This review is for the 'video' group, Belle Fine Wedding Video. I hired them to shoot our wedding…read morein August 2006. I figure the easiest way to review them is to break it up into 3 areas: Sales/Contract, Videographer/Day of, and Final Video. This way I can describe how it went and offer some advice/things to look for...
SALES/CONTRACT - The demo video was decent, and the price was right. By the time we got around to the videographer selection process, we were a little burned out - but they seemed to be reputable. They were willing to provide us with all of the raw footage in addition to the edited video. The contract (which I didn't notice at first) was a little vague. It basically stated the total cost. That's it. There was no break-down of what it included which caused issues closer to the wedding date when I wanted to confirm that there were going to be 2 cameras at the church. 2 cameras costs extra. In retrospect, I would have requested the contract have a break-down of the number of hours we were hiring them for, how many cameras at the church, how many cameras at the reception, and what we would receive after the wedding. I still think the price was right, though.
VIDEOGRAPHER/DAY OF - Our videographer was AWESOME! He was punctual (a trait I always find attractive in a vendor), showing up at the hotel before the ceremony to take a few clips of the Bridal party and the Groomsmen getting ready. It was kind of nice that he sort of faded into the woodwork. I hardly knew he was there and he managed to get some really good shots. At the church he had 2 cameras set up (one un-manned in the choir loft & one in the side balcony). We got married at Stanford Memorial Church (MemChu) which unfortunately comes with MANY restrictions, but he worked around them as best he could. He even got some clips from around campus and of us getting our pictures taken after the ceremony. At the reception, he was everywhere we were. He stayed later than we had originally contracted him for since the 'mandatory' wedding festivities took longer than expected. He was very professional and a pleasure to work with.
FINAL VIDEO - Raw footage DVD was fine -- what we expected. The edited DVD was so-so. The QUALITY of the video itself was great (obviously very-high quality cameras used), but there were a few small things that could have been improved to make a positive impact.
** First, there weren't any chapters built into the DVD. To get to a certain part of the ceremony or reception, we have to fast forward through everything. Chapters are not that hard to add. If you have hired them to do your wedding, request chapters on your DVD.
** Second, we had given them a list of songs to use for the edited video, but apparently we didn't give them enough since they ended up using extra songs on the DVD. Some of them were ok, some we weren't all that pleased with. Now we'll have to live with them forever. They should have either requested more songs on the original info sheet, or asked for more when they were putting the edited video together.
** Lastly, since MemChu required only THEIR sound equipment be used during the ceremony, BFW was given a CD with the recording of the wedding. Well, BFW didn't seem to use it. We had requested that the entire wedding ceremony be un-cut on the final edited video. BFW used different music for the processional and shows me walking down the aisle to something other than 'Here Comes the Bride'. After watching the raw footage, I realized that their camera speakers were near the organ and sounded 'blown out'. Yeah, their contract says they cannot be held responsible for extraneous noises such as ... loud bells, chimes, etc., but with a little extra effort, they could have used the church's sound CD with their video to provide an amazing DVD of our wedding ceremony.
Overall, the company was great to work with. The people we worked with before, during and after the wedding were all friendly, professional and responsive. My inexperience in hiring videographers I believe led to SOME of my disappointment, but like I said before we were burned out by then. Things I didn't know to ask for and things I expected but didn't explicitly ask for will hopefully help others in working with BFW or even another videographer.
Regardless, I watch the video every few months. Photos are nice, but the video brings it all back to life...