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By Paul Merryman
Ah, the wedding. It is one of the most joyous, and torturous,
events you will ever face. It absolutely amazes me what we
humans put ourselves through just to create that perfect
celebration of “love”. The planning of a typical wedding is
very difficult. I should know because I am planning my own
right now!
There is so much that needs to be done and there never seems
to
be enough time. I have talked with literally hundreds of
people
who have gone through the planning of a wedding and I have
found that it’s the little things that cause all the stress.
It’s easy to plan for the obvious, but the minute details can
drive you insane!
One of the most overlooked details of a wedding is what I
think
one of the most important details. It is making your wedding
special for your guests. You see, it’s easy to forget that the
wedding is not just for you and your future spouse. It’s also
for everyone who attends your wedding. It’s very important you
don’t forget about all the people who are special to you and
who will be traveling from all over to be with you on your
special day.
Picture this….the lights dim. A hush falls over the crowd. A
slideshow video starts playing on the screen at the front of
the room and it tells a story. What is this story, you ask?
It’s a love story! It is the story of you. It is the story of
your future partner. It is the story of both of you. It is
pictures of you both from birth to present, arranged with
text,
your special music, and just about anything you want to use to
entertain your guests. It will leave your guests with a smile
on their faces and tears in their eyes!
Most engaged couples I have spoken with love the idea of
having
a slideshow video in their wedding. The problem is that they
think it’s either very difficult or incredibly expensive.
Neither of those assumptions is correct. It’s actually very
easy to have one made. As matter of fact there are several
companies online that will make a video for you. Obviously I’m
biased because I think our company is the best but I will give
you some things to look for when shopping for a slideshow
video
production company.
Price. You have to be very careful here. Many companies
advertise great prices, but they don’t tell you about all the
hidden costs. For example, Company “X” may say that they only
charge $99.00 for a video. But if you read the fine print they
charge an additional $2.00 per photo for scanning and another
$1.00 for each picture enhancement. Once the video is
complete,
they will charge you another $50.00 just to preview it. So
this
$99.00 video just turned into a $500.00 video.
Previewing. Most places will not let you preview the video or,
if they do allow it, they will charge extra to preview it.
It’s
absolutely critical that you preview any slideshow video
before
you buy it. Previewing the slideshow video allows you to make
sure you like all the titling, screen transitions and photo
arrangement. You want the video to be exactly the way you want
it.
Montage. Montage videos are what I refer to as “a tech heads
video dream.” They involve constant panning back and forth and
zooming in and out. They also feature fancy looking screen
transitions where the pictures will do flips and spins and all
sorts of other “cool” things. Now, these montages may look
“high tech” but they are completely inappropriate for a
wedding. A wedding slideshow video needs to be classy and
tasteful. It doesn’t need spins and twist, flips and twirls.
It
needs to have clean, smooth transitions. They need to flow
from
one picture to the next with elegance and grace.
Remember, you want your wedding to be special. You want your
guests to remember your wedding with fondness. You want it to
be an unforgettable experience. What better way than with a
slideshow video that features your life up to that point! I
hope your wedding is the best that has ever occurred. (Besides
mine, that is!) I hope you decide to engage your guests by
showing a beautiful, romantic slideshow video at the beginning
of your ceremony. May you have the best of weddings and don’t
forget to have fun!
About The Author: Paul Merryman is the owner of
www.Slideshow-Videos.com. His extensive experience in
making wedding videos has brought pleasure to many wedding
couples. He is also Vice-President of Higher Motivation, Inc.
Their free www.front-porch-attitude.com newsletter has
helped many people learn to live life as life was meant to be
lived!
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