Civil ceremony in a Wedding Venue: the one I prefer for Wedding Films

Professionally speaking, civil ceremonies in Wedding Venues are the ones I prefer for Wedding Films.
Basically the reason is very simple: these ceremonies are personalized and realized according to the wishes of the bride and the groom. Moreover, most of the times guests are used to deliver a speech to the couple and the spouses themselves give each other wedding vows as well: everything is more personalized, engaging and exciting. Sometimes even the celebrant, instead of being a government official, is a relative or friend of the couple.
These are all elements that give me clues and information I use to personalize the Wedding Film and tell your love story.

However I want to give you some tips to get the best out of your Wedding Film of a civil ceremony.

1. Speeches

Speeches allow a structured and personalized editing because they will tell about you. As in all things, excesses are never good. A right number of speeches is what makes the editing more interesting without making it heavy: I recommend 4 guests’ speeches at most. Obviously You are free to let more guests speak, but probably final film won’t have more than 3-4 speeches. Also, the easy-going and amusing speeches are difficult to edit in my Wedding Films style, so don’t expect to see them there.

2. Special Rituals

Civil ceremony allows you to plan the ceremony as you prefer, so you can also add some special rituals. For some ideas, I suggest you to read Francesco's article How to have the best wedding photos of Your Wedding, Part 3: tips for the Ceremony.

3. Audio quality

Another great advantage of these ceremonies is the possibility, with the collaboration of the musicians, to record the audio track of the speeches directly from the mixer. This is the best way to get a perfect audio for the editing process.
Therefore it is so important that there is a microphone for the ceremony. I have the recorder and the cables to connect it to any kind of mixer, but I need the cooperation of the audio specialist (in most cases is one of the musicians).

4. Organization

If it is true that in civil ceremony there is a more intimate and familiar atmosphere, but it is also true that it lacks precise rules and this can brings some problems.
The best solution in these cases would be having a good Wedding Planner who coordinates everything. Very often, however, this figure is absent. In these cases it is important that the celebrant cooperates giving the guests some instructions.
Unfortunately many guests, not subjected to the reverence of the church, feel free to walk around and ruin the shoot walking behind the altar or standing behind it. Consider an imaginary line right in front of the guests sits: that line should never be crossed.
Even guests who want to capture the most exciting moments with their mobile phones or tablets can ruin the professional images. The celebrant should invite them to enjoy the moment without a screen. A professional crew will assure the best memories of all the Ceremony!
If unmanaged, one of the most confusing moments is the rice throwing. Once the sacred ceremony is over, everyone wait outside the sacred building and when the bride and groom come out they throw the rice. But in civil ceremony guests don't know when they have to throw it and from where, the couple don't know if they have to stay on the spot or walk. We prefer to create a hall of the guests that will launch the rice from their place while the couple will walk the aisle towards the exit.
For all these things the celebrant should announce the instructions clearly and incisively.

5. Teamwork

A fundamental aspect in the absence of the Wedding Planner is connecting suppliers. Wedding Designer, florists, musicians, location managers, photographers and videographers must talk to each other. Only working together they can guarantee the best possible result. Working in weddings is a teamwork. All together they will decide where and when to perform the ceremony, based on different needs (in our case: the best light).

6. Three is the perfect number

For filmmakers the civil wedding has a big limitation: there are no calm moments almost, because most of the time a person speaks to the couple who listen and get emotion. So, being usually two cameramen, we have no time to completely cover the reaction of the guests or to realize creative shots. The only way to overcome this is the presence of a third filmmaker who will deal exclusively with this. This solution is strongly recommended for all those who want to achieve perfection in their Wedding Film of the civil ceremony.