Instyle Wedding Videos

Allergies are not fun. They are at best annoying and mood-killing, and at worst they are life-threatening. However, allergies are also becoming steadily more common in our society. This means that you’ll probably have to deal with a food, pollen or material allergy at your wedding. To help keep all those faces dry and comfortable for your wedding video, follow our guide to hypoallergenic weddings made easy!

Catering for Food Allergies
The most serious food allergy you should plan for is nut allergies. Ensure that your venue and your caterers can guarantee that dishes will not contain traces of nuts.

However, there are also numerous other food allergies and sensitivities that could prevent your guests enjoying themselves. It isn’t possible to cater for all of them; the best way around this dilemma is:
• Ensure your caterers can modify dishes to suit your guests – that the recipes aren’t completely fixed
• Give your guests a choice of two or three dishes for the meal
• Serve a wide range of canapés and ask that the waiters are fully informed about the ingredients of each one.

Preventing Pollen Allergies
Outdoor weddings are fantastic for photos and capturing wedding video – natural light means our wedding videographers can capture every flicker of joy on your faces! However, they can be difficult if someone in the wedding party suffers from pollen allergies. Pollen allergies might also be triggered more by specific flowers and plants.

You can compromise and fight your allergic guests’ itches by:
• Staying away from the heavy pollen-bearing flowers, including daisies, goldenrods, baby’s breath, and lilies. Choose hydrangeas, orchids, camellias or roses instead.
• Having the lawn of your outdoor venue mown 2-3 days beforehand and all grass caught and removed.
• Keeping outdoor time to a minimum
• Shooting some wedding video or photos outside while the guests are free to go inside if they need to.

Preventing Toxin Allergies
If you have guests who are allergic to bee stings, wasp stings or insect bites, following the guidelines above will help keep them safe as well.

Wedding Band Allergies
Metal allergies are actually very common. A small sensitivity to a particular metal will turn into a big deal, because the band is in permanent contact with your skin. If you are sensitive to gold or the nickel used in white gold, or you have acidic skin which turns sterling silver black, choose wedding bands made from:
• Titanium
• Platinum
• Tungsten carbide

Don’t spoil your wedding day or wedding video memories of that day with red eyes, watery noses or medical emergencies! Hypoallergenic weddings are easy, they just need a little thought.

Got your hearts set on marrying in that magical metamorphosing month which sometimes has 29 days?! February is a fantastic month to get married – there are plenty of things on your side. Today we check out some planning tips for February weddings that can help you save money, avoid heartache, and ensure you have your brightest smile on for your wedding video!

What’s Happening?
Around the country, February is often the time when society and business seems to ‘kick into gear’ again. Children go back to school and businesses and employees finish their summer holidays.

This means that February weddings often have a greater choice of venues, products and services available for the wedding day. HOWEVER, planning and organisation in the few weeks beforehand can be difficult! Make sure you organise your wedding videographers and other services well before January to avoid disappointment.

Weather
The weather across Australia in February can be unpredictable, as the seasons change. Cyclones and flooding are common in tropical areas.

Although the weather will be less extreme than January’s baking sunshine, you may want to plan for an indoor wedding! The bride and groom will look much less wilted on your wedding video, and there’s less chance of having to change plans at the last minute.

Food and Flowers
Choose seasonal flowers, fruits, vegetables and foods for a fresher and (more importantly) cheaper wedding!

February flowers:
• Bells of Ireland
• Larkspur
• Lilies
• Asters
• Snapdragons
• Sunflowers
• English lavender
• Freesia

February foods:
• Cantaloupe and honeydew melon
• Berries
• Avocado
• Grapes
• Chillies
• Corn
• Mangoes
• Pacific jumping squid
• Skipjack tuna
• Trout – sea and rainbow
• Sea bass
• Japanese eel

Dates to Avoid
Look ahead to what’s happening in your area around your planned wedding dates before you set down any bookings. Make sure you stay well away from these times!

Chinese New Year: The date for this changes every year, as it is determined by lunar cycles. Streets are often blocked off and traffic becomes difficult.

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras: Traffic becomes hell and the atmosphere in the city becomes a lot more political than romantic!

Valentine’s Day: Love might be in the air, but flowers are in short supply and just about every other man and his wife are getting married!

Start feeling out dates well in advance with people like your wedding videographer, and you’ll get a sense of what will work best for your February wedding!

Monday’s wedding is fair of face, Saturday’s wedding is full of grace … Setting a date for your wedding is one of the first steps you’ll take in your planning, and your choice is important for so many reasons! You’ll have to balance the needs of your guests, your own work life and obligations, your wedding budget and the availability of services such as wedding videographers, caterers, venues, etc. Today we explore the ‘weekday vs weekend’ wedding issue a little more deeply, to help you decide!

Why Go For a Weekend Wedding?
Weekend weddings are actually the most common choice. Here’s why:

You ensure guest availability: Most people don’t work on weekends. Scheduling your wedding for a weekend means that people won’t have to take time off work to be able to attend.

Most wedding services will work on weekends: Given that weekends are the most common time for weddings, you shouldn’t have any problems securing the services you want. Our wedding videographers are happy to work both during the week and on weekends – so should most other businesses in the wedding industry.

Why Go For a Weekday Wedding?
Although weekday weddings are less standard, there are some good reasons to book your date so it falls on a weekday! Remember that:

Friday weddings allow for recovery time! Your guests will have plenty of time to recover from the ‘festivities’ if you plan your wedding for a Friday.

Plane tickets and accommodation will be cheaper: If you are planning a destination wedding, taking a plane to your honeymoon or inviting guests who’ll be travelling to your wedding by plane, midweek tickets are usually cheaper!

Venues will be cheaper: Whereas most services (wedding videography, photography, celebrants etc) will charge the same rates for weekends as weekdays, venues are different. They are keen to make money from the low-demand times, and often charge MUCH less for weekday weddings!

Church weddings are easier to plan: Churches are usually pretty booked out on Sundays! If you want a church wedding, you’ll get more flexibility in your dates and times with a weekday wedding.

Significant Dates?
Some couples have significant dates – you may want to get married on a special person’s birthday, on an anniversary of your meeting or your first date, for example. Plan for these dates well in advance! Book in your catering, wedding video and other services well in advance to ensure that everything is available … and realise that some people simply might not be able to attend.

Planning a wedding is like a crash course in design principles for most people. You begin to learn what colours coordinate well, how to arrange a space in your ceremony venue or reception hall so that it is both functional and attractive, how to match bridesmaids and groomsmen’s outfits … the list goes on! You probably also have some specific ideas about how you’d like your finished wedding video to turn out. So, while it’s not possible for you to sit on the editing floor with your wedding videographers planning and perfecting every shot, there are some ways that you can help design your own wedding videography. We check them out today!

Know What You Like
Go look at lots of wedding videos – check out those that people have uploaded themselves on Youtube. Check out the sample videos on our site. Ask us for more samples, if you like! As you are watching the videos, note what you like and don’t like. Look for aspects like:
• How much editing has been done
• How long the final product is
• Which specific events in the wedding day have been included
• The way that one shot transitions to another shot
• The use of music within the video

Any comments you can give us about what you think of our past videos and other wedding videos you have seen will help us put together a finished product that you’ll love.

Upgrade Your Package
The simpler wedding videography packages come without special effects. If you want to jazz up your finished wedding video a little, you could consider upgrading your package during the editing process.

The earlier we know this, the better your finished product will turn out to be – planning makes perfect!

Choose Your Own Music
All of our packages include the ‘music of your choice’. If you don’t have any ideas, we are happy to make suggestions!

Give Us Feedback
Let us know during our initial conversations about your wedding videography whether you would like the opportunity to have input into the finished video before we finalise it, and we can arrange a draft copy for you to view. This will naturally incur additional charges, but for many couples it is worthwhile to have any niggles ironed out before your wedding video is committed to disc forever!

You might not be pressing the buttons on your wedding video, but we want you to have control when possible. Ask us at your initial appointment about how you can help design your wedding video!

It’s the start of every new year, and a beautifully symbolic time to start your new life with your partner! January offers a lot of convenience to couples marrying, but there are also quite a few special considerations to make for weddings in the first month of the year. Today we help you think and plan ahead for your joy in January!

Holidays!

January is a holiday season. This means several things for your wedding:

• Many tourism businesses are charging peak rates. This could mean that your catering, reception hall hire or other contractors are more expensive. Thankfully your wedding videography rates remain much the same!
• Many of your guests will be on holidays. This gives you freedom to choose a weekday wedding if you prefer – which could help cut down those extra costs!
• Popular spots in your area will be busy with tourists – a ‘quiet’ beach wedding is not usually possible in January!

Weather

January is the middle of summer … and while the idea of a fun and carefree summer wedding sounds good at first glance, the heat can make things difficult!

You’ll need to pick outfits very carefully to allow for breathability. Though you might be just a little bit sweaty on the day, you don’t want those dark circles immortalised forever in your wedding video! If you’re in a tropical or subtropical climate, you’ll probably want to head indoors to an air conditioned venue for your January wedding.

In some hotter locations such as beaches or on asphalt, heat haze can also be a problem for wedding videography.

Food and Flowers

Flowers and foods which are in season will be fresher, better smelling and tasting, and also cheaper for your wedding! In January, choose these flowers:

• Carnations
• Astromeria
• Freesia
• Gerberas
• Hydrangeas
• Iris
• Asiatic and oriental lilies
• Queen Anne’s Lace
• Tuberose
• Sunflower

And ask your caterers if they can incorporate these seasonal fruits and foods into your menu:

• Rainbow trout
• Crayfish
• Soft shell crab
• Basil
• Beans
• Zucchini
• Capsicum
• Cherries
• Stonefruit
• Blackberries

Dates to Avoid

If you’re planning your wedding in January, you might want to avoid the following dates!

• January 26^th: The Australia Day public holiday will be busy. Your guests might already have plans for their long weekend, also.
• The Australian Open: Couples in Melbourne will want to avoid the traffic nightmare that the Australian Open can cause on a wedding day!
• The Sydney Festival: You’ll need to look up the event calendar each year to gauge which days will be busier.

Stress less, let that beautiful smile shine through on your wedding video, by planning your wedding carefully around its month!

Weddings are a joyous day … for the bride and groom! For the guests and other members of the wedding party, however, weddings can have more than a small element of discomfort. Weddings have a way of creating dilemmas … but fortunately, they are never un-solvable! Today we check out how you can keep every face on your wedding video smiling by deftly diverting those wedding dilemmas.

I Was Expecting Financial Help from My Parents!

The times they are a changin’. When once it was traditional for the family of the bride to pay for the entire wedding, this type of ‘rule’ is not often followed for its own sake anymore.

Feel free to talk to your parents about your expectations – negative emotions will only brew unless you hear their side. If they can’t contribute, you’ll just need to scale back your expectations. Remember that at the end of the day, you’re going to be married – no matter how it happens! We’ve looked at plenty of budget wedding tips on this blog, including different wedding video packages.

People Keep Trying to Overtake the Organisation

Some people are born organisers. They want to help you during a stressful time … so you suddenly find flowers ordered, placecards made, invitations sent out … and all your plans and wishes ignored!

Our wedding videographers will only deal with the bride and groom, but other contractors simply don’t work like this. The only silver bullet to this problem is honesty – tell your (ahem) “helper” that you really want to organise things yourself.

We Don’t Want A Hundred Toasters!

This is a common dilemma. Nobody wants a hundred toasters, after all! We recently came across this neat little poem which helps ask your guests to ‘donate’ to your marriage rather than buying potentially redundant gifts. Pop this on your wedding invitation:

Our home has been made with love and care,

Most things we need are already there

In a few bigger things you might help us invest

Thus a coin in our wishing well might be best

In the end though, the only thing we need from you,

Is to be there when we say ‘I Do!’

This way you can use your wedding gifts to help pay for the wedding, going for things you may have thought out of your budget. Gran a wedding video instead of a simple photographer, the dress of your dreams, or the 1967 Chevy Camaro instead of a simple hire car.

Night time and daytime weddings feel as different as, well … night and day! At night, there is a warm intimacy and a very special immersion in the moment. During the day, weddings are filled with light, life, noise, bustle and hope. And most importantly, all those moments are much easier to capture in your wedding video! Neither timing is superior or inferior, but depending on your guests, your circumstances and the way you want to remember your day, either a night time or a day time wedding might suit you better. Today we help you decide.

Day Time Weddings: Consider …

If you keep both your ceremony and your reception mostly during daylight hours, you should consider that:

You have less time to get ready: Many wedding tasks don’t actually happen til D-day.

If your wedding is scheduled for 11am, there is less buffer time for unexpected problems and to complete last minute tasks like hair and makeup.

People may not feel comfortable drinking: Alcohol, that is! A daytime wedding will probably be a more sedate than raucous affair.

Night Time Weddings: Consider …

However, there are quite a few factors that make night time weddings trickier than daytime ones.

Wedding videos are more difficult! We do our best, but in lower light, wedding videos just aren’t as sharp and clear as they are in the daytime.

May be more expensive: Reception venues experience their highest demand for the night time hours. Often the difference is about $10 – $50 extra per head for a night wedding. Wedding videography starts to cost a little more after 10pm, and dinners are typically more expensive to serve to your guests than brunch or lunch.

Tired children: Do many of your guests have children? Receptions are less fun when you can hear kids screaming over the music!

The Compromise

The usual compromise is to have your ceremony during the daytime, which facilitates capturing the entire event on your wedding video, and holding your reception at night. This covers most of the consideration points above and leaves plenty of wiggle room for guests to do what they need to.

However, you shouldn’t forget that your wedding is YOUR special day! If you particularly want either nighttime or daytime to dominate in the proceedings, your guests, your contractors and us, your wedding videographers, can find ways to make that happen.

Planning a wedding involves a lot of phone calls. A lot of talking. A lot of negotiations and follow-ups. And we mean A LOT! If you’re the type of person who knows what you want from a phone call, but has trouble spitting it out in recognisable form when someone says “Hello”, this unusual but very valuable wedding planning trick might come in handy!

The ISBAR System

This system is used to both speed and clarify information delivery and general communication in healthcare settings across Australia. However, it is useful in your everyday life as well … and never more so than when you are speaking to an average of five different people per day, trying to organise wedding videos, invitations, venues, music, guests, responsibilities … and have fun somewhere amongst all of that.

Here’s how the ISBAR system works.

I: Introduction

When the other person first picks up the phone, you need to introduce yourself. The original ISBAR requires a statement of your name, role and location. Translated into wedding planning scenario, this might entail:

“Hi there, my name is Lana Zucchi and I am from the Zucchi-Clinton wedding party”.

You state your name, and your role as it relates to the company you are speaking to. Your location is usually irrelevant for weddings. Given that you’re not in a time-pressured clinical situation, you might want to say “How are you?”, as well!

S: Situation

In it’s original context, the ‘Situation’ is the patient’s current problem. In the much happier wedding planning context, the situation is the base reason for your call. For example:

“I’m calling to make an appointment to speak with your wedding videographers for further information on the process”.

B: Background

The background of your situation intuitively comes first, but when communicating the presentation of the background first can often be confusing. So, first give the reason for your current call and then give the background to the call if applicable. The next thing you would say in our example might be:

“We received your quote last week and we’d like to know a little bit more about what the wedding video service includes”.

A: Assessment

This standardised step is again tailored to healthcare. However, the basics of this part are that details are given. Depending on your experience with the service provider to date, you might say something like:

“We would like to see some examples of your wedding video work, and we’d also like to discuss packages and how we might be able to tailor them”.

R: Recommendation

In this part of the communication tool, you tell the other person what action you need them to take. This was hinted at in the ‘Situation’ section. You might say something here like:

“Could you let me know what times you have available for a chat?”

For some people, this sort of communication comes naturally. For others, it makes wedding planning a nightmare on stilts! Write out what you plan to say on the phone to a contractor using the ISBAR tool before you dial. Eventually, communicating in this way becomes natural and can be useful for all aspects of your life.