This guest blog on how to achieve a natural-looking wedding video was written by Jonathan Newton, owner of Newton Films and one of Combermere Abbey’s recommended videographers.

Your wedding is one of the most special and memorable days of your life: naturally, there is a huge emphasis placed on the photos and videos you’ll have of the day, as this is how people will remember the day in the years to come! The day itself often goes by very quickly for people, so what better way to document it than by hiring a wedding Videographer?

Below, Jonathan discusses his tips for achieving that perfect natural wedding video of your dreams.

4 Tips For Achieving A Natural Wedding Video

“How do we capture such natural wedding video shots?” is a question we get asked all the time. Couples tend to be conscious that they don’t want their day to appear staged, or for every shot to appear like it’s been set up. Here are four of the ways in which we achieve this and what we’d recommend to you too…

Act natural

As videographers, we are there to capture what is going on, not to add to it. We shoot in a documentary style way, wherein we capture from the background, out of the way, so that couples and their guests can focus on the day; enjoying the atmosphere and the company. Capturing a drinks reception, for example, where we can find genuine laughter and smiles is absolutely perfect – it makes our films look more natural.

So, don’t worry about appearing a certain way, or making your guests do anything out of the ordinary. Just act how you usually would. The atmosphere of your wedding is enough to make sure the photos and videos of your magical day appear beautifully natural.

Have fun!

As videographers, our job is to make you feel comfortable and to enjoy the process as much as possible. We want you to have fun for many reasons: not just because it’ll make the process of capturing you and your spouse’s happiness on the day, making for genuine laughter and smiles. But because, quite simply, you deserve to feel as happy and comfortable as possible!

So do whatever you can to have a giggle and add a bit of levity to the situation, do it! You’re guaranteed to come out with a natural video you’ll cherish forever. We always recommend taking time out of each hour to spend with your new husband or wife, as this makes for beautiful intimate moments, and also helps to keep you grounded and relaxed on what is otherwise an admittedly hectic day.

Natural lighting

We use natural lighting wherever possible in order to give that authentic glow to our photographs and videos. It not only looks great but also relaxes our couples as it goes back to our subtle methods of filming. It may be that things need to be adjusted a little, but you can guarantee that natural lighting makes photos look warm and authentic.

This is something worth keeping in mind when choosing a venue too if ending up with a beautiful wedding video is one of your end goals. Does it have plenty of open spaces and lovely lighting in the ceremonial rooms? As we head into autumn and winter, we also need to consider that sunlight isn’t as common, so we look for venues that have light and airy settings with lots of neutrality and white colours, as this helps give us the best possible setting for natural-looking photos.

Get to know us

One of the best ways we suggest to capture a natural film is to really get to know your Videographer. When you are relaxed around someone, you instantly become more natural. We always aim to have a great relationship with our couples before the day – because when we arrive, it’s more like a friend turning up than a supplier!

Don’t be afraid to chat and ask your photographer or videographer lots of questions, so you can form that bond. Then you’re guaranteed to get the natural video you want on your wedding day.

Anything we’ve missed?

If you have some tips and tricks of your own to achieve a natural wedding video, why not let us know on social media? Be sure to tag Combermere Abbey on Facebook, and Instagram!

Jonathan Newton is one of Combermere Abbey’s recommended film-makers and has been used by many of the happy couples who have held their weddings here. Jonathan and his wife Jessica use an unobtrusive, relaxed and authentic approach to their work in order to capture couples and their guests at their most natural and best.

You can find more about Newton Films at https://www.thenewtonsfilmandphotography.com/.