Plan the structure of your movie - before you start!

Planning the video thoroughly well before the big day can help to make sure you don’t miss vital shots. In other words, make sure you know what you want to include well before the big day.  It always seems to me that the actual wedding - exchanging the vows -  occurs very early on in the wedding day, and so I liked to plan a build up to it. As a guide, here is the structure I used to use (I don’t make wedding videos any more...)

• Intro title. I keep it  short and sweet - even to just something like "The Wedding of Jack and Jill" - all other info, church, reception venue etc, I put at at the end as part of the credits.
• Pre-wedding intro I used one of two techniques. Either a series of still photos of the bride and groom to be, from birth through to the current day, put together in any of a variety of transition/overlay techniques and lasting probably no more than 4 minutes OR, using two camcorders (lucky me) I arrange for the bride to be videoed getting ready - with bridesmaids, perhaps, the flowers arriving at the house etc., and similarly, a second person videos the groom getting ready. This can be used to create an often amusing opening sequence by editing the two together - men usually get ready much quicker, so inter-cutting from one to the other you can have the groom and best man pottering around before actually dressing while the bride and bridesmaids are busy having their hair done, being made up, tinkering with their dresses and so on. Plan to video the bride going to the church - and the groom of course. Timing wise, you should show him at the church when the bride leaves for the church (unless things go seriously awry!).
         Another technique for the pre-wedding intro could be to show the various 'places' of importance - church, grounds, reception area, empty and prior to any wedding activity.
  Whatever intro you use - one of these or your own idea - choose appropriate background music. Ask the couple if they have any preferences (not only for this music, but for any other to be included in the video). It is their day - use their songs/tunes. BUT - remember the copyright/royalties that need to be paid.
• The Wedding I invariably used the technique of putting one camcorder in position inside the church, 'locked off' on a tripod and aiming at the church entrance. I use it to video bursts of about 30 seconds at intervals of about five minutes from the church being empty, the groom getting into position, and the church being full. I edit this into about 30 seconds - trimming each down and using dissolves from one to the other, so the church is seen to gradually ‘transition’ from an empty to full congregation. Arrange if possible for at least two camcorders to video the ceremony and the congregation. It is also useful, before the wedding day itself, to shoot various points of interest in the church - stain glass windows, for example - for insert edits during the ceremony process. Don't forget the registry signing - you’ll need to get a few shots of that. One suggestion is to grab a still from an 'overhead' angle, if possible, of the bride signing, for use on the video tape box or CD cover.  Go for some unusual camera angles if you can. You'll want them when you come to edit!
• The Photographs No doubt pro photographers will be taking group pictures. You'll want some shots of this too, but keep out of the pro's way - they won't thank you for interfering with their job. But ask them if they mind you shooting some video of the poses they arrange from somewhere out of the way. I find it interesting to video some moments of the photographer  'posing' the bride and groom, and shooting the stills, as well as the 'posed' shots.
• The Reception This is where I used the most tape. Again, video people arriving - I always videoed all the guests meeting the bride and groom. Doesn't sound interesting ... but it is to them, and will be in the years to come. You'll need some background music here, of their choice.
• The Meal (or buffet)  I shoot some of this, but usually have only snippets in the final video - to show how good the spread was, people enjoying their food/wine etc.
• The Cake  You need some shots of the cake being cut.  However, this is invariably a heavily posed job, with everyone taking pictures, so try to think of an angle to make it a bit different. I have morphing software, and for one wedding video I morphed from the couple standing in the right position and pose (which they had agreed to do) to the little model of a couple on the top of the cake, immediately prior to it being cut, panning down from the model to the knife, then pulled back to show them cutting the cake, (hopefully without all the flashes!. It caused quite a sensation in the final movie...
• The Speeches These are a MUST. Again, two camcorders are ideal if you can do it. One to stay on the speaker (don't miss a single word!), the other to get guest reactions. You'll be able to inter-cut the two. MAKE SURE THERE IS ENOUGH TAPE IN THE CAMCORDER TO RECORD THE WHOLE SPEECH, changing the tape before hand, if necessary. There are NO PRIZES for losing the punch line of the best man's best joke... (Yes - I’ve seen that happen in a professional wedding video!)
• The 'party' or dance, or whatever. This is where I usually relax a bit - usually a few essential scenes from the evening party are all that's required - enough to give about 5 - 10 minutes worth of the flavour of it all. Essential - the bride and groom's 'first dance'.  One suggestion is to go round asking  the guests a question (and videoing the answer) such as "What advice do you have for Jack and Jill'- It can produce a mixture of both amusing and serious answers, which can be edited the way you want, of course.
• The 'departure'  Important to video the couple driving away - it is the end of the movie. That's where I put the first 'end'  title - I usually use the words "The beginning", which dissolves away into ...
• The Credits  This is where I really enjoy myself. The result never fails to amuse. Essentially it  is where all the details of the wedding are provided - the date, church, vicar, hymn list, reception venue, guest list, caterers, background music used etc etc etc. There is always something amusing that happens that can be added as a credit (one wedding reception had a power failure for two hours which upset proceedings and got a few people's dander up ... I included a credit where the screen suddenly cut to a totally black background with the words  'POWER FAILURE BY SOUTHERN ELECTRIC', in one line of white.  Overlay the credits over out-takes and special and amusing moments from the the day. This is where you can 'drop' in' the more amusing/poignant/interesting advice videoed in answer to the question asked at the reception. I also invariably use the piece of music 'Oh what a perfect day', and finish the whole video with a shot of the couple kissing in a vignette backdrop, and the words 'Oh what a perfect day' dissolving onto the screen in time with the last words of the song. However, before using any copyright material - check out the Royalty/Copyright cost (the holders will be on the music disc).  For just one or two copies of the video it can be less expensive than you might imagine. Frankly, it can be (for an amateur) a pain to get into royalties and so on, and where possible I would use Royalty free music.  Churches sometimes will charge if you record the organ music during the service - always ask first!