Waitakere Estate Wedding

Filmed by Jared and Jola

I didn’t know quite how it would turn out, but we tried something a little different at Von and Javeria’s wedding. Both in our coverage of their day, and also in how the edit came together.  Even as I uploaded the film, and sent them a private link to watch their wedding video for the first time, I was nervous…

Had I pushed the storytelling too far?

Were the moments we captured too intimate?

Is this even a wedding film?

But a few hours later, I got my reply.  It read like this:

Hi Jared,
Thank you for sending the highlights film! We absolutely love it! I can’t even express in words how much I love it.
You guys have captured us so perfectly, it’s amazing. I can’t stop watching it!!
Have a great weekend and thank you for making our weekend 😀
Thank you
Javeria and Von

That email made my Friday night.  We put a lot of effort into crafting unique storytelling films for our couples, so it’s nice that it’s well appreciated at the other end too!  But really, I think we were set up for success from the very beginning.  There was no need for me to be nervous.
Back in August 2017 when they booked with us and chose Waitakere Estate Wedding Venue to get married at, we sent Javeria and Von a questionnaire to get to know them a little better.  The last question read like this:

• Q. What do you like most about our style of photography/cinematography?

  A. We love that your cinematography doesn’t follow 1 formula for every couple but it shows each couple for who they are and tells their story. Every couple is different and unique/special in their own way and we feel like your cinematography reflects that, which we love.

BINGO!  We had a match.  It was always going to work!  They booked us, understanding the core of what we’re about.  Telling unique stories about people as they journey to get married.  They weren’t interested in a generic impersonal wedding video, cut to a popular song, or even documentation of every-single-event that happened on their day.  Von and Javeria wanted their story captured.  Their personality, their quirks, and what really mattered to them.  Something they can show their kids one day and say, this is Mum and Dad marrying each other.  This is our story.

YOU’VE GOT THIS, RIGHT? (SHOT IN 4K)

3 Reasons This Wedding Film Had So Much Heart.

1. They invited us into their world before the bedroom curtains were even opened! Why?  Because they understood their story started long before the “wedding schedule” began.  So that’s when we showed up.  And it wasn’t about documenting the breakfast, but just letting us into who they were as people.  The natural, every day, chatty, quirky them.

2. They valued experience and stayed close throughout the day.  Spending the majority of their wedding day apart didn’t fit Von and Javeria too well.  They wanted to be close. So they started the day together and shared gifts and notes in person, but back to back to keep a little anticipation!

3. They made the moments meaningful.  The cliche beginning to most grooms speeches… “on behalf of my wife and I” wasn’t going to cut it here.  Javeria didn’t take the easy cop-out and stay silent.  She had something to share too.  Something of worth.  Something more than just a thank-you speech.  And so it was with their vows too.  They truly were from the heart.

How We (as Filmmakers) Told Von and Javeria’s Story.

For us, a wedding video isn’t meaningful, unless it’s real.  So bar the very first shot of this film (the curtains opening) and picking the location for the no-look first look, the entire 6:40min film is completely uninfluenced by us.  It’s just Javeria and Von going about their day however they choose.  There’s no “can you repeat that again” coming from behind the camera.    Their wedding day happens in one take, so, so is their wedding video.  Their story, unfolding the way they chose to it to be.

The Waitakere Estate Wedding Venue is a drone pilot’s dream.  With views rolling out over West Auckland, you’d think it’s a given to start a wedding video with 3 drone shots to “set the scene”…  But for us, the story didn’t revolve around Waitakere Estate, no matter how wonderful it was.  The story was Von and Javeria getting married.  So the first 90 seconds of the film ‘sets the scene’ of who Von and Javeria are as people, not what a building on a hill looks like.  And yip, we did capture the view (cause it’s awesome!), but from where they saw it from, when they saw it.   For us, this made for a more realistic film that didn’t scream “look at me, I’m a drone shot”.  Instead, we tastefully included the view when it felt appropriate for their story.

We are not just a pretty picture.  That job is what wedding photographers do very well!  But for cinema, we have one more tool up our sleeve, that of capturing audio.  Something a wedding photographer can never capture but it’s a medium that has so much richness in capturing the story that unfolds on a wedding day.  So for us, audio is king.  It’s where the soul of our films is found, and what captures who Von and Javeria are so well!

So thanks so much for watching their film, and the behind-the-scenes thoughts as to why their day had so much heart and the philosophy behind telling it the way we did.

Wanna see more films like this?!  Take a sneak a look at Brad + Deb’s Unruly Westie Wedding, or Shaun and Rochelle’s Almost Rained out Forest/Tent Wedding.

The Vendor Shoutout:
Wedding Venues in West Auckland – Waitakere Estate Wedding Venue
Wedding Videographers – Perspectives Photo + Cinema
Wedding Photographers – Bethany Howarth
Wedding Celebrant – Carla Rotondo

Till next time, Jared and Jola!