Couples who place a high priority on their wedding video have come to the right place with Willow Creek Studios as they make wedding couples into stars of their own production. At Willow Creek Studios, the focus is always on producing quality and making your individuality shine. Working out of their studio in Cambridge, Willow Creek prepares for and produces the final cut of countless local wedding memories and are well-known and well-loved in the Cambridge and K-W areas.

Angela Clevely and Derek Montalbetti, along with a team of experienced and professionally trained videographers seem to have a talent for offering everything a bride wants most: video producers whose goal is to treat wedding day memories with care and class. We sat down with the team at Willow Creek Studios to find out more about how they’re taking a full production approach to shooting wedding memories. Here’s what we discovered…

In a past life and in person

What makes Willow Creek Studios unique is that they're a full time video production company with over ten years of experience working on professional film and television productions. In fact, Founder, Scott Clevely, went to film school in Toronto, and was an active member of the Director's Guild of Canada for years, with previous work including film and TV productions for such high profile companies as Disney, Warner Brothers and Alliance Atlantis.

While Scott is still busy producing feature films, including the upcoming Wicked Wheels, which is written and directed by Ron Oliver and shot locally, Willow Creek has Angela and newly added partner, Derek Montalbetti, to make sure that all of the Willow Creek brides are happy and taken care of. "There’s nothing like witnessing the reaction when a bride sees her video for the first time," they told us. The team adds that no matter how many wedding days they film, they love the response they get after delivering the video. “It's very satisfying that we can stir up that kind of emotion in our clients."

A team effort

Willow Creek is made up of business partners, Angela and Derek, and their hand-picked team of videographers and editing professionals. Angela is the production coordinator who works with couples to get all of the information required to produce the video – like times, locations, payments, etc..

Their team, chosen for their personalities, expertise and commitment to excellence, is made up of videographers who are both experienced and formally trained in their craft. Many are in the film industry, or graduates of broadcast and film programs. The Willow Creek team works together to offer high quality wedding cinematography that brides can put their faith and future memories in.

In a recent interview, the team told us that they’ve never been busier with weddings than they are right now, and since they don’t outsource any of their work, they limit the number of weddings and events they film to only one per day – they refuse to split their crew and their attention. Each couple gets their complete focus and attention. This also means that each wedding will have a crew of two camera operators on-site in order to cover twice as many memories without sacrificing style or expertise. "Brides want to be confident in what they'll receive when the wedding day is over. If they view our sample videos and hire Willow Creek, we want to deliver a product that lives up to and exceeds their expectations."

After meeting with Willow Creek for their consultation and watching some of their sample videos, Jana and Mike Poulin say they knew Willow Creek would do a fantastic job at capturing their wedding day. Jana and Mike loved their cinematic style videos above all else. “It's like watching yourself in a Hollywood movie,” they told staff at The Ring.

Putting a guarantee on your memories

Willow Creek Studios sets themselves even further apart by guaranteeing that they'll complete your wedding video within ninety days of your wedding. "Furthermore, if you're not happy with our work on the video, you will be invited to come and sit with our professional editor who will work with you to make sure you get the video you want." But with up to thirty hours of editing going into every video they produce, it would be surprising if you weren’t happy with the first copy.

Even though Jana and Mike admit to going a little over budget on their wedding video, they knew from the beginning that videography was something they wanted to invest in. [Check out Jana and Mike’s highlight reel online here]“After watching the finished product, we were extremely pleased with the quality of the video,” they remember. “Willow Creek captured every moment of the day including some moments that we didn't even see or remember ourselves, which was amazing! They clearly put a lot of time into editing and making sure it's perfect. Willow Creek is worth every penny!”

Technically speaking...

With most packages featuring two High Definition broadcast quality cameras, the studio is complete with a full array of broadcast equipment, including wireless microphones, back-up cameras and tripods, automated DVD printer and burner, Willow Creek seems to have everything a bride would look for in a wedding videographer. With the increasingly affordable and popular Blu-Ray discs, they make sure they offer TRUE high definition wedding videos, which means they are shot on HD cameras and delivered on Blu-Ray discs.

With Willow Creek, you receive a professional, cinematic-style wedding video that is laid back on the subtitles and effects (that are sometimes considered 'cheesy'), and that is high on class, sound, music and memories.

Willow Creek invests in new equipment every year to enhance the look of their weddings. Recently, they added a camera stabilizer, and have access to cranes and dollies to really complete that Hollywood look - perfect for rock star and superstar brides who see their wedding as a major event and production. “At Willow Creek, the focus is always on quality,” they told us. “We’re the ideal choice for the bride who places a high priority on her wedding video.”

Your Wedding Video...

The Willow Creek approach is cinematic, unobtrusive and professional. Their videos capture all of the important moments from laughs and smiles to tearful vows, and grins from the best man to bittersweet expressions from the parents. All of these moments are set to music, which is chosen by the couple.

“They were very professional and they really know how to capture every moment,” says Melissa about the Willow Creek team. “It was more than just a regular video I've seen elsewhere. They really captured the mood and setting with the various angles and shots.”

Marlena, who describes Willow Creek’s style as "modern and real", told The Ring that she has seen some wedding videos that don’t show little things that can mean so much after your wedding day. "Willow Creek was able to capture special hugs with family and so on." She adds that her and her now-husband, Dave, were very happy with the job that Willow Creek did on their video and loved that they could relive their special day over and over.

The final copy is a polished (including colour correcting), feature length (1-2 hour) movie, with a short film usually less than ten minutes long that is posted online to share with all of your friends and family. Willow Creek also provides you with several personalized DVD copies that include motion menus and chapter selections. Your memories end with rolling credits that name your wedding party, family and friends. Willow Creek posts your short film on their website so that you can share your video with friends and family around the globe, completely free of charge.

Additional video options...

'Same Day Edit & Display' is a fun option that will entertain guests and set a new tone for your wedding reception. This option really sets Willow Creek apart from other videographers. They'll have your wedding edited in time to display at the reception!

Something new at Willow Creek is their Three Camera Package, which includes a mini feature film of your own, capturing every single detail and moment of your day. "It's very creative and can take the director's reel (directed by the crew) or re-create moments by adding more to it."

Another popular video package add-on is the music video style cut. In this option, the bride and groom pick a song, then with their wedding party throughout the day, they make a music video by singing parts of the song as the day goes! This is in addition to the highlight reel and is only available with the three camera package.

Pricing your wedding video...

Willow Creek offers packages for couples to use as a guide, but they prefer to work with the bride and groom to customize a video based on their needs. Packages are really just to give an idea of what to expect and what the options can be. Single camera packages start at $1695. Two Camera HD Packages start at $2400 and go up from there depending on the options chosen.

If you book your wedding with Willow Creek by December 31, 2010 you still get the 2010 prices for 2011 dates. Plus, if your event falls between November 1 and April 30, you'll get 10% off for booking in the off season.

With the amount of time that goes into a wedding video, we think the prices are quite reasonable. The average wedding at Willow Creek has two videographers shooting the day of (about eight to twelve hours); twenty-two hours of editing; up to seven hours of post-production and design, which means that the average video takes over forty hours to produce from beginning to end.

“The packages were practical and the pricing was great,” Melissa says of Willow Creek’s services. “The prices… were affordable and fit my budget and the value of the video surpassed what I paid.” She adds that, when recommending Willow Creek to other couples who are looking for a videographer, she sums up Willow Creek by saying that they have “the best pricing, the best video quality and style, and they know how to capture every moment perfectly.”

We were told that a typical client who visits Willow Creek is someone who knows what they want and doesn’t mind paying for what’s important. “We’re the company for the bride who’s looking for a great video memoir of her wedding day... and sees the value in that.” And if that sounds like you, then Willow Creek is certainly a great choice.

Details, details, details

• Wedding videography ranges from 8 hours to 14 hours of coverage and is cut into a feature length film up to 2 hours, and a highlight reel up to 10 minutes.
• Willow Creek suggests booking as far as one year in advance if possible, but invites all inquiries.