Our wedding video--well, by these standards--probably left a bit to be desired. It was done by a friend of my husband's back in the era of Bush I--he just set up a Sony camcorder with a VHS tape (remember those?) on a tripod at the back of the church. It was blurry and the sound was terrible, but we really appreciated it. I selected the processional based on our organist's level of skill. However, not only did all kinds of lost chords emerge that should never have seen the light of day, but her timing was a bit off--when I reached the front of the church, she stopped abruptly midpiece on a minor chord, which had a rather ominous effect. One half expected Eric Idle, dressed as the Archbishop of Canterbury, to step out and start intoning lengthy platitudes about marriage to prevent me from being carried off by the evil villain.

Our minister was a very by-the-book, no-nonsense Methodist, so there was no tackiness of the sort that made me shut off the first video, but we were nothing to write home about--two geeky kids at the front of the church, my husband in the same suit he wore to his high school graduation four years before, and me in a tea-length dress bought off the clearance rack at a local discount department store (probably not even really a wedding dress) and a short veil my mother ran up on her sewing machine at the last minute, making me look sort of like an overgrown First Communicant.

My parents weren't really very good at public displays of affection, so there would have been no touching parent-child moments (except for my mother frowning at my bangs and saying, "You should have done something with that hair").

The expression on both our faces throughout the whole ceremony was pretty much deer-in-the-headlights. I think we were worried we'd get our lines wrong and end up marrying the wrong people and embarrassing our parents. And then, in the middle of the ceremony, when a friend of the family was singing "The Lord's Prayer" in a truly magnificent baritone (seriously), you can clearly see me surreptitiously squirming from the pain of kneeling on my ankles.

We've been together for almost 18 years of more-or-less bliss, though, so maybe not having a slick wedding video (or an equally slick wedding) isn't the end of the world. Since the organist completely wiped out on the recessional as well, maybe a cheesy pop soundtrack would have been an improvement. How about, "All You Need Is Love"?

I can see you posting one or two wedding films, but using this space to post nothing BUT wedding films is a complete waste! Not everyone is zombie who needs to watch other people degrade themselves for 'entertainment'

PLEASE GIVE SANE PEOPLE A BREAK!

My advice to couples getting married is to have your wedding videotaped- professionally or not- just have it done. Your video footage is an priceless record of an historical day for your family and will be watched for generations to come. When choosing a professional videographer, watch an entire video that they've produced and not just a demo. I'm frequently puzzled by videographers attempts to artificially create "emotional moments" whether by posing shots during the wedding day or by manipulating the footage in the editing after. A wedding day is filled with beautiful and natural exchanges that are easily captured if you're paying attention. I've shot over a hundred weddings, most often spending the whole day with the families, and I've never been in the position of having to create emotion. I'd like to see wedding videographers working with leaving more audio in the video. The oohs and ahhs over the wedding dress, the hugs and kisses with grandma, the groomsmen cutting up after the ceremony- are all more interesting and powerful with the audio on. Wedding videos can be much more than just a montage of "moving still shots" set to music.

www.marikittredgevideo.com