During filming at a popular wedding photoshoot location, i noticed 4 weddings shoots happening at the same time.. i couldn't help but notice 2 different videogs who looks like they just got out of bed. One had a dirty baseball cap, old badly wrinkled t-shirt ( with a cheap iron logo of their company), old tattered jeans with the bottom hem cut off dragging on the muddy grass. The other was wearing an old metallica t-shirt (torn in some parts) with the words "kill 'em all" and ripped jeans and paint stained runners.

We are working so hard for videography to be accepted as a must have for weddings (just like photography) and these two clowns showing up like this at the church and reception probably didn't help.
No need for tuxedos or ties or even a suit, just something decent and appropriate (or ironed).
Don't ruin it for everyone else..

I have never seen anything like that in my market, I can't imagine anybody showing up in a T shirt. In my opinion a suit is outdated and a bit overboard.

It's too bad a few people have to ruin it for the majority of professionals who would never dream of showing up at a wedding like that.

General rule of thumb:

Don't go to a wedding looking like a tool.

This should be obvious and needs no explanation.

Ah Winnipeg... where people walk into Dollar Stores and ask if they can get something for 85 cents...

Sounds like a classic case of lowest bidder to me. And no, that doesn't excuse the apparel. It just explains a lot...

My rule of thumb is to dress like the most casually dressed guest. Usually a dark buttoned shirt and dark pants.

I know some people show up in full suits but a tie gets in the way and with all of the running around a jacket is usually too warm.

My goal is to blend in enough that people don't think "He's the camera operator" but remain comfortable enough. I am running around for 12 hours afterall :)

My choice of wardrobe isn't currently negotiable, but when I used to shoot commercial events, I always showed up in dark (if not black) slacks and a long-sleeve button-down shirt. I really never considered anything else.

I tend to gravitate toward charcoal gray slacks and some color other than black button down long sleeve shirt. I use to do the all black thing but always felt like an assassin when pulling the sniper rifle sized tripod case out of the car.

In some circles there is a tendency to wear objectionable clothing as a way to project an image that is perceived in various ways. Some people spend big bucks to get "the look". You can easily spend over a hundred bucks for a pair of blue jeans with holes in them and worn out leg bottoms for example. Some wanna-be's find an idol to pattern themselves after. How many people do you think look at how Steve Jobs dresses and then try to clone "the look"?


The most important things to consider when dressing to shoot an event are good taste and unobtrusiveness. The two characters you describe sound like out of work contract ax murderers or something equally as bad. The minute you start thinking about a "look", any "look", you are probably heading in the wrong direction. The black scarf and beret "look" can look just as out of place. "The look" is often an indication that a person has a social problem. Think unobtrusive and good taste and you are heading in the right direction. A pro doesn't need a "get-up" gimmick or a platform for an antisocial message.

I've got so many pairs of black pants and black shirts of all kinds one might think it's all I own. Come to think of it...

Show black is my "costume" of choice for every shooting job I've done in the last 20 years.
The last time I wore a suit a tie to a wedding was last May when my wife and I renewed our vows-she kept me for 40 years and we're going for another 40. Of course I didn't shoot the job so I guess it doesn't count. ;-)

Tattered blue jeans and a T shirt? No I don't think so.

One had a dirty baseball cap, old badly wrinkled t-shirt ( with a cheap iron logo of their company), old tattered jeans with the bottom hem cut off dragging on the muddy grass. The other was wearing an old metallica t-shirt (torn in some parts) with the words "kill 'em all" and ripped jeans and paint stained runners.



It really sounds like these guys were the groom's close friends. I don't think a professional would dress like that, but with kids today I could be wrong....

I don't think they were kids..they looked around my age mid 30ish..
The people i was filming started cracking jokes that they looked like they just came from their renovation/contractor jobs and had to leave to shoot this wedding...i could tell that the couples and photographers were not very impressed... mind you their gear wasn't bad..i'm pretty sure one had an FX1 with a glidetrack and the other had what looked like a the new Panasonic HMC 150

Hi All

So far every season I have kept with the traditional black pants, long sleeved black shirt with the embroided logo on the pocket. I shoot on stedicam a lot so I have to have decent non-slip shoes rather than slick leather ones. Our problem here in Perth is that during Summer it gets mighty warm!! (around 40 degrees C is the norm in mid Summer!!!) so I have been toying with the idea of maybe replacing the long sleeved shirt with a smart polo/golf short sleeved one with our logo but again in black??? White would be a lot cooler BUT maybe not quite acceptable.

I did a wedding last season with a photog who is one of our well known ($5K++++ for a few hours work) ones and he pitched up in his black short sleeved shirt with Canon logos and his website address in big letters in red across the back. However most here still seem to stick with black!

Chris

I keep it simple. If there is a church involved, full suit and tie. If it is a hotel or other location, I wear dress pants and a nice button up shirt (Express/Banana Republic). Summer in Nola is miserable and sometimes I'll skip the tie with a suit. I think people down here understand :)

If I think that the shoot might call for some flexibility, I will wear these:

to expand on my show blacks. I always wear black dress pants but the shirt varies. During the cooler weather and in a church I always wear a black long sleeve shirt but at the reception, I wear a black silk T shirt. It gets too warm for me otherwise. During hot weather I wear a black short sleeve dress shirt and again a silk T for the reception.

Full tuxedo every wedding every time, Did you guys ever think that maybe just maybe you need to upgrade the image of video man, and maybe you can get some more respect and with that more money.

Oh no, I would *never* consider a full tuxedo, and not just because of the Central Texas weather. A tux is is a tad bit presumptuous. You don't want to look like a member of the wedding party, and you're already calling too much attention to yourself as it is with the camera and all. For a high-end wedding, a suit with vest and tie is as far as you need to go. There's nothing wrong with taking off the suit jacket when you're working, either (that's what the vest is for).

If it's not a high-end wedding, slacks and a button-down shirt (tucked in, with a belt!) are perfectly appropriate. Keep a tie handy if you feel under-dressed. This ain't rocket science.

Full tuxedo every wedding every time, Did you guys ever think that maybe just maybe you need to upgrade the image of video man, and maybe you can get some more respect and with that more money.

sarcasm right.... right?

If not, then I'll just assume that up in your neck of the woods or for the clientele you serve that a full tux is acceptable, possibly even required. If I showed up to a wedding around here wearing a tux I'd get laughed out of the church. I saw one photographer down here in a tux and he just looked way out of place. Nobody shows up in a tux around these parts unless they're in the wedding party and even then I've been noticing a trend away from the traditional tux for groomsmen. It could very well just be a regional difference.

I don't think that wearing a tux to a wedding will garner me any more business than wearing a nice pair of slacks and a button down shirt, but I do think that if I conveyed indifference/disrespect by showing up in jeans and a t-shirt that I'd definitely lose business.

Unless I'm being naive, it's the quality of your work that gains you "respect and with that more money".

All black for me ( black golf shirt, black dress pants). I do bring a sports jacket just in case the Bride wants me to wear something formal ( never had a request).

Brides expect us to be in a tux and ask for it. We get compliment every wedding we do on our professional look. The guys who are dressed down get laughed at. I guess it depends what part of the country you are from. We believe image in all aspects of our company is important. We also believe it is a respect thing for the bride and groom. We do dress down at outdoor low key events, but we always try to look our absolute best.

Yeah, I can't imagine wearing a tux either. I will usually just wear a dress shirt with black pants - sometimes a tie and that's usually just for the ceremony. It's just too hard to operate all the gear and have a tie getting in the way. I can't remember that last time I worked with a still photographer what wore a tie.

I hate to stereotype, be around here, the only videographers I see wearing ties are the from the lower end/cheaper weddings. Then again, like Ethan said, it could be a regional thing.

Myself & offsider wear all navy blue - dress pants, short sleeve collared shirt with logo, Cap with logo - someone commented we looked like a swat team when we arrive with the gear. I have spare shirts & hats in case.

My aim is not primarily to blend in with the guests - just not to stand out. I aim to be hard working & professional and the clothing should back up that image. It's also advertising, guests can see my company logo on my clothing & on my gear.

Always a suit, always a white shirt and tie appropriate for a wedding guest.

I see photographers dressed so scuffily and to me it is totally disrespectful to the bride, groom and wedding party. The photographer often ends up on the video and they look liek some oik who has gate crashed the party.

Show respect. A T shirt with Videographer and name of company on the back is just plain uncouth and very cheap. Sorry but baseball caps are just a plain no no. This is a wedding not a speedway meeting.

Yes we run around for 10 hours but so what? If its hot the jacket can come off, and buy a shirt half a size to big so it's not too tight on the neck. When the wedding party dress down, so can you, but until the wedding attire comes off, stay smart and a class above the opposition.

Our Standard Fair for both my wife & I is Black dress slacks With a black collered shirt
with our company logo in light gold on the back, 98% of the time that's aceptable to the client. WE always consult the cilent before hand as to weather or not that is aceptable for thier occasion. If it is not and it hasn't been a few
times. Then I switch to black slack's with a shirt & tie for me and my wife selects a
an apprropriate top. Ive never had a full suite jacket request but if that was the case the I wouldn't hesitate to do so, never had a tux request I have to admit.

I used to show up in all black (black pants + black polo) but people would still notice us for being "too" black. So now I've been shooting wedding with black dress pants but a white short-sleeved polo instead. Like one of the posters mentioned earlier, I just end up looking like the most casually dressed guest.

My biggest "compliment" from a guest so far has been "I didn't even notice the videographers shooting the ceremony." This was after watching the SDE and I was in fact running around the whole time with a steadicam.

We are working so hard for videography to be accepted as a must have for weddings (just like photography) and these two clowns showing up like this at the church and reception probably didn't help.
No need for tuxedos or ties or even a suit, just something decent and appropriate (or ironed).
Don't ruin it for everyone else..

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. I'm guessing these two 'clowns' charge VERY little for their services; probably to the point that their fee is laughable. So given that, I actually can understand their decision to show up wearing crap clothes. And honestly, the B&G shouldn't be upset because that's what they get for hiring someone for a crap fee.

Does it hurt our industry? Yes, but not any more than charging a laughable fee for video work. Guys like this just don't get it and probably never will. Luckily, they are targeting the bottom of the barrel when it comes to weddings (usually), so I wouldn't worry about it all that much.

OK I've been reading with some interest. As one who DOES wear a silk T shirt on many occasions to the RECEPTION (never to a ceremony UNLESS it's outdoors and really hot/humid and NO I've never been questioned about it even at $300,000 weddings) I think it's up to the individual as to what they want to wear AS LONG AS IT'S, 1)Clean 2)Pressed 3)Not torn or beat up and doesn't have a Metallica logo on it.
I know guys that wear logo'd polo shirts and guys that wear suits. Personally I couldn't do either at a CEREMONY, most are in a church setting and I really don't feel I need to advertise there. However at the reception that's a different story. Let's face it, we're NOT invisible. We've got a camera in our hands, most often some sort of light on it or near it, some are wearing a full steadicam or at the very least a handheld stabilizer. I personally use a DVMultirig or monopod depending on the situation, so the last thing I'm worried about at a reception is being "hidden". A ceremony though I do stay low key and at least out of the way and prefer not to bring moree attention to myself with a logo'd shirt but again I do know some guys that wear them.
It's up to the individualand the market. BTW I haven't seen a videographer wearing a tux since 1988. Photogs, yes even to this day but not videographers.

I had to Google what a Tuxedo was. Not something worn in the UK and more an american piece of clothing.

In the UK a groom will more than likely wear a morning suit, which is probably the UK equivalent. Certainly I wouldn't wear a morning suit unless it was a very upper class wedding and was asked to wear one, in which case I would find out exactly where the groom was hiring and get the same colour co-ordination. As yet that has only happened once.

If the groom is wearing a tux then I'm in my black tus also. If he's in a suit, then I wear my black suit. I think it's a matter of professionalism when I have heard of others showing up in shorts and t-shirts and photographers in jeans and t-shirt I think it shows respect for the event.

We used to wear tuxes for the longest time (like 10 years) we dont anymore I find that brides are looking for a new style of shooter (like a photo journalism thing) and tuxes remind them of their moms video guy. Although I do think we should dress nice and neat so I still where tux pants (extra durable) and a black tux shirt I am considering wearing a vest but im still on the fence about that. I think if you see guys wearing baseball hats and torn jeans they may be friends of the family and doing it as a favor or something.

As long as you dress appropriately for the venue and keep an interested look on your face, you will be fine.

Hey! how did you get that picture of me?!?!

I had to Google what a Tuxedo was. Not something worn in the UK and more an american piece of clothing.

In the UK a groom will more than likely wear a morning suit, which is probably the UK equivalent. Certainly I wouldn't wear a morning suit unless it was a very upper class wedding and was asked to wear one, in which case I would find out exactly where the groom was hiring and get the same colour co-ordination. As yet that has only happened once.

Sorry Steve, it's the name that's American, not the suit - we call them dinner suits or DJ's here in the UK and rarely wear them for weddings.

We wear Morning Dress or Morning Suits if the groom's party is, or Lounge Suits (Business suits for the Americans I think) if not. We're not in the £600 video market and although they're definitely not high-society (surely upper class is a figment of BBC drama's imagination?) most of our clients wear Morning dress. We're considering getting Edwards/Alberts (square cut jackets) as well as traditional tails because of their popularity.

But we buy from rental stock supplied by a good manufacturer nearby who supplies much of the UK hire trade. You wouldn't know they'd been worn and they cost us twice a usual day's hire.

The result is that we're smart, fit into the background and our working gear is inexpensive. If there's one real drawback it's that traditional Morning Dress jackets are hot in summer.

I wear black shirt and trousers. Being in all black helps me be less noticeable also separates me from the guests slightly while still looking smart. I did where a suit jacket at the last wedding as it was pretty cold even in the church.

For other production shoots I still normally wear black but black cargo pants instead of suit trousers purelly because they have more pockets to carry stuff in.