When Ryan and Vicky told me in our pre-wedding meeting that they wanted to do a mannequin challenge at their wedding, it brought me back to wedding season 2017 when the challenge had gotten so popular that I started seeing wedding parties frozen in their gowns and suits. None of my couples that year decided to partake in the trend so I was left admiring from afar.
I couldn’t wait to film my first one, but we had to finish the preceding 9 hours of coverage before that point.
Our day starts at the house of Vicky’s family in North York, where we teamed up with Matt and Carol from Matt Trimble Photography to capture the delicate final touches of Vicky’s hair, makeup and her dress. We then headed over to meet with Ryan and his entourage to catch their getting-ready time.
After a quick session with the guys, we proceeded to Centennial Park where we scouted a spot for Ryan and Vicky’s first look. We had been watching the weather for the last couple weeks, hoping to get a break from the constant battering of winter precipitation we’ve been getting in early 2019. And we definitely got a break as it was only about 5 degrees celsius with constant gust. The wind made it colder BUT also made for some epic creative shots of Vicky’s veil and fur blowing.
After a quick photo session, we concluded our travel for the day at The Vue Clubhouse in Etobicoke. There we would have the ceremony, a cocktail hour, quick wardrobe changes by Vicky (into a red dress and back into the white) and the reception.
When all the speeches and games ended, Arthur, the MC, pulled me aside and said, “I think it’s time for the mannequin challenge”
In deed, tt was time.
But before jumping in, I assessed the dance floor and our lighting situation to get the most out of the experience. Since we didn’t expect everyone to participate, we shifted everyone not involved to one side of the banquet hall and pointed the camera in the opposite direction. We didn’t want spectators to during the “frozen effect”. We also didn’t a small-scale demonstration with the wedding party as the MC verbally explained the upcoming activity.
Once explanations were done, volunteers streamed to the dance floor, some wearing hats and masks (at this point, I realized this activity wasn’t a surprise to everyone), and we started. You’ll noticed that at a certain point, the crowd broke into dance. This was at the “drop” of the song (“Lift” by JJD & Marin Hoxha). You don’t really see this in the original mannequin challenge videos but it was a great touch planned by our groom, and I loved it.
This activity served partly as a way to get the guests onto the dance floor at the end of the formalities of the reception, and that it did! We did two takes and both had awesome segments, but people did blink or moved slightly. It’s not realistic to get the “perfect” without hijacking the wedding reception with multiple takes so I choose the better of the two that we did – and here it is:
*Due to copyright limitations, I couldn’t publish the video with the original song played at the reception.
After the second take, the dance floor erupted and Tristan and I were able to go enjoy our donuts and fried chicken and we took turns capturing party moments for the rest of our coverage.
A big thank you to Ryan & Vicky for trusting us with their special day – and their mannequin challenge! Your hospitality even towards us made celebrating your story that much better.
Until the next post!
Thanks also to
The service staff at The Vue Clubhouse
Rachel Law Hair and Makeup Artist
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