Tell us about your business!
We are a wedding videography and corporate video production company serving the greater Pacific Northwest. We have been in business for 6 years and have shot 269 weddings to date.
Why did you want to get into the wedding industry?
I graduated from Gonzaga University with a degree in broadcast journalism and spent 8 years working in the television news industry before transitioning to running my own company. The funny thing is that we originally weren't going to do weddings at all. I booked a last min craigslist wedding when the bride's cousin told her 2 days before the wedding that he couldn't make it to film the event. I immediately noticed that people enjoying having me there (very different from my experience working with the public when I was in news) and I was immediately hooked! We now have a good mix of about 60% weddings and 40% corporate gigs which keeps us busy throughout the year.
What makes your company stand out?
We pride ourselves on the service we provide our clients. Response rate and quality of work are the two things I pride myself in the most. You will always get a response from me within a few minutes (unless I'm sleeping...which isn't often! lol)
Tell us about your personal style when it comes to your craft?
We have a documentary style of approach when it comes to our wedding videos, this allows us to truly showcase the couples' day and what is important to them. We provide our couples a pre-wedding questionnaire prior to their wedding day, which gives us guidance as to what to focus the most on in terms of aspects of the day. Although we capture detailed moments throughout the entire wedding day, this questionnaire lets us know what is important, and also what isn't as important to the couple when it comes to their wedding video, so we can handcraft a perfect tailored wedding video to each and every one of our couples. The highest compliment we receive from our couples is that "their wedding video FELT like their wedding day."
Favorite part of working with couples?
Definitely corresponding online via social media prior to the wedding and also sharing sneak peeks of our wedding videos in progress to our couples via Instagram. This allows our couples to follow our workflow from start to finish, and it also builds anticipating for their finally receiving their wedding video!! I try to be as accessible to my clients as possible, and sometimes sending a quick DM over Instagram is a lot easier than sending a detailed message, so any little bit helps.
Favorite part of wedding day?
As someone who wrote his own vows at his wedding, listening to and capturing any sort of personal vow at a wedding ceremony will always be my favorite. It gives more insights into the couple and their backstory along with what makes them tick. Also this gives us a lot of great content to use to edit the highlight videos. Fun wedding toasts work well also for entertaining highlight videos. Also as a videographer specifically, being able to capture and hang out during the "getting ready" portion of the day is extremely important. Not only does that give us a lot of good footage to use in the edited highlight video, but it also helps set a tone for the day. Everyone is able to get to know one another, family members, groomsmen, bridesmaids and everyone else, and it helps set everyone at ease for the rest of the big day!!
Advice to couples in selecting a vendor in your category?
Read reviews and check online presence. Also look for someone you want to build a rapport with. Wedding vendors who are truly invested in their couples and the wedding industry as a whole, want to be available to you every step of the way. As a videographer, we spend most, if not all of the day together alongside your wedding photographer, so it's good to find someone you want to spend time with. If you can, find people who like working with one another. Some of the strongest relationships I have are with other fellow wedding vendors. You want an army supporting you on your big day and it's good to find people who have been in the trenches with each other before!
How to Contact Best Made Videos®:
425-785-0718
reid@bestmadevideos.com
www.bestmadeweddingvideos.com
@bestmadevideos on Facebook, IG, Twitter, Pinterest
