Serendipity Videography
November 4, 2009
filed in Weddings
Last October 17th, Stephen and I stood in front of our closest family and friends and committed our lives to one another. It was the most memorable and exciting day of our lives! We made it! We are eternally husband and wife and it is the best feeling in the world. There were so many things that helped make our day so special and SO many things were important to us.
As you know, Stephen and I work together as a team, photographing memories for others to keep. We love what we do and while planning our wedding, we knew how important it was to hire a team of vendors that would provide the same outlook we have for our own business. One special vendor I would like to feature today is our amazing videographers, Serendipity Videography. Photography was of course our number one concern for the day but we weren't quite sure about videography. We knew having a video would be important but when it came to making a decision and looking for various videographers, we just couldn't make a decision. My mom was the deciding factor. THANK YOU MOM! She encouraged us to hire a team because we will want to look back on our day and see those little details that would fly by us so fast. SHE WAS RIGHT. While we were watching Serendipity's videos, we saw something special. They were able to grab the essence of the day so smoothly and after talking with Taryn through e-mail, I knew they would take care of us. They were SO thorough and easy to work with. When the crew arrived, I was overwhelmed with how friendly each crew member was and I felt 100 percent stress free. I was SO happy we made the decision to hire Serendipity and I STRONGLY encourage all my brides to do so. The day went by so fast and I remember ALOT of what happened, but there is something so different about watching it happen on film. There is a part in the film where my dad hugs stephen at the ceremony and it made me cry. Its so special to see things happen from a different angle away from the moment you are standing in. I could go on and on about Serendipity but I'll let our video speak for itself. Serendipity has sent us a trailer of what is to come and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. You can see the trailer below or you can watch it on their blog and leave them a nice comment! To the Serendipity crew... Thank you. Thank you for your generosity and loving hearts. It meant so much to have YOU at our wedding. We hope to work with you again!
Stephanie & Stephen from Serendipity Videography on Vimeo.
I asked Serendipity a few questions about their work process to give everyone a better idea how they work. Enjoy!
Q1: How did you (and your staff) get started in videography?
Jeff got started in Videography 20 years ago at a TV Station in Indianapolis Indiana. He was an intern and 3 weeks into the internship he got hired as a Videographer. Although he aspired to be an on-air personality he fell in love with the storytelling aspect of his job and it grew from there. He was a Television News Photojournalist for 18 years and won 12 Emmy Awards for his Videography and Editing as well as the National Edward R. Murrow
award for his Videography and Editing. After winning all of those awards he felt that he had accomplished all that he wanted in news and was burnt out on the business and wanted something new but wasn't sure what...... He was tired of covering the drownings, fires and horribly tragic stories that are on the news everyday. At the time my best friend was getting married and she asked if Jeff could shoot her wedding. I knew that this was it. This was going to be our new adventure. Jeff shot the wedding and LOVED it!!! He was able to use his talents and his love of storytelling and be a part of documenting one of people's best days of their life. I on the other hand could use my marketing and sales background to create and grow a business in the wedding industry. As far as I am concerned we have the best jobs in the world!! We each are doing what we love!!
When we first got started 4 years ago we had no idea that this would grow into the business that it is now. I remember thinking "If we could just make an extra $25,000 a year that would be awesome!." Serendipity Videography started as a side business and within a year it was a full time gig. A few brides took a chance on the new kid and Serendipity Videography took off! 4 years later we have 3 teams of Videographers, 4 Editors, Video Coordinators and an Admin Assistant. It's nuts!!! It is so much bigger than we ever dreamed it would be!!!!
Q2: If you could sum up your style and vision for each wedding, what would it be?
We are Photojournalistic. A lot of people use that term and it means something different to everyone. To Serendipity Videography it means we are storytellers. We focus on each couples unique wedding story and use the audio not just the video of the day to tell it. We capture the emotion of the day and put together a customized wedding film for each of our couples. When you hire Serendipity Videography you are hiring experienced Videographers and our ability to tell your wedding story using the sites and sounds of the day. No two wedding films are alike. We want each couple to feel like they have a customized wedding film that fits their style and personality. We focus on being unobtrusive and letting the days events unfold in front of us and being their to capture every bit of emotion.
Q3: Explain your typical work day editing a wedding. How long does it take? What are
your biggest challenges?
Editing takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r...... Jeff likes to say he has "computer booty". It means that as the years have gone on his booty has spread out and gotten bigger as a result of sitting in a chair editing all day every day. Most people don't realize the time, effort, thought and creativity that goes into each and every wedding film we produce. With an average Serendipity Videography Wedding Film being 20 minutes it takes an average of 1 hour to lay down one minute of a wedding film. That is before the special effects and additional post production. So that is a minimum of 20-30 hours for the wedding film
alone. Then we have to get to work on the Chapter Menus. Couples don't realize that what you are mostly paying a Videographer for is the editing. The shooting is the easy part.
Our biggest challenges....... Where to begin..... Owning a small business has never ending challenges. We are constantly learning something new or being faced with something we have never done before or a situation we haven't encountered. It is one big huge roller coaster. I would say the biggest challenge this year has been getting through the growing pains. We have expanded our business significantly this year which is an absolute
blessing considering the economic climate but that meant adding new personnel, new equipment and upgraded systems to handle the increase in business... A lot of that expansion are things I knew nothing about so I have had to learn along the way. I didn't know what a server was or how to set up a vpn.... I do now.... Despite all of the hours of my head being ready to explode I know these things will take us to the next level and will allow me and Jeff to focus on what we are best at. For him it's creating wedding films, for me it's growing our business and taking care of our brides.
Q4: How many crew members tag along with you? (in various different shoots?)
We always have 2 Videographers and a Video Coordinator. The Video Coordinator is there to guide the Videographers and keep them up to date with the schedule of events. She is also there to work with the Photographer and Venue and make sure that we are all on the same page.
Q5: What do you love the most about this job?
Jeff and I both LOVE our couples. We meet the coolest people with the best stories of how they fell and love or what they have overcome to be together. This job truly makes you believe in true love and soulmates and that people are brought together by the universe because they are supposed to be together. Jeff loves the feeling of when we get the email after a couple has watched their wedding film and absolutely LOVE it. The best compliment
we have ever gotten was when a couple said to us "You truly got US. Who we are as a couple. You captured it perfectly." Being a part of documenting peoples best day is an incredible honor. That they trusted us enough to preserve this memory for them and tell their story is unbelievable. My favorite part of the job is working with the brides because I have been a bride. I know what her worries are, her stresses, her myriad of emotions throughout the planning process. To be there for them as a resource, a friend, an expert, whatever it may be I love being with them through the whole process from the
initial meeting to when we present them with their finished wedding film. What girly girl
doesn't love weddings??? I have the best job ever!!!!!!!
Q6:What piece of advice would you give to your clients while planning the big day?
I think 2 of the best investments a bride can make are in a Wedding Planner and a Videographer. Both of these elements are seen as a luxury and I wish they would be seen
as a MUST HAVE. A Wedding Planner is a first class ticket to a stress free wedding day. Brides these days are spending an average of $40,000 on a wedding... Don't you want to protect that investment and insure that your wedding day is all that you dreamed it would be? Weddings with Planners tend to go more smoothly. When there is a Planner no one is bothering the bride to see where she wants things placed or if the favors are on the right table or if there is a crisis the bride never hears about it the Planner just handles it. A Wedding Planner is worth her weight in gold!!
The other piece of advice.... Hire a Videographer!!!! Videography is a hindsight purchase. Couples do not realize the value of a Videographer until after the wedding. The day goes by so quickly and a Videographer will help you relive your wedding day and show you parts of your wedding day that you never knew existed. I can't tell you how often I hear "That is the one thing we would have done differently.... hired a Videographer. We
had my uncle shoot the wedding and the battery ran out in the Video Camera half way through our vows." Couples don't think they need it because they have a Photographer. They think it is something that they can do without in these economic times. A Photographer is a must have, of course. A Videographer is the perfect compliment to the Photographer though. The Photographer will capture the sites of the day but the Videographer will capture the sounds of the day. Plus in this day and age with HD and DVD's don't you want to show your kids someday what your wedding day was like? And
finally I hate to be morbid but we have had 3 brides who have unexpectedly lost someone shortly after the wedding and were so grateful for the wedding film because they now had those memories preserved forever. Videography is a worth while investment.
November 4, 2009
filed in Weddings
L
ast October 17th, Stephen and I stood in front of our closest family and friends and committed our lives to one another. It was the most memorable and exciting day of our lives! We made it! We are eternally husband and wife and it is the best feeling in the world. There were so many things that helped make our day so special and SO many things were important to us. As you know, Stephen and I work together as a team, photographing memories for others to keep. We love what we do and while planning our wedding, we knew how important it was to hire a team of vendors that would provide the same outlook we have for our own business. One special vendor I would like to feature today is our amazing videographers, Serendipity Videography. Photography was of course our number one concern for the day but we weren't quite sure about videography. We knew having a video would be important but when it came to making a decision and looking for various videographers, we just couldn't make a decision. My mom was the deciding factor. THANK YOU MOM! She encouraged us to hire a team because we will want to look back on our day and see those little details that would fly by us so fast. SHE WAS RIGHT. While we were watching Serendipity's videos, we saw something special. They were able to grab the essence of the day so smoothly and after talking with Taryn through e-mail, I knew they would take care of us. They were SO thorough and easy to work with. When the crew arrived, I was overwhelmed with how friendly each crew member was and I felt 100 percent stress free. I was SO happy we made the decision to hire Serendipity and I STRONGLY encourage all my brides to do so. The day went by so fast and I remember ALOT of what happened, but there is something so different about watching it happen on film. There is a part in the film where my dad hugs stephen at the ceremony and it made me cry. Its so special to see things happen from a different angle away from the moment you are standing in. I could go on and on about Serendipity but I'll let our video speak for itself. Serendipity has sent us a trailer of what is to come and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. You can see the trailer below or you can watch it on their blog and leave them a nice comment! To the Serendipity crew... Thank you. Thank you for your generosity and loving hearts. It meant so much to have YOU at our wedding. We hope to work with you again!
Stephanie & Stephen from Serendipity Videography on Vimeo.
I asked Serendipity a few questions about their work process to give everyone a better idea how they work. Enjoy!
Q1: How did you (and your staff) get started in videography?
Jeff got started in Videography 20 years ago at a TV Station in Indianapolis Indiana. He was an intern and 3 weeks into the internship he got hired as a Videographer. Although he aspired to be an on-air personality he fell in love with the storytelling aspect of his job and it grew from there. He was a Television News Photojournalist for 18 years and won 12 Emmy Awards for his Videography and Editing as well as the National Edward R. Murrow
award for his Videography and Editing. After winning all of those awards he felt that he had accomplished all that he wanted in news and was burnt out on the business and wanted something new but wasn't sure what...... He was tired of covering the drownings, fires and horribly tragic stories that are on the news everyday. At the time my best friend was getting married and she asked if Jeff could shoot her wedding. I knew that this was it. This was going to be our new adventure. Jeff shot the wedding and LOVED it!!! He was able to use his talents and his love of storytelling and be a part of documenting one of people's best days of their life. I on the other hand could use my marketing and sales background to create and grow a business in the wedding industry. As far as I am concerned we have the best jobs in the world!! We each are doing what we love!!
When we first got started 4 years ago we had no idea that this would grow into the business that it is now. I remember thinking "If we could just make an extra $25,000 a year that would be awesome!." Serendipity Videography started as a side business and within a year it was a full time gig. A few brides took a chance on the new kid and Serendipity Videography took off! 4 years later we have 3 teams of Videographers, 4 Editors, Video Coordinators and an Admin Assistant. It's nuts!!! It is so much bigger than we ever dreamed it would be!!!!
Q2: If you could sum up your style and vision for each wedding, what would it be?
We are Photojournalistic. A lot of people use that term and it means something different to everyone. To Serendipity Videography it means we are storytellers. We focus on each couples unique wedding story and use the audio not just the video of the day to tell it. We capture the emotion of the day and put together a customized wedding film for each of our couples. When you hire Serendipity Videography you are hiring experienced Videographers and our ability to tell your wedding story using the sites and sounds of the day. No two wedding films are alike. We want each couple to feel like they have a customized wedding film that fits their style and personality. We focus on being unobtrusive and letting the days events unfold in front of us and being their to capture every bit of emotion.
Q3: Explain your typical work day editing a wedding. How long does it take? What are
your biggest challenges?
Editing takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r...... Jeff likes to say he has "computer booty". It means that as the years have gone on his booty has spread out and gotten bigger as a result of sitting in a chair editing all day every day. Most people don't realize the time, effort, thought and creativity that goes into each and every wedding film we produce. With an average Serendipity Videography Wedding Film being 20 minutes it takes an average of 1 hour to lay down one minute of a wedding film. That is before the special effects and additional post production. So that is a minimum of 20-30 hours for the wedding film
alone. Then we have to get to work on the Chapter Menus. Couples don't realize that what you are mostly paying a Videographer for is the editing. The shooting is the easy part.
Our biggest challenges....... Where to begin..... Owning a small business has never ending challenges. We are constantly learning something new or being faced with something we have never done before or a situation we haven't encountered. It is one big huge roller coaster. I would say the biggest challenge this year has been getting through the growing pains. We have expanded our business significantly this year which is an absolute
blessing considering the economic climate but that meant adding new personnel, new equipment and upgraded systems to handle the increase in business... A lot of that expansion are things I knew nothing about so I have had to learn along the way. I didn't know what a server was or how to set up a vpn.... I do now.... Despite all of the hours of my head being ready to explode I know these things will take us to the next level and will allow me and Jeff to focus on what we are best at. For him it's creating wedding films, for me it's growing our business and taking care of our brides.
Q4: How many crew members tag along with you? (in various different shoots?)
We always have 2 Videographers and a Video Coordinator. The Video Coordinator is there to guide the Videographers and keep them up to date with the schedule of events. She is also there to work with the Photographer and Venue and make sure that we are all on the same page.
Q5: What do you love the most about this job?
Jeff and I both LOVE our couples. We meet the coolest people with the best stories of how they fell and love or what they have overcome to be together. This job truly makes you believe in true love and soulmates and that people are brought together by the universe because they are supposed to be together. Jeff loves the feeling of when we get the email after a couple has watched their wedding film and absolutely LOVE it. The best compliment
we have ever gotten was when a couple said to us "You truly got US. Who we are as a couple. You captured it perfectly." Being a part of documenting peoples best day is an incredible honor. That they trusted us enough to preserve this memory for them and tell their story is unbelievable. My favorite part of the job is working with the brides because I have been a bride. I know what her worries are, her stresses, her myriad of emotions throughout the planning process. To be there for them as a resource, a friend, an expert, whatever it may be I love being with them through the whole process from the
initial meeting to when we present them with their finished wedding film. What girly girl
doesn't love weddings??? I have the best job ever!!!!!!!
Q6:What piece of advice would you give to your clients while planning the big day?
I think 2 of the best investments a bride can make are in a Wedding Planner and a Videographer. Both of these elements are seen as a luxury and I wish they would be seen
as a MUST HAVE. A Wedding Planner is a first class ticket to a stress free wedding day. Brides these days are spending an average of $40,000 on a wedding... Don't you want to protect that investment and insure that your wedding day is all that you dreamed it would be? Weddings with Planners tend to go more smoothly. When there is a Planner no one is bothering the bride to see where she wants things placed or if the favors are on the right table or if there is a crisis the bride never hears about it the Planner just handles it. A Wedding Planner is worth her weight in gold!!
The other piece of advice.... Hire a Videographer!!!! Videography is a hindsight purchase. Couples do not realize the value of a Videographer until after the wedding. The day goes by so quickly and a Videographer will help you relive your wedding day and show you parts of your wedding day that you never knew existed. I can't tell you how often I hear "That is the one thing we would have done differently.... hired a Videographer. We
had my uncle shoot the wedding and the battery ran out in the Video Camera half way through our vows." Couples don't think they need it because they have a Photographer. They think it is something that they can do without in these economic times. A Photographer is a must have, of course. A Videographer is the perfect compliment to the Photographer though. The Photographer will capture the sites of the day but the Videographer will capture the sounds of the day. Plus in this day and age with HD and DVD's don't you want to show your kids someday what your wedding day was like? And
finally I hate to be morbid but we have had 3 brides who have unexpectedly lost someone shortly after the wedding and were so grateful for the wedding film because they now had those memories preserved forever. Videography is a worth while investment.
