Kris and Angela got married last year and recently celebrated their first year anniversary. Some of the images from their wedding have served as the “face” of our business for the past year. We normally don’t upload the entire wedding video online because of the size of the files, but Google allows unlimited time and file sizes so I’ve decided to test this feature out. The wedding video size is heavily compressed, but it’s pretty amazing that a one hour video can be placed online.
For any brides that view this video, know that your wedding videos are custom made. All kinds of factors play into how the final product will turn out. Every wedding video will be different because each wedding is unique. When I say unique I mean some are action packed, loud and full of emotion. Other weddings may be more subdued and relaxed. I provide the artistic style of the wedding video and try to create something that is emotional, true and beautiful. If your wedding wasn’t quite perfect, I do what I can to edit out the parts that weren’t so good and allow you to remember the beautiful moments. There are a lot of variables and it takes tremendous amount of focused energy out of me to create wedding videos. I try to place myself in the shoe of the bride, groom, mother of the bride, etc if that is at all possible. It’s pretty special to have a wedding video. Every time I create a finished product I get excited because I know it will mean so much to the bride. I even watch it 4 or 5 times!
When Rebekah and I got married we hired the best wedding videographer we could find. Guess what? He forgot to show! Can you believe that? How does someone forget to show up? I don’t know, but they had the nerve to say why didn’t you call us? My wife said, “Did you want me to stop the ceremony at the altar and call you guys?” I’m still bitter about it since you can’t recreate a wedding, but what can I do?
Before hiring a wedding videographer or cinematographer as some wedding videographers like to call themselves, check out a full video. Some videographers create a short 20 to 30 minute cinematic show of your wedding day and it’s beautiful on the surface, but it lacks depth. Other videographers create no emotion at all and give you two hours of boring material without any creativity. It’s a fine balance to create something worth watching.
Usually, I limit the message of the pastor, priest, officiant to no more than 5 minutes, but in Angela’s wedding the priest was the great uncle of the bride. He gave a very personalized and touching message so he got more coverage. I almost always limit the video to 1 hour max, because I want it to be watchable. If you want to see all 8 tapes worth from your wedding day I suggest purchasing the RAW footage DVD. It’s only $300 extra and no one else will want to watch it with you, but you will probably want it in the long run.
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Wedding photographers come in all shapes and sizes. They also come with all types of different personalities. Before my wife and I got started in wedding photography, we were dedicated to only providing wedding video services in the Seattle and Tacoma area. As videographers we’ve had the privilege of seeing many different types of photographers in action. Most are good at what they do and just as importantly care about their clients. I’ve also seen a very high ranking (on search engines) wedding photographer from Seattle get very cranky and fight with the bride at a wedding. That was unpleasant to see, but I won’t mention his name here.
Anyway, I didn’t want to dwell on that. What I did want to talk about was regarding some of the great wedding photographers in the Seattle area and beyond. I guess I am mentioning their names because in one way or another, they’ve influenced me or my craft.
Locally here in Seattle, the man who said a couple of words and gave me the confidence to get started in wedding photography is John Hong from John and Joseph Photography. At a wedding where I was providing wedding video coverage, John said to me, “You should do photography.” He probably didn’t realize I would actually do it. He didn’t know anything about me or whether I could capture great images. He just said it and it opened up my mind to the possibilities. It’s amazing how powerful words are eh?
Some others from Seattle that have inspired, challenged or encouraged me in the wonderful world of wedding photography are Me Ra Koh from Me Ra Koh Photography and Susie Hamidi from Susie Hamidi Photography. They not only make great images, but have the best personalities in the world which is so important.
If you live in the Chicago area, there are two wedding photographers I would highly recommend. Bob and Dawn Davis from La Storia foto are not only famous and world class photographers, but the most wonderful people in the world. Dawn always comments on my blog and encourages me. Her husband, Bob Davis, is a top photographer in the world recognized by Canon in a very exclusive group of photographers known as Explorers of Light. They are also dedicated to medical missions and being normal people =). Dawn Davis is also affiliated with Graphistudio Albums from Italy which is one of the lines of wedding albums we carry.
Kenny Kim from Kenny Kim Photography and Design is newer to the wedding photography industry, but one I would highly recommend. He is responsible for the picture of the bride in the red Lexus convertible on my videography website. I’ve been following his blog for almost 2 years now and he has a great passion for photography in general and now weddings.
If you’re from the New York area, Tony Yang from Tony Yang Studios does amazing and artful work. He provided the majority of the images for our videography site as well. Of course, all the images to our own wedding photography business were captured by my wife and me and we’d love to be hired as your wedding photographers too!
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Jessica and David had a beautiful outdoor wedding ceremony at The Manor in Everett/Lynnwood, WA. Jessica and David chose Nora Jones’ “Come Away With Me” as their music video song and I think it fits perfectly with their wedding. Congratulations Jessica and David and thanks again for your patience.
Seattle Wedding Videographers - Todd & Rebekah Kim - thkimdesigns Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved
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We love it when we receive praise from our wedding clients! Casey and Rob got married in the summer of 2006, in front of a white picket fenced church in Edmonds, WA. I hadn’t heard from them ever since I sent their wedding DVDs, but I received a letter yesterday and it said:
Dear Todd,
Rob and I were showing some of our friends our wedding video and it brought back such great memories of our wedding day. You really captured all the details. You were so professional and great to work with. We have recommended you to everyone we know who is getting married! Videography is such an important piece that is often overlooked. Thanks for doing such an amazing job with our DVD, it’s priceless.
Thank you again,
Rob and Casey Wilson
What I remember most about creating Casey and Rob’s wedding video was that Casey’s father had passed away before he could give his daughter away. In remembrance of him, they placed a lighted candle in the church sanctuary and I used that in their music video to represent him as well. I thought it would hold significance and I think Casey appreciated that. I am a bit of a perfectionist so I tend to spend a lot of time on details when I edit video, I am glad Casey noticed.
Currently, I’m behind schedule in editing some wedding videos and the fact I am having problems with one of my eyes isn’t helping, but this letter lifted my spirits. Thanks Casey!
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Andy and Jennifer got married at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle. Jennifer is so beautiful. She looks like a Korean model. And Andy has got to be one of the sweetest guys. He and the groomsmen performed one of the best skits I’ve seen at a wedding and it was so cool. You can see their wedding video clip by clicking on the picture below or HERE.
If you use Firefox, the Windows WMV file may not open properly inside the browser so download the file onto your hard drive first and view.
Seattle Wedding Videographers - Todd & Rebekah Kim - thkimdesigns Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved
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Linda and Boo got married at the Chapel of Annie Wright School in Tacoma, WA. It was a perfect location for their wedding.
Seattle Wedding Videographers - Todd & Rebekah Kim - thkimdesigns Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved
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Myhien originally contacted me from Chicago where she worked as a fashion designer. Ed and Myhien got married at the Space Needle last year. We had the opportunity to take their engagement pictures in downtown Seattle/Pike Place Market. They were such a fun couple to photograph and video. I don’t know if it’s because Ed is from Kentucky, but he was seriously one of the nicest grooms I’ve ever met. He was so polite and friendly. They now reside in Southern California, but I hope to see them again since Myhien referred me her cousin who is getting married in Seattle this summer!
Copyright 2006 Todd H Kim Photography - Living Life Media Photographer: Todd and Rebekah Kim
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Getting letters like this make our day =)
Hi Todd,
We love the video! You and Rebekah have been so awesome and professional from day 1 and Bennett and I appreciate all the hard work and effort you’ve put in towards our wedding video, love story and photo montage! I’ve been bragging about you guys to friends and family. During my wedding planning months, I viewed so many (literally so many) wedding videos from samples I received from different (Seattle) wedding videographers and none of them compare to the work you do. I will continue to advertise and refer you to friends and family.
Bennett and I are looking forward to the raw footage as we know how crazy and funny we and our friends can be 
—-Rhona
Seattle Wedding Videographers - Todd & Rebekah Kim - thkimdesigns Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved
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Here’s a wedding video clip from this summer at St. Stephen the Martyr Church in Renton, WA. Myra and Rob were referred to me by Pranika and Aaron whose wedding I did back back in 2005 before I got married! This clip is only about 4 minutes long, but I like the end where the vows kind of mix with the music so watch it until the end. Myra was such a beautiful bride and Rob was great too. I could really see how much they both love each other and their faith in God. I love the scene where Myra and the girls are praying before the ceremony started.
Seattle Wedding Videographers - Todd Kim - thkimdesigns Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved
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