard it before

Choosing proper wedding music can be a difficult task.  There are many types of music to choose for your wedding.

The music you select to precede, underscore and follow your wedding ceremony is perhaps the most immediate and effective way you can create the mood or establish the tone for your event. 

Many couples select music that will enhance a special theme that they have chosen for their wedding such as Baroque, New Age, Classical, Jazz, 1920s etc.    Often chateau wedding brides chose baroque music and sometimes to carry the theme through they have the musicians dress in baroque costume.  It is a very nice touch and incredibly romantic. 

Brides who are marrying for the second time or more often select a less formal musical selection.  The music you choose can, depending on the formality of your wedding, be an additional means of expressing your feelings for each other.

If you are like most people the wedding music that will be used during your marriage ceremony is very important to you – but you may not have a clue how to go about selecting your wedding songs!

An important factor in choosing your wedding music is the setting for your ceremony. The music you choose will be determined by the nature of your event (religious or civil; formal or casual), your own musical tastes, the attitude of your officiator and the abilities of your musicians.

If your ceremony will not be in a religious setting, you can choose just about any kind of music you like — although you will want to stay within the bounds of good taste! Popular songs can date very quickly.  So ask yourself: Will the music I choose from my wedding today be the memory I want in the years to come?

On the other hand, if your ceremony will be in a church or synagogue, or conducted by a clergy person at another location, you will probably need to stay within guidelines set by the clergy person or the church. Some churches limit music choices, so before you start choosing music, check with your clergy about any restrictions that may be in place.  Most religious denominations consider a wedding ceremony to be a form of worship service.

For this reason, churches generally do not allow “secular” music (non-religious popular music) during a wedding. Some will allow secular music while the guests are being seated, but not during the ceremony itself. Check with the church where your wedding will be held for its specific guidelines.

We recommend before you begin searching for the best wedding musicians to first develop a storyboard of any wedding music that you feel will capture the right mood of each step of your wedding as it happens, and make a list of those songs you want to play during each phase of the wedding.

You may want to conside instrumental-only music for your wedding ceremony? Your choices here may include the church organist or pianist, a string quartet, a harpist, or other instrumentalists.

A string quartet is a popular choice for larger weddings, and with good reason. The great attaction of a quartet is that they have a very wide repertoire ranging from classical to jazz and, requiring no electricity, can easily be moved from place to place – useful if the weather turns!  For something different you could ask for them to be dressed in baroque costume which would be stunning if you are hiring a heritage property like a wedding chateau.

You may be allowed to select some pieces for the prelude, one piece for the processional where the bridal party enters, another for the bride’s processional, and another for the recessional.

Prelude:
This is the music played while the guests are being seated and  sets the mood as people arrive, and is usually soft background music.

Processional:
The processional music is played while the wedding party and bride walk down the aisle.  If the wedding party is large, some brides opt to have 2 pieces–one for the wedding party, and one for the entrance of the bride (such as the traditional ‘Here Comes the Bride’). The first notes of the processional music announce the arrival of the Bride and for the guests to stand! Music for the entrance of the Bridesmaids is usually more formal, and presented at a higher volume than the pre-ceremony music.

The best processionals are pieces that can be performed at a even walking tempo and that can be easily ended at various points during the performance.  This allows for different sized wedding parties,  the length of the distance they have to travel, and the speed at which they walk.

Here is a tip.Try the processional music out at home.  Measure the distance from the back of the aisle to the altar and practice walking the length with the music playing.  This way you will know if your selected song is a bit too short or way too long.  You don’t want to find yourself standing at the altar waiting and waiting for the number to finish any more than you want to have the music run out while the bridesmaids are still making their entrance.

Some of the most famous of wedding repertoire include such pieces as Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, Handel’s joyful Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.  These all sounds great on the harp, or a string quartet or violin and cello duet and can be easily tailored any length necessary. They are gently flowing.

Here Comes the Bride by Wagner is a traditional wedding march best used for the entrance of the bride only.  Its mood is majestic.

Wedding March by Mendelssohn is the another traditional wedding march.  It also works on the harp and can be used solely as the bride’s music. It is majestic and grand.

Processional by McDonald As its name implies, this piece was specifically written to be played as a processional and is an upbeat and joyous processional.

Others couples prefer to choose popular music that is meaningful to them. You can walk down the aisle to your favorite song if permitted by your church – you don’t have to include a march as your wedding processional. 

Recessional:
The recessional music is played as the bride and groom, wedding party, and wedding officiate walk back out down the aisle.  The music is usually upbeat and celebratory, and does not have to be very long.  It is often accompanied with the ringing of church bells or chimes.

Mendelssohn’s Wedding March and Processional by McDonald also work fantastically as recessionals and not just as processionals.  Recessionals give the ceremony that traditional feel.

You may also have solos during your wedding ceremony.  The musical version of the Lord’s Prayer by Albert Hay Malotte can take the place of the congregation reciting the prayer aloud, and can be played solo or as a duet with a singer.  Ava Maria is a popular choice when signing the register.

Postlude music is a nice touch if the wedding couple are meeting the guests in a reception line as they leave the church.

Now you have selected what you would like played at your ceremony you need to find the musician/musicians.

Consider:

- their familiarity with the church, chapel and their music protocol and also that at your selected wedding venue,  or wedding chateau .  If they have never played their before do not be too concerned as all of this can be established with a site visit and a phone call or two.

- what will they wear?  Elegant suits for the gentlemen and long gowns are the traditional attire and make them pleasing to the eye as the music is to the ear.

- can you have a recording of their music to sample their style. Some quartets may even provide you with a CD of your chosen wedding music, giving you a wonderful keepsake that can act as a personalized wedding favor or help you relive those romantic special moments.

- how loud will the music be.  It should be loud enough to be heard, whilst not being so loud as to intrude upon the conversation of your guests. The “right” choice will depend on your own taste and the number of guests.

- ask for references. First hand knowledge of how an ensemble, looked, played and behaved is the best way to guarantee that your choice is the right one

- ask about their price and how many hours that entails

- ask if you will be charged travelling and their valet parking

- ask about cancellation policy

After the ceremony it is nice to have music continuing for cocktails and canapes and for the wedding dinner. 

Another option for entertainment is to have a live band perform at the wedding. Depending on your place of venue you may need permission for this so be sure to check this out in advance.

Trying to please all will be hard because not everyone shares the same taste in music thus leaving you in an awkward situation.