Thursday, February 7, 2008
I am super excited today. Maybe not excited enough to get out of bed before 9am so you could read before heading to lunch. Oh - you don’t think I know your schedule by now? My site gets really busy between 930am and 1130am. Then - everyone leaves me and returns around 1-2pm. So, sorry that I didn’t post earlier but I guess you’ll catch me after lunch:)
Back to the excitement - so yesterday, I drove out to meet Lynette of McNeal Video. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that in the past I haven’t been a huge fan of wedding videography - you can see my post to MelissaandWyatt on the message board. I got a bad wedding video and paid a lot for something I will NEVER watch again. But, after visiting her blog and watching some AMAZING videos and reading about all of the beautiful Nashville weddings she’s covered, I was open minded but still not persuaded.
Lynette’s blog is now one of my favorite Nashville bridal blogs. It features tons of Nashville brides and the details of their wedding days. Expect to see more of Lynette’s work on my site soon but click to view the Curry & Russ wedding.
Anyway, she greeted me at the door and we instantly connected. She had Oprah showing in her office (love Oprah) so I knew we would at least be gal-pals. Well, as we chatted I realized I didn’t know anything about wedding videos. I told her my story about my horrible wedding video experience and the first thing she said was “You got your wedding video in two weeks? That was a big sign of a problem”.
Really? I had no clue that was too soon to get a wedding video. We’re brides - what do we know about what to expect, what’s good/not good. The guy I hired advertised everywhere, was a member of TWESA and came highly recommended by…other wedding vendors. I thought I’d done my homework but I guess not. Moral of the story is - do your research. One way is to check out Nashville bridal blogs and ask to speak with a bride they’ve featured on their blog. That way you can compare the work with the bride’s feedback. Don’t just take my word either. I am introducing you to folks I like but unless I say I’ve hired them, I don’t know first hand either. Chat on my message board with brides. Most of all, follow your gut - if they aren’t responsive, don’t give you a receipt, don’t return emails - DONT HIRE THEM!
OK - Back to McNeal Video…After leaving McNeal I was optimistic about wedding videography. Here’s what I learned:
1) She knows and leverages technology - Lynette has an iPhone. OK - this might not mean a lot to you but it tells me that she is on the cutting edge of technology. I asked for a calculator and she pulled out a freakin’ iPhone. Unbelievable. Even better, her iPhone houses wedding videos. BTW - McNeal offers her brides an iPhone/iPod service where she’ll put your wedding videos in a format that you can easily add to your iPhone/Pod. How hot is that!
2) She gets brides - Lynette informed me that she only does weddings - no corporate events, no parties, just weddings. So, she is 100% dedicated and focused on brides and what matters to brides. (There aren’t many videographers who focus solely on weddings.) Plus, she’s a woman (sorry guys) so she knows how important each detail is and wants to capture that.
3) She’s educates you and keeps you informed - Woman after my own heart. I love the fact that she took time to educate me. She said that a a good video should take a lot longer than 2 weeks to produce. She said that it usually takes 6 months for her to finalize a wedding video, but she gives her brides a preview in about 3 months or so. I couldn’t believe it took that long until she told me the process - how she leaves a wedding with 20 tapes of footage and then edits, boils it down to a few final DVDs. But, I love that she places her edit schedule on her blog so you know what to expect.
If you hired McNeal, please comment on this post. I’d love to hear from you and see what you thought of your video and working with them.
If you can hire someone like McNeal who really is passionate about weddings and really good, I say definitely budget for a great videographer. If you can’t hire someone great, put the money toward a super duper photographer. I would rather have a great video or great pics vs. so-so pics and video.
That’s my two cents. Off to lunch!
February 7th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Lynette and her team were fabulous. From the first meeting I knew we would love her! She takes the time to get to know the personality of the brides and grooms so each video is unique. My wedding video is more like a film that is flawless. The word video does not even cut it. The music and special effects were perfect. On our wedding day, I had no idea she was there. She blended into the crowd with no “camera in your face.” I just can’t tell people enough that your wedding video is even more important than your pictures. You can’t go back and relive the day, but with a fabulous video, you can watch it again every day. Even my husband just picked it up the other day and watched it! Lynette is filming my brother’s wedding in November, and I always look forward to seeing her at our friends’ weddings. Not only is she a great videographer, but she is a wonderful person and friend. Anyone that can book her should do it immediately!
February 7th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Lynette did our daughter’s wedding in May of 2006. We think the Teaser Video and the eventual production were amazing! The quality is superb. It is like watching the event live and not as something that was taped. We highly recommend McNeal Video.
February 7th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
McNeal Video was awesome!!! On our wedding day, she was so mindful that it was our day and not just a day to make a great video. We hardly knew Lynette and her partner were there. Our video was more than we could have ever hoped for. She caught memories and moments that we did not even remember. She really captured the feel of the day. When I watch our video, I feel like I am watching the story of our day. Everyone that sees it is so incredibly impressed by the great work she does. The music and sequence of it all is awesome. It always brings me to tears. In my mind, there is no other choice but McNeal Video when it comes to your wedding video. It will be one of your most prized possessions!
February 8th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Lynette did my daughter’s wedding in 2002 and it is awesome! She’s the BEST!!!
February 8th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I hired Lynette for my wedding video and it was the BEST money we spent!!! She totally captured the evening in a way we would of never been able to grasp through pictures alone. A bride spends so much money and time planning this day - that a video just makes sense. My husband and I watched it months later (we saw things we never saw that day) and we BOTH cried!!! Anything you can do to remember those moments after they’re gone is completely worth it!!! She also did a fantastic ‘engagement video’ for us - that let us have a momento of how we met, etc. ( & put it on our iPod!!!) - so cool!
She has worked with many of our brides at The Bride Room - and we have heard nothing but rants and raves about her work! She also did our beautiful promo video/commercial you see on TV.
As you can tell - WE LOVE LYNETTE!!! You will never regret using her for your wedding day! Plus, there were many loved ones that could not attend our wedding weekend YET they got to see the video online! It was very special and emotional for our grandparents who were too ill to attend.
(BTW - someday when you need a baby video done - Amanda (works with Lynette) is fantastic as well! We just did this - and I treasure it more than anything! check out her work too!)
Halie