IT'S YOUR WEDDING VIDEO & UNCLE MIKE IS DRUNK

By: J&J Video Productions-Wedding Video Specialists-Cleveland, Ohio, Parma, Ohio.


Your wedding ceremony has just been completed. Everything went perfectly. No one made a mistake, no one tripped and no one fell. It was an absolutely perfect uneventful wedding and you are ecstatic. Now, off to the wedding reception.

To the professional wedding videographers, this sounds like the beginning of a perfect day. When you arrive at the wedding reception, you see that there is an open bar. This is usually a sign that this will be a lively wedding reception. Your job is to shoot the wedding video. Invariably, as the night goes on, some of the guests might overindulge in alcoholic beverages. There is almost always one person who seems to want to outdo everyone else in the wedding. He is the one who gets out on the dance floor to show off his amazing dance skills.

You can see that he has obviously had way too much to drink. While there is nothing wrong with having a few drinks to celebrate at the wedding reception, this party animal doesn't know when to stop. Let's name this party animal "Uncle Mike". Uncle Mike is having a great time and he notices the video camera. All of a sudden, you, as the wedding videographer become his best friend. He comes over and compliments you on what a fine job you're doing. He doesn't reailze that you might be shooting a very important part of the wedding reception. You have to remember that there are two types of personalities that emerge when someone is noticeably intoxicated.

One of the personalities is jovial, happy and comical. The other intoxicated type is mean spirited, aggressive and some would consider this type of person a "nasty drunk". Of course this guy is going to want to be on the video. He may ask you if he can record a message for the bride and groom on the wedding video. What should you do?

It's my experience in shooting wedding videos, that the best way to handle this situation is to do one of two things. Before you make a decision on what you're going to do, you should have an idea of what you'll do before the wedding reception even begins if this problem arises.

The first way to handle this is to shoot the video as long as it isn't interfering with the production of the wedding video, then, edit Uncle Mike out later. You can always use the footage as part of a blooper reel. The second option is to act as if you are recording Uncle Mike's heartfelt message, but never actually hit the record button. He will not know the difference. Believe it or not, you will not be the only one who notices Uncle Mike. It has happened to me several times during a wedding reception, where family members, wedding party members or even security at the reception hall, will step in and put Uncle Mike in a taxi and send him home.

In the event that Uncle Mike turns out to be a "nasty drunk", the first place you should turn to is to the parents of the bride or groom. Let them know what Uncle Mike is trying to do in the wedding video. It is better for them to handle this than you, the videographer because, they know him better. This may be something that has happened in the past and they have had to deal with Uncle Mike before.

So, with Uncle Mike taken care of, you can now continue to shoot the wedding video knowing that you have given the bride and groom the best wedding video you can possibly give to them.

J&J Video Productions is an independent Video Production Company located in Cleveland Ohio. J&J Video Productions specializes in Wedding Videos and covers Parma Ohio and Cuyahoga County Ohio as well as the Cleveland Metropolitan area. For further information please visit our website at http://jandjvideoproductions.com/