This month, Stu from Greenwich based Confetti & Silk videographers takes on our 25 quickfire questions!
Photo Credit: Fiona Kelly Photography
Please introduce yourself:
I’m Stu and I’m one third of an award winning international wedding videography company based in Greenwich, London, called Confetti & Silk. We’ve been running for 3 years now, although I filmed my first wedding back in 2010. We recently moved into an office in Greenwich and we’re focused on impressing every client, every time, and constantly trying to streamline our processes to create a better, simpler and stress free way for our clients to book us.
We specialise in short cinematic films with a focus of quality over quantity. We craft stories of wedding days rather than simply capturing them. Basically, we want our brides and grooms to cry when they watch their film back because it moves them (as twisted as that sounds!).
Your business…
1. Where do you call home?
I’ve moved around a lot of cities in the last 10 years, now I’m settled in London and it feels like home for now and the future. My flat is very botanical with plants, textures and stuff so it’s very homely.
2. What made you want to set up your business?
I wanted complete independence when making films which weddings allows you in a way corporate filmmaking doesn’t, and I enjoy shooting for beauty so working with brides and within the wedding industry lends itself to that. From a business point of view, I also wanted something with a relatively simplified business model so everything combined to create Confetti & Silk.
3. Why the wedding industry?
It’s a positive environment to work in. All our touch points with our clients are when they are in a good place, everyone you interact with on the wedding day is happy too. Weddings are great, positive, emotive places to work.
4. What’s the best part of your job?
The longevity of our work. When we get positive feedback from our couples that includes them seeing the value in what we have produced for them in the future. It’s quite powerful to think that your work today can make someone feel certain emotions in say, in 50 years’ time.
5. What’s the worst part of your job?
That it inevitably takes up your weekends so your social life has to be sacrificed. If the company has had a successful summer, we’ve probably not been to any summer BBQs. I rarely get to play football on Saturdays so have to make do with shorter midweek games and I miss a lot of Arsenal games, especially around the end of the football season in April and May.
6. What’s the weirdest request you’ve ever had from a client?
Nothing too weird really. I wish I had a good story from it, but unfortunately not yet!
7. You’re surrounded by beauty in your job, what do you find beautiful?
Someone’s personality, because we spend so long with our couples on the day you really get to know them. You can tell if someone has a good heart, and then whilst filming through the camera lens you can almost see that shine through in their smile or other mannerisms.
8. Best piece of advice to offer to those getting married?
Get a planner or at least someone to organise on the day itself. You want to enjoy the day you’ve put so much work into, not be constantly checking the time on your phone and rushing around. Also, try to use one or a maximum of two venues if you include a church service; spending time travelling between multiple locations disrupts the flow, gives potential for delays and detracts from guests having fun. If you want your guests to think your wedding was great, concentrate on just having a great party over what your table favours are. (No one even remembers to take them home after the meal anyway!)
9. Who or what is your biggest influence?
On a personal level, a friend whom I went to university with but only really got to know afterwards. He paid me to film him giving talks around the country for one of his multiple seven figure businesses, he’s an extremely successful individual with a work ethic like no one else. It’s very inspiring to be in his presence. He offered me a job and it was the hardest career decision to turn him down to create Confetti & Silk.
On a day to day influence, it would be our creative director Dan; I wanted someone like him on board from the start to speed up my progression with filming and editing and I couldn’t ask for someone more skilled to learn from. Without doubt the journey would be much, much slower without Dan to push the quality aspect of what we film and produce.
10. Best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Never give up and never look for an excuse to give up. I don’t suffer fools gladly, or whatever the expression is…
11. What was your career plan B?
I used to work in financial services in the city, that would be the short term fall back but I’d be looking to create my own thing again before long. Or else possibly work as a camera operator for Sky Sports?
You…
12. Tell us something surprising about yourself!
I auditioned for the second series of Big Brother, before it got really mental. I didn’t make it past round one which I guess is now a positive. I did get accepted into round two of auditions for The Apprentice though, and my boss at the time gave me a free day off to go to it.
13. Pints and pies or coffee and cake?
Pints and Pies, I don’t drink coffee but I do have a personal tea pot in the office, peppermint tea or decaf.
Photo Credit: Stevan Borthwick
14. What’s your favourite shop?
Massimo Dutti, it’s European and I’m not sure they have them outside London. It’s like a smarter, more tailored and exclusive version of Zara.
15. If you could buy any building, which would it be?
The Shard; my girlfriend’s an architect and it’s hated in most architect circles. I love it though, that would wind her up! It’s also a wedding venue we’ve been fortunate enough to film in, so maybe we could do something with that.
16. Favourite film?
Trainspotting. I remember the first time I watched it, we went home from school when we were 11 at lunch time each day for a week – I guess my mate’s dad had taped it. The dialogue is amazing and I can pretty much quote it word for word now.
17. Your biggest pet peeve?
Restaurants that have the tables really close together when you’re out as a couple trying to have a quiet meal.
18. What’s your guilty pleasure?
The TV show ‘Can’t Pay, We’ll Take It Away’, it’s on the channel Spike, and also Netflix.
19. Favourite thing to do on a rainy day?
Go for a run in the park. There’s something about the rain and the smell of wet grass reminds me of Scotland, which relaxes me in a way nothing else does. (Stu is originally from Scotland.)
20. Cosy night in or big night out?
Cosy night in, although I like a meal out too – a reason to get dressed up a bit: shirt, blazer and shoes always, rarely trainers (unless I’m doing sports, or hungover). A drink afterward and then going home at a reasonable time with some wine is the thing now, rock n roll and all that.
21. What’s the most romantic thing someone’s ever done for you?
As the guy it’s probably more on me to be romantic, I really appreciate small things like the words written in a card. Holly (my girlfriend) has been good with that; I’m not one for PDAs so I’ll leave it there for the soppiness, but the funniest was ‘my love is like a candle, neglect me and I’ll burn your house down’…! That’s one that made us chuckle together and has stuck.
22. Most perfect place for a sunrise?
I can honestly say I’ve never sat on some picturesque rock watching the sun come up. I’d like to go snorkelling and maybe scuba diving again somewhere exotic, and I imagine a place like that would lend itself to me finally making that effort.
And finally…
23. Invisibility or flight?
Flight.
24. Do you believe in fate?
No, you make your own.
25. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
If we’re going deep: free healthcare worldwide. I’m a big believer in the NHS and think it’s utterly crazy that in this day and age people still don’t have access to free healthcare, or have to make a financial decision before going to see a doctor.
Photo Credit: Fiona Kelly Photography
Oh I loved these answers! Very interesting to get a male perspective of working in the wedding industry too!
Thank you so much to Stu from Confetti & Silk for taking part!
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