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When couples trim their wedding videography hours, getting-ready coverage is usually the first thing to go. It feels like the “extra” part of the day: hair, makeup, a dress on a hanger. We get why. But after filming weddings across Texas, Virginia, Florida and the Pacific Northwest, it’s the part we push back on most, because it’s where some of the most honest moments of the day happen.

Allie and Bryce’s wedding at Big Spring Farm in Lexington, Virginia is a good example. Almost everything that makes their film feel like them happened before anyone walked down the aisle.

What getting-ready coverage actually includes

Getting-ready coverage is the stretch of the day before the ceremony. For most couples, that means:

• The details: the dress, shoes, rings, invitations, bouquet and anything with a story behind it
• Hair and makeup: the last few minutes before you’re ready, and the people in the room with you
• Getting into the dress: usually with mom, a sister or your closest friends
• Letters, gifts and first looks: a first look or first touch with your partner, a first look with your dad, letters read in private

None of those moments can be recreated later. The ceremony and reception will happen whether a camera is rolling or not. The quiet ten minutes with your mom in the bridal suite won’t.

The morning at Big Spring Farm

Allie got ready in the white farmhouse at Big Spring Farm, which gave us soft window light and clean walls to work with all morning. We started with the details: her lace heels, invitation, a gold mirror and fan on a simple flat lay, then her red and orange bouquet in the kitchen window.

Then the people. Detail shots set the scene, but the faces in the room are what you’ll come back to in twenty years. Allie laughing while her hair was curled. A glance over her shoulder once the dress was on. And a long hug with her mom in the bridal suite, the kind of moment that lasts a few seconds and that nobody poses for.

A first touch with private vows by the porch

Allie and Bryce didn’t do a traditional first look. Instead, they met at the farmhouse porch for a first touch. They stood on either side of the wall without seeing each other, reached around the corner to hold hands, and read private vows they had written for each other.

Those vows became the heart of their film. Because we had clean audio of what they said to each other when no one else was listening, we could carry their words through the rest of the day, over the ceremony, the portraits and the reception. Without getting-ready coverage, the film would have started at the aisle, and that part of their story wouldn’t be in it.

Letters and a first look with dad

The morning also made room for family. Allie’s mom sat on the porch and read a letter from her daughter. What her mom shared that morning about Allie joining Bryce’s family, a bittersweet moment from a mother’s heart, became one of the most emotional parts of the film. Later, Allie had a first look with her dad out in the field.

These are also the moments that are easiest to miss when coverage starts an hour before the ceremony.

Watch Allie and Bryce’s wedding film

How to plan your getting-ready time

If you’re adding getting-ready coverage to your wedding videography, a little planning goes a long way:

• Start before you’re in the dress. Coverage that begins while hair and makeup are finishing gives us time for details, people and the dress without rushing.
• Pick a room with good window light. A clean, bright space looks better on film than a cluttered hotel room. Ask your venue which suite gets the best light.
• Put your details in one box. Rings, invitation, shoes, perfume, jewelry and anything sentimental, ready to hand over when we arrive.
• Write the letters. A letter to your partner or your parents gives us real words to build the film around.
• Schedule your first look or first touch. Put it on the timeline so it doesn’t get squeezed when the morning runs late.

Is getting-ready coverage worth the extra hours?

If your budget is tight, it’s tempting to spend every hour on the ceremony and reception. But those parts of the day are the most predictable. The vows, the first kiss and the first dance will happen on schedule. The morning is where the unscripted moments live, and in Allie and Bryce’s case, it’s where their film found its voice.

Curious what coverage looks like for your day? See our wedding videography pricing, read what to expect on your wedding day with a videographer, or watch more films on our Love Stories page.

MMEshots films weddings across Texas, Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Florida and the Pacific Northwest. Love stories that feel like you.