Communication
To make sure your wedding runs smoothly, the most important thing to remember is the need to effectively communicate your thoughts and ideas to all the people that are involved. Nobody likes surprises on their wedding day, as that can have a negative impact on your overall experience.
Because many people have different ways of handling things, it’s good to have clear interactions with everyone involved. Some people are very flexible and reasonable. But we all know people that are stubborn and set in their ways. When two such personalities meet on a wedding day, it can be a disaster.
You need everybody to have a flexible communication style. If it’s your wedding, you know what’s most important and what things you need to have a particular way. You need to be clear about what these things are and ask for exactly what you want. For other aspects of the wedding, you can be more flexible and more likely to adapt on the fly.
Wedding Venue Walkthrough
One of the best ways to make sure that all your vendors work well together, rather than relying on emails and phone calls, is to get everyone together for a venue walk through. With all your vendors in one place, not only can you go over the important features of your venue, such as rules and limitations, but you’ll get the chance to introduce your vendors to each other and give them a chance to interact. They can discuss what they need from one another and how they are all going to work together to make sure that your wedding runs smoothly.
For many portions of the wedding, different vendors will need different things from one another. Your catering company is going to need access to the kitchen and all the cooking elements. Your DJ’s going to need access to the power options that the venue supplies, as well as a space to set up in and stage gear. These are all things to cover in a walk-through.
We suggest that a venue walkthrough is done anywhere between six months to one month before your wedding so everybody can voice their opinions, concerns, and questions.
Videographer and the DJ
The DJ probably doesn’t need that much from the videographer but there are two key elements that the videographer and the DJ need to work together on. The videographer will need to get audio of the ceremony. Not every DJ will supply audio and sound gear for the ceremony, so you will definitely want to discuss this with your DJ beforehand.
Vendors do not like surprises on a wedding day so before they start plugging into each other’s equipment they need to have permission and make prior arrangements. A prior discussion will ensure there’s less tension between these two vendors.
A videographer will have strict guidelines when it comes to the dance party and the kind of lighting that they need for the reception. It’s very useful to find out what type of lights that the DJ will be bringing as well as the type of lighting that the videographer will need. Yes, they both bring lights, but they’re serving two totally different functions.
One way to get around this problem is to hire a company that has both DJs and videographers in one. This way their communication is seamless since it’s all under the same company. This is why we went the route of having a DJ company (DJ Cutt Entertainment) as well as our videography company (Portland Event Films).
Videographer and Photographer
A wedding videographer and photographer should for the most part have a pretty seamless relationship. But, depending on their personalities, they can butt heads because they will be trying to get many of the same shots while staying out of the other’s way.
One of the best ways to avoid problems is to have the photographer and videographer set a timeline that they both agree on. It’s really good to communicate how they will get each shot for particular moments. They could decide, for instance, to let the photographer come in and get the shots that they need and then step out of the way and let the videographer come forward.
There are many parts of a wedding ceremony where a video clip can last for more than a minute and having a photographer step in the middle of that clip can ruin the whole shot, so it’s really important to have proper communication to make sure that these vendors work seamlessly together.
A wedding is already a stressful day and you don’t need the extra stress of vendors fighting or not getting along.
Preferred vendors List
Outside of sites like WeddingWire and the Knot, one of the best ways to find preferred vendors is through your venue’s preferred list. Here’s why this can benefit you.
Many vendors that are on a venue’s preferred list have probably worked together before so they already have established communication between each other.
When you get a vendor from a preferred list you know you are working with a well-established professional because it usually takes a lot of credibility to be included on that list. You know for instance that they will have no problem finding the venue and they’re normally punctual.
Of course, it’s always a good idea to read reviews. But because they are on that venue’s list you know they already know their way around the premises and they should be able to give you the best experience for your wedding.
Many venues have different rules that all the vendors need to adhere to. For example some venues set a DB level for the DJ or what time the music needs to be shut off. That’s why having vendors that work at the same location over and over means they will be really comfortable with the venue’s requirements.
As you can tell, communication is really important to us at Portland Event Films. Contact us today to learn more about our video event packages.
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