Suboptimal
We hired Luke Rodgers at 8mm Weddings Videography to provide the video package “Memories (Documentary Narrative).” We paid just shy of $4000, in full, prior to our big day. Our wedding was 01 Oct 2022 & he sent us our video 21 December 2022.
Despite the video being 44:56 mins long (>30 mins promised) the product was incomplete. The video failed to capture any of The Bridal Entrance; a momentous event we absolutely wanted preserved, so we ensured we pre-briefed Luke multiple times & w/plenty of detail. We found the improperly arranged cameras/angles, resulting in missing the Bridal Entrance entirely, to be unprofessional. The first half of the Bride walking up the aisle is obscured by the attendees standing. When questioned, Luke replied “I really do appologize for not capturing the bride walking down, my intention was to have the camera in the corner capture her however, as the people stood up it ended up blocking her coming down. I know that thisis was an important moment, & I tried my best to capture that moment. Typically I have a second shooter that will ensure that this doesnt happen however as a one man show I cant gaurentee that I will capture everything perfectly.” We found the inability to anticipate the very common occurrence of everyone standing for the arrival of the Bride, & to position himself &/or his cameras accordingly, equally unprofessional. Additionally, during initial hiring negotiations, we were more than willing to pay for a second “shooter” if it guaranteed a better product, but he always insisted that he would be able to accomplish all requirements solo just fine. Using that as a justification after that fact is inexcusable.
The first draft of the video also failed to include our announcement/entrance into the Reception, did not include our Thank You speeches, mis-edited the audio on our parents’ speeches (couldn’t hear part of it), did not include any footage of our first dance, & had absolutely none of The Horah (a cornerstone of Jewish weddings). The events that were captured & provided had been rearranged & presented in an illogical order of the evening; completely different from how we specifically orchestrated our day.
We spent hours providing very specific, required corrective actions to resolve these egregious errors over the next month. We received few clarifying questions from Luke & so we believed there was unequivocal understanding on how to turn the video into the product it should have been. The misunderstandings continued & hours of our collective time was squandered for multiple re-edits. Throughout this e-mail correspondence, it came to light that Luke Rodgers breached contract. Per the contract, he was to provide up to 8 hours of coverage (coordinated to occur from about 2pm to 10pm). We got a little behind our planned schedule & The Horah began between 8:30/9:00pm (later than the scheduled 8pm start, but still very much before 10pm). Regarding the missing footage, Luke stated: “As far as the Horah that occurred after I left unfortunately.” There was no coordination to determine if all events were captured prior to his departure & he clearly admits to leaving prior to 10pm, which we also find unprofessional. This outright breach in "Services: Schedule" resulted in missing a traditional part of a Jewish wedding.
Lastly, although he worked w/us to correct as much of the video as he could (we uncomfortably solicited our guests for any footage of The Bridal Entrance & The Horah they had captured on personal devices for him to include), we still find the final version suboptimal. In our opinion, we overpaid for the unique aspect of incorporated drone footage & not much else. There is no finesse, flow, or artistry. We find the final, Version 3 of our wedding video embarrassing & do not feel comfortable sharing it w/anyone or posting it anywhere. Our only hope is that in the future we can watch our wedding video without bitterness & anger.