How to Keep Your Rented Wedding Video Cameras Organized

So you’ve gone ahead and made the smart and economical decision to purchase a flip cam wedding video package through WeddingMix–now what??  In the weeks leading up to your big day, make sure to set aside some time to think about:

• The people you’d like to assign as your “directors”
• Which specific moments you want captured

For me, the easiest way to do this was to create a simple, color-coded Excel spreadsheet which looked like this:

I thought about the specific people (in this case, 7 friends and 2 of my husband’s family members) who I thought would 1) be really good at filming and 2) would be more than happy to help with the task.  I asked each person and once everyone was on board, I created the above spreadsheet to help stay organized.  I also emailed a copy of this spreadsheet to all the people filming and printed out a few copies to have on hand before the wedding in case anyone needed one (as you can see, I like to have multiple contingency plans when it comes to organization!)  You can download a copy of this template here;  WeddingMix Flip Cam Schedule

Since I ordered the 5 camera package, I also wanted to make sure that the flip cams themselves would be easy to keep organized.  So once I received the cameras in the mail, I went to Michaels to buy some numbered stickers to put on each camera.  This was to ensure that the right person got the right camera AND since each camera can record 2 hours of footage, to make sure the moments were spread out equally so we wouldn’t run out of camera space.  Side note: when I sent the cameras back to WeddingMix, I totally forgot to remove the stickers so the team captured this great photo to show how organized the cameras looked!

For me, the most important moments to capture included the girls and guys getting ready in the morning, my husband and I opening our wedding morning notes and gifts to each other, the ceremony, reception entrances, dances and speeches.  We also decided a few weeks before that we wanted a friend to do a “Cocktail Hour Q&A”, where he would ask guests certain questions, if they had any words of advice for us, etc.  This turned out to be a big hit and produced some GREAT footage, both funny and very sweet.

Aim to have your spreadsheet done and cameras numbered at least 2 days before the wedding–it’ll be one less thing to worry about on your big day!

Editor’s Note: Read more about Martine’s fabulous wedding journey and her destination wedding in Montreal on her blog.