Video biz is dream come true

They've been shooting weddings full time ever since. They passed the 1,500 mark a couple of months ago. On average they do 225 weddings a year, and in the busy season — April through September — they book about 30 weddings a month. And they advertise mostly by word of mouth and their Web site, www.happilyeveraftervideo.com.

It turns out they either jumped on the affordable wedding video wave early, or they were the ones who got it going. Now all sorts of wedding videographers are out there, doing what they do.

"It's become kind of a Utah cultural phenomenon," says Matt. "When we go out of state, they can't believe what we're doing."

You name it, they've recorded it: grooms passing out, brides passing out, best men passing out, grooms throwing up, brides tripping coming down the steps, near fist fights over the bouquet toss, cakes collapsing.

Only that stuff rarely makes it into the final edited product that features footage of the actual wedding ceremony — or in the case of LDS temples, which do not allow cameras, footage from the temple grounds — plus footage of all the approved memorable moments from the reception that follows: the daddy-daughter dance, the cutting of the cake, the bouquet toss and all the rest.

They also include a video montage featuring still photos of the bride and groom. All of it accompanied by Jack Johnson, Norah Jones or whatever music the about-to-be-betrothed choose.

And with technology continuing to improve, they've kept their prices affordable. Their most expensive package is under $1,000. The cheapest is $425. The average is around $600, and that includes 2 1/2 hours of footage.

It's not the cheap uncle special, and I might be biased, but it still seems like a pretty good deal.

Lee Benson's column runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com.