Audrey and Spencer were married in a beautiful ceremony at St. Marks.  We have worked at the church before, but its beauty never ceases to amaze me!  And the lighting is great, which as videographers, we are a little greedy!  

Everyone then headed to Mountain Brook to Park Lane for the reception.  Fun times!  The wedding party, wait, the guys had a lot of fun decorating the couple's car for the going away.  The photographer, Catherine Cousins, and us, had a "fun" time taking everything off so that they couple could actually get into the car!

This next paragraph doesn't have much to do with Audrey and Spencer, but it is more about John and I's sense of humor.  May not be funny to most people, but we thought is was pretty entertaining!

John and I were working this event together that night, so that is always exciting.  We were joking around and talking about on Facebook vendors will post a picture of the venue they are working that night.  I got a great shot of the church to upload and then as we were traveling to the reception at Park Lane, we joked about taking a picture of a black sheet of paper and posting that to represent the reception site!  The joke is that although Park Lane is beautiful, it is always so dark that it is hard for videographers!  But on this night, the lighting was superb  - we were able to really capture the great details of Park Lane. 

Congrats are for Meredith and Danny!  The two were married at Riverchase UMC, with the reception at Ross Bridge. 

We did getting coverage for both Meredith and Danny.  (I go with the girls and John goes with the guys)  Through that entire time, Meredith was so on top of things.  She had previously arranged with a bus to take and pick up the entire wedding party, so of course, she called to confirm everything for the day.  I saw her at one time, checking her email for a picture that could be printed for the reception.  She did it all, while getting ready for her wedding.  And I have already received a couple emails from Meredith on their honeymoon!!!

I was also impressed by the little touches that were incorporated into the day.  My favorite were the vows that Meredith and Danny shared.  They were actually the same vows used by Meredith's parents over 30 years ago.  It was a pleasant surprise to her parents.  What a neat gift!  You know, that might be the video I go upload for them.  Look for it soon (wait, who are we kidding, I am behind, look for it in a couple of days!!!)

So I am a little behind on this blog, but please bear with me as I try to log in all we have done so far in May.  And I still need to upload video for several of these posts!!!

Another weekend, another beautiful wedding out on the lawns at Rosewood.  If you haven't been to Rosewood, you must check it out.  I am sure that I have mentioned it before, but as soon as you walk into their door, you feel like family.  As a vendor, that is wonderful, as a bride, I can only imagine how great it must be!

Amanda and Chris exchanged their vows in a beautiful outdoor ceremony.  The rain held off just long enough for us to finish the ceremony and cut the cake!  Even though it rained and rained and rained, everyone still had a great time celebrating the new couple.  The kids enjoyed running through the rain and jumping in the puddles!  

Just as the couple was about to leave in a beautiful antique car, the rain stopped.  We were able to get the going away coverage with just a few sprinkles.  I hope the couple has a good time in the Greek Isles!

You know, no one ever invites the videographer on the honeymoon...

Krista, what an amazing woman!  I loved her the first time we spoke on the phone.  I was so glad that we got to be a part of her wedding to a great guy, Barry.  They were not just bride and groom getting married, they were joining two families.  Barry had an 11-year old, Krista a 4 year old, both from previous marriages.  (Don't quote me on those ages - I am doing this from memory and if you know me, then you know that there is a reason that I write everything down!!).  It was very important for this couple to include their daughters in the wedding.  And it was beautiful!  Such a beautiful family, inside and out!

And it turns out that John and Krista went to high school together a long time ago (for John, not Krista)!  Ha!!

So enjoy this dance footage from the reception at Rosewood!

Vanessa came to us last minute needing a wedding videographer.  She had hired a "national" videography company that turned out to be a scam!  I was very glad that we were able to help her out!  Most people have never hired a videographer before their wedding day - they don't know what/who to look for.  It can be a little overwhelming.  

She and Chris had a wonderful evening at Grace Hall at Mathews Manor.  Debbie, her family, and her staff always do whatever they can to make the evening the best!  Sure, the weather was terrible, but they couldn't do much about that!  

Congrats to Vanessa and Chris!  Enjoy this short clip of their 1st dance.  As with all of our "honeymoon" clips, these are meant to be a sneak peak at some of the footage that we got at the wedding.  It is lightly edited only.

Congrats are for Jeri & Mark who got married on Saturday at Rosewood!  Cute couple, she was so excited that the ceremony was finally over!  (I think she might have been a bit nervous!)  But it turned out beautiful!  The rain held off long enough for the garden ceremony and most of the reception.  If you haven't seen Rosewood, you need to check it out.  New place, but they really know what they are doing!  They make everyone feel like family!

So other than having a very active wedding weekend, we also had a very active weather weekend.  There is nothing like filming the bouquet and garter toss with the weather sirens going off.  Thank goodness for editing!

I don't know about any of you, but I am so tired of hearing the doom and gloom from the media.  I have always been a positive person and I hope that I will stay that way.  I am not ignorant to the fact that there are many that have lost their jobs; I do hope that those people find employment very soon.

There is a lot of talk within the wedding industry saying the way are all "recession-proof."  I don't know if that really is the case, but I do know that our business has not declined one bit over the past year.  In fact, business is booming!  People still want to get married, still have the wedding of their dreams.  The following article taken from The Birmingham News talks about this subject.  

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/hoover.ssf?/base/community/124038828517990.xml&coll=2

I was so excited when I found out that this article was going to be coming out.  Dorothy from Dorothy McDaniel's Flower Market spoke at a recent AWEP (www.alawep.com) meeting.  She feels that the media is killing our industry.  She is hoping that this article will put a stop to the negativity.  Her business is booming too!

If you are a bride looking for an extraordinary wedding day, but need to cut a few corners, try having your wedding on Friday or Sunday.  Many vendors offer a discount for those off peak days (us included)!  I know that Mallory from Ross Bridge tries to encourage her brides that have their heart set on a wedding on the beautiful grounds at Ross Bridge to pick a Friday or Sunday wedding if they can't afford a Saturday night.  It is a great compromise!  

Just remember to not skimp on the video!  At the end of your busy wedding day, you really won't remember hardly anything and you will have  your photos and video to be able to remember the emotion of the day.   Our videos are not just a point and press record kind of videos.  It is an art!  Ask me to mail you a recent wedding that we have done and you will see for yourself!

We have a bride that recently came to us looking for a last minute videographer.  The company she hired was a national videography company that turned out to be a scam.  It sounded like a great deal, but if you don't end up with a video, then it is not that great of a deal!

We had the privilege of being a part of a wonderful wedding on Friday.  Kristi, the manager of Shoezy Q in Homewood, always wanted a beautiful wedding.  Zach is a true Army guy, doing whatever was necessary to join the Green Berets.  With the help from the finest (!) Birmingham Wedding Professionals, they were able to exchange their wedding vows in front of their closest family and friends at The Rucker Place.  You would have never known that they only had approximately two months to plan the entire wedding!  

We were able to avoid the severe weather and decided to have the ceremony outside in the gardens.  It was perfect!  William Jenkins, Producer of Here Comes the Bride, was there documenting the day.  Look for their love story on an upcoming show!  The Birmingham News is also going to do a story on this beautiful couple!  And I believe the Perfect Wedding Guide will be featuring Zach & Kristi in their next issue!

The video clip comes from a photo session with the photographer in the gardens at the Rucker Place.  I can't tell that Zach had just arrived home after being gone for months, can you!  Ha!

Jordan & Justin might have come into our lives quickly, but it will take a long time before we forget their truly spectacular wedding!  We were working/visiting at a friend's wedding on Friday, April 3 when I got a call from Beverly at Engaging Celebrations.  She was in a panic and needed a videographer for the following afternoon/evening.  Anyone that has ever met John or I knows that we will always do whatever we can to help someone.  So knowing that we already had a small event that night, I called in our troops.  Within 5 minutes, we had everything arranged so that Jordan & Justin would have a first-class wedding video.  I have to say, that to date, that was the shortest booking we have ever had!

And what a great night it turned out to be.  The ceremony was held in front of over 400 guests at the Sonnet House.  It was a beautiful ceremony!  The details that were included in the wedding were amazing!  It really did seem that everything that was important to the bride and groom were represented at the wedding.  Everyone had such a great time at the reception dancing to Groove Daddy!  

I have to conclude with kudos to Beverly.  That was one of the most organized events we have ever worked.  For the last minute videographers to know everything about the wedding a good 18 hours before arriving says a lot about Beverly and her company.

So yesterday was the big day - Will is 2!  Like a great mom, I made his favorite breakfast, Chocolate Chip Muffins!  We had set up his new train table the night before, so after breakfast he walked into the den and there it was!  So much fun!  He jumped up and down when he saw it!  Thomas, James and Percy are his favorite trains.  He really enjoys running them on the track, but crashing them is also big fun.  Will enjoys taking apart the track - it is not that easy to put it back together either. Admitting that it is hard to put back together is not that easy for me to do!  I mean, college graduate here.  Oh well.