Although I had to wake up at 5:00 am this morning, it still turned out to be a great day!  After a great BNI meeting, I had plans to go to breakfast with Allison Nichols with the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail (Oxmoor Valley) and Rachael Grammer (Two Hearts Weddings).  Such great gals!  

We had so much fun visiting and talking a little business.  Allison has a beautiful facility available for rehearsal dinners and weddings!  Being a vendor in this industry, I understand the importance of having a well-planned wedding.  And no matter what you think, who you will delegate to, or can take care of yourself, nothing compares to hiring a professional wedding planner.  It makes all the difference for you, the bride, and your vendors.  And I didn't realize how affordable her services are!  

The only thing that I would change about the day is the French Toast at Cracker Barrel.  Too eggy and it needs powdered sugar!  Let's do IHOP next time, ladies!

Kelly and Lance were married at the Church at Blount Springs on Saturday, June 13. We were so lucky that it wasn't raining. This Summer has started out very wet for a lot of brides! But what a fun couple with great guests! Although quite a bit younger than John and I, the bride and groom were actually graduates of our alma mater, The University of Montevallo! We might be a little partial!

The reception continued at the Loretta Goodwin Gallery. This was our first reception at this venue, and it was wonderful! We were able to get a lot of really great footage. Their honeymoon clip (the short clip sent to the bride and groom on their honeymoon) was taken from the cake cutting celebration. We can't wait to get started editing!

Enjoy!

I don't think I have ever posted a Going Away segment for a honeymoon clip.  Well, the wait is over!  Adrienne and Luke were married at the beautiful Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Tuscaloosa, AL.  Simply gorgeous!  It almost seemed that the church was built for a wedding.  During the getting ready coverage in the brides room, I actually commented on that fact, and when placing cameras for the ceremony, we discovered that there was a little alcove just for videographers to put a camera at the front of the chapel!  So neat!!!  

An entertaining reception followed at the North River Yacht Club.  The guests danced and danced and danced!  You could tell that everyone was having a great time.  It was definitely a full-filled day!  We were able to get some amazing footage that we can't wait to start editing.  It will take a while, but it will be worth it!

This footage below was taken from the going away segment of the evening.  A little slo-mo action on the part of the camera, but it made for a great effect!  You can practically see the details in the roses being thrown!  (I hope the compression for the internet doesn't take away from that...)

When I met with Lauren and Daniel, we discussed all of the details for the wedding.   They were getting married at Our Lady of Sorrows in Homewood, with the reception at Matt Jones Art Gallery.  They made the very wise decision to hire Alene Gamel with I Do, I Do, to plan and organize the entire event.  

I took a lot of notes so that I could make sure that their video was one of a kind, just like they were.  They told me to make sure that we got footage of grandma leading the Electric Slide during the reception.  I knew that they were serious, but didn't quite know what to think about it.   And really, not until you see it happen, will you really believe that this lady got up and starting doing the Electric Slide!!!!  It was great!  She was great!  

So of course, it had to be their honeymoon clip!  I can't wait for Lauren and Daniel to see it.  I think they will think it is very funny.  Actually I don't think Daniel made it into this clip, but it was too funny - I had to post it!  I hope he doesn't mind.  We have plenty of other great shots of him!  I think Jessica Messer got really great shots too!

Enjoy this fun clip!

So today was the first day of the Red Mountain Theatre's Youth Workshop - www.redmountaintheatre.org - John and I both are a little tired.  I don't know if it was from a very busy weekend or the fact that there were over 300 kids in attendance today!  I do hope to go to bed tonight at 9 so maybe we can live to fight another day.

Before you get the wrong idea, neither John nor I have any talent whatsoever in this field, but we co-teach with a wonderful casting director out of LA, Lynne Marks.  She teaches the kids how to act on camera, while we do the technical "stuff."  We are also responsible for documenting the workshop so that short, edited clips can be shown during the "scene" changes during the showcase for the parents.  

This year we are very fortunate to have an intern helping us out everyday!  I am not able to be up there all of the time like John, so it is great that Stephen can help out!  Although Will has been every day, all day for the first two years, I didn't think that bringing a busy two year old was smart!  

This is our 5th year doing the workshop, and while it wears you out, you meet wonderful instructors and kids (and parents)!

So maybe I have been hanging out with our amazing editor, Chris,  too much this weekend, but I am now concerned that people do not realize that these clips that are posted within days of the wedding are mostly raw footage.  The final product is greatly edited and always turns out amazing!  

We provide these clips as a way for the couple to enjoy a piece of their wedding while on their honeymoon.  And because of our schedule, we do not upload heavily edited sections, just little bits for the bride and groom to see how much fun their wedding turned out to be!

So please do enjoy the fun clips, but remember to check back in several weeks for an edited clip from their final DVD!!!

Kendra & Laramie were married at the groom's father's house on Lay Lake.  It was the perfect setting for the couple, who were also joining together Laramie's two kids into their new family. Cute kids, by the way!  During the ceremony, Kendra actually sang to Laramie!!!!  Even if I could sing, I am positive that I would have been too nervous to sing to John!  She did a great job, she got a little emotional, but that is to be expected. 

After the short ceremony, everyone traveled to the Marriott on Hwy 280, where if you have read other posts, you know that I feel that the staff always goes over and beyond to make your event special.  Fun day!

The following clip was taken from the ceremony, and ends with a little bit of humor.  

Kandess & Daniel were married on a beautiful Saturday at Reid Chapel on Samford's campus.  This couple, along with their family were the nicest people to work with.  I know their marriage will be filled with many, many happy years!

This wedding also gave us an opportunity to work with photographers that we had never worked with before.  Brandon & Stacey Gresham with Simple Color.  Husband and wife team that were so friendly and easy to work with.  We would like to think that they are us on the photography side.  At least we hope we treat everyone as great as they do and are as talented as these two.

When the evening was over, we even were given homemade apple butter as a favor for the wedding.  Future brides:  This was  great idea!  It was package in a little glass container with a customized sticker with their last name and wedding date printed on it.  The entire things was decorated (even the ribbon and ink) was brown and pink, the wedding colors!  I haven't tasted it yet, but if it as good as it looks, then I will be very excited!  Update:  Tasted the apple butter, quite delicious!!!!

Enjoy the following raw footage taken from their reception.  Everyone was having a great time!

So I have had a lot of complaints that this blog is too work-related and not enough personal stuff is included.  But I really don't know where to begin on that part. 

Summer is here. John has officially retired at the ripe ol' age of 34 from Hoover City Schools!  We are excited about this big step.  When I became full time back in 2005, we were nervous for about 2 minutes, but then realized that it was the best thing we could have done.  I think we both feel that way now about him retiring!  I just hope that we don't have to continue to work 18 hours a day every day.  Let's cut it down to 12!  Honest days work, right?

Will is growing up more and more every day.  He is talking up a storm and has such expression.  Today, while I was shooting getting ready coverage for my girls at Reid Chapel, will stayed with his Aunt Jill and Uncle Brian.  I packed a few toys to keep him entertained (since their house is not kid friendly!!).  But I had forgotten that they were musicians!  Will talked non-stop all of the way home about the drums that he got to play with.  He was so excited!  

Our 100 year old house is coming along. We haven't had much time to work on it in the past several months.  My dad, who usually comes from Huntsville to help, has been doing so much work at his church, that he hasn't had an opportunity to major repair on our house.  And when you think about it, with a house this old, everything is a major repair.  Everyone always tells us that "it will be a showcase one day."  That is just code word for "WHAT DID YOU GET YOURSELF INTO!!!!"  But it's home...

I do love my wild and crazy life!

What a great day for a Sunday afternoon wedding.  Jennifer &  Caleb were getting married at 5:00 at Mt. View Gardens & Ballroom in Springville.  It was a little on the cool side, but I try to never complain about such things!  The rain ended about 1 hour before the ceremony start time.  John and I had just arrived to find that the lawn side ceremony had been placed inside because of the rain.  We were about to set the cameras up when it was decided to move everything back out by the pool!

Everyone who could started grabbing chairs!  The owner of Mt. View, Debbie, was sweeping the puddles from the aisle so the dresses would not get wet.  We had an assembly line for the white chairs to be reset outside.  200 chairs takes a little while, but with a few minutes to spare, we got everything rearranged! (And had time to mic the groom and get the cameras ready!)

It was a great wedding!  Jennifer loves butterflies so they were incorporated into all aspects of the day.  I have to say the multi-colored butterflies on the wedding cake was just beautiful!