Weddingbee PRO

We’re super excited to welcome another member to the Weddingbee PRO family -Austin, Texas-based wedding filmmaker Joe Simon! Joe’s been in the business for 10 years and has many wonderful films and videography related tips to share with us. Please welcome Joe to the PRO family!

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I couldn’t believe it when I received the email from Mrs. Bee asking me to be a PRO blogger! It’s truly amazing to be a part of such an inspiring community. I can’t wait to learn from each other as we take this journey forward!

My name is Joe Simon, and I make wedding films! Now I feel like I’ve just joined WFA (wedding filmmakers anonymous). Wedding video has always been the red- headed stepchild of the wedding industry -don’t mention that horrible phrase…wedding video! Oh no, there I’ve gone and said it. When I started making wedding videos back in 1999-2000, it was one of those things you didn’t want to tell your friends about. I mean who had ever seen a cool wedding video?

I got my start shooting extreme sports, most notably BMX. It was one of those things I loved to do but not something you can make a living doing. However, I wanted to live my dream; I wanted to make films! So, in 2000 I had a friend who was getting married and asked if I could film her wedding. I said sure why not. I got paid $200 for that first wedding video, and I had no idea what I was doing. I’m sure the video was terrible, but it started me on the path to where I am now. It took many years of filming to finally figure out that I didn’t need to follow the conventional wedding video look and feel, and when I finally broke away from that ill-fated thinking I felt the artistic freedom flow!

Now in 2009, I’m happier than ever, creating the wedding films I never thought possible and meeting couples that help push our work to the next level. The phrase and meaning of “wedding video” is slowly evolving into something different, something cool …a “wedding film”! It’s now something couples are excited about and something I’m even more excited to create.

I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us! I’m proud to be called a wedding filmmaker, and I’m excited to show you our world! Thanks for having me here!