2022 review

As I write this, I am facing filming my final wedding of 2022. At this point, with a reasonably large editing pile from a busy season, the two years of restricted weddings seems very much in the past. This years weddings returned to full normality, something I desperately waited for - weddings are not the same without industrial volumes of hugging and singing on the dance floor.

I filmed more weddings this year than in any other, and yes it was a bit full-on, but only in the best ways.

Photo by Clare Randell - @clarerandellphotography

Pin-pointing my style

After 4 full years of filming, I feel I am honing in on my very own style. Emotion and sincerity have always been the key driving force in my films, and I have fallen in love with pairing this with classical music and slow motion. Yes, it sounds cheesy, so as real as I can make my films look the better. I am more determined than ever to make each of my film individual by…

Keeping the couple in mind

This year I have filmed weddings of all kinds, from the central London big hotel wedding of Rob and Sophie, to the working farm wedding of Louise and Brad, from receptions on boats such as the wedding of Kate and Dan, to destination weddings such as Oskar and Anna. Getting to know my couples has been key to keeping their wedding films about, sounds simple but, THEIR WEDDING. I am so proud that when I deliver films, I am so often told they bring back all the memories from their big day and that it feels like seeing the day in more detail than it can be remembered.

Living the dream

The main thing that has been reenforced to me this year, is that I bloody love my job. I have met such beautiful people through work this year, and that includes my couples, wedding photographers, and the other suppliers I have had the pleasure of working alongside. I am so grateful for couples trusting me with their memories, I really feel touched. My fiancée had a long career in human resources and even he admits that I have clearly found a business which makes me happy and I receive much gratification from couples - much more than I would in most other work.

Wrapping up

I guess I have to admit to you that filming weddings is hard work! But you have to be cool like Alabama (Tarentino reference). There’s a lot of pressure and the hours are demanding, being creative isn’t a given - sometimes I have complete mental blocks and can’t put two clips together. There is a lot more work going on in the office than most would consider. But if all my years are like 2022, full of couples I actually feel I would be friends with, I will never ever complain.

Plans for 2023? I am filming a wedding for a fellow videographer in Switzerland in January, destination weddings are definitely what I would like to work towards, this will be introducing another of my loves (travelling) into the mix. I am about half as booked as I would like to be, but that’s ok. I know some people don’t think they want a videographer until closer to the day, a fellow videographer told me that we are on the same priority level as a chocolate fountain sometimes. I’m cool with that, I’m a complete chocoholic too (although I haven’t actually seen a chocolate fountain at a wedding in 15 years). I am getting married myself if June, so I would like to keep the work a bit lighter and plan an intense 2024.

That’s another weird thing about working in weddings - you plan work years in advance. This year I had an enquiry for 2025 and it completely tripped me out. That something big to commit to when anything can happen in life. That may actually be my biggest take-away from this year - and that is that I’m still learning, and things still crop up which I haven’t experienced before. I loved school, I always have a book on the go and I am inquisitive, this all means I love to learn. Maybe that’s why I still find my chosen business so interesting. In this crazy year the support between peers has been stronger than every, not more competitive - another reason I still believe I have the best career I could think of.

As always, photo by Clare - @clarerandellphotography