Woodhill Hall, Northumberland - Wedding Video
It was a huge privilege to be asked to film a Wedding Marryoke for Diane and Marty. Sure, every wedding is a pleasure, tremendous fun and an honour, but to be asked by a Wedding Photographer with whom we had worked alongside at other Weddings was a special one. Having someone who has an equally critical eye for colour, balance and composition wants you to capture their special day.
The location was Woodhill Hall in Northumberland; just on the two hour/100 mile radius we work. The venue specialises in Weddings and is uniquely decorated with some magnificent and varied decor. We decided to stay over in the village the night before ahead of the 8am start.
On arrival Marty and the boys were gathered in the kitchen. The whole wedding party had stayed at the venue overnight and so some were congregated in the kitchen drinking tea and munching bacon sandwiches or toast.
We took a wander around the venue with a cup of tea in hand to see what delights were on offer to our creative eye, and where we might start to shoot the first scenes with the boys.
This was to be a Marryoke Wedding Video as well as capturing the Ceremony and Speeches. We like to bring our own 'style' to Marryokes and so have a run script with details with some shot ideas we would like to capture - the rest 'just happens' based on the way the guests react.
We captured some B-Roll; footage used to set the scene, showing the venue, and small details such as flowers that formed part of the decoration for the wedding, then it was onto the boys to do their first bit of the video before seeking out the girls.
The girls were having hair and makeup finalised, so after a few wide shots and details, we were soon set for their opening Marryoke pieces. Being in one location really does make filming so much easier - no time is lost traveling back and forth to locations, instead you are free come and go as the pace of the morning dictates.
As the Ceremony time drew close, we made our way to set up the cameras and audio equipment. A chat with the Photographer to ensure everyone was happy with each others needs and positions then onto putting a small lapel microphone on Marty and we were off.
The post Ceremony events included a brilliant cartoonist Barrie James Art, I have seen cartoonists before at weddings, but Barrie was in a league of his own. Once he had produced a drawing of every single member of the congregation, he then took photos of the all and then squirrelled himself to one side for the rest of the day drawing. What appeared on his large piece of paper later that day was a montage of every guest arranged into a heart shape surrounding the Bride and Groom - and even their dog made an appearance too!
We captured more B-Roll of the people enjoying the sunshine, music and cartoon drawing and took people to one side to work our way through the Marryoke filming.
The food we were given was outstanding and we were even provided with a desert that must rate on my all time top ten of amazing foods.
The rest of the afternoon and early evening were full of filming before the evening guests were to arrive. We grabbed some fantastic Bride and Groom footage - and discovered some new locations that were previously hidden away from everyone to film scenes of the Marryoke. An amazing 1960's styled pink leatherette seating area and diner room being one of our favourites.
We had just about managed to get everything we need as the evening guests arrived and so with a few final scenes, we were done. A 13 hour filming day is pretty hard work, but made thoroughly enjoyable by being at a fantastic location, surrounded by some very, very lovely people.
The Marryoke went live three days after the Wedding - just before the Bride and Groom set off for their Honeymoon.
You can watch the video here: Wedding Marryoke
You can watch the video here: Woodhill Hall, Wedding Video