A Sweet Email from Tina: One of our 2006 Brides

I was surprised and delighted to find this sweet email in my inbox this weekend and had to share it!

Hi Jenn:

It's been quite some time.  I just thought of you and Mike and wanted to drop a hello.  Stan and I were just feeling nostalgic and watched our wedding video.  And I was gushing like a little baby.

There were so many things I didn't remember until the wedding video reminded me of it.  I am so glad that I went ahead and decided on having a videographer for my wedding.  At first I thought a video was just duplicative of photos, boy was I wrong- and glad I was wrong!  I remember we had this exact conversation when I was planning my wedding.  We had our first meeting and you told me that couples would tell you after the fact that they would have regretted not going with a video.  I am now one of those couples as well!

The first thing that pulled at my heartstrings was seeing my grandfather in the video.  He's older and significantly less mobile.  And to see him in motion when he was well really got to me and brings back memories, happy ones.  That's when it first made me realize how important it was to have my wedding day on video. 

 

It's funny, my sister is now engaged, and going through the same process and she too is going through the budget and thinking of what to cut out... I've had the same conversation with her- that videos capture things that a still picture camera can't. 

Was just feeling nostalgic and thought of you and how I really appreciated the excellent job you did on our wedding video.

All my best,

Tina

Allison + John: Wedding Day Highlights from Mohonk Mountain House

Our latest wedding day highlights clip is from Allison and John's super fun wedding at the beautiful Mohonk Mountain House.  I love the story of how they met in an arcade!  It's both sweet and comical and it was important to me to make sure that their story was prominent in this clip. Hope you enjoy!

If you enjoyed this clip, please add a comment and/or write on our Facebook Wall (Don't forget to like us while you're there).

Trash the Dress: A Post Wedding Session in Ruins

 
When Kristin and Dave got married, it was March.  The weather was cold, the trees were bare and the last snowfall had just about melted.  Kristin put so much effort into her look and the formal photography session was cut short because of the cold.  I suggested to them that we go out again when the weather was warmer and do something fun.

Mike and I have always been fans of old buildings, forgotten spaces and history and Dave has been exploring abandoned buildings with his best friend, another Mike, since they were kids. When Dave met Kristin, she found it as fun and exciting to explore these places, so she joined along for a few trips. When they told me about the places they had been, I said we should use that as the theme for their shoot. I just love taking a bride and groom all dressed up and lovely to a place that is so non-traditional and, in some cases, dirty, grungy or wet for a wedding attire shoot (see our last Trash the Dress Session with Marissa + Justin).  I couldn't resist getting the shots of her dress and her shoes before we began.  How creepy cool do those shots look?  By the way, if you haven't read the other posts on Kristin and Dave, Kristin made those sparkly shoes herself. Anyone want to place an order? They're phenomenal and they lasted the wedding day and this shoot and are still going strong. Great job, Kristin!

Mike Bowman, best friend, best man, co-photographer at their wedding and photographer for an awesome website, Desolate Places, was going to come along for the post shoot and be our connection to some of the places we would go.  When the time came to go, Mike couldn't make it, so I reached out to one of our friends that I knew would be into the theme of this shoot, Cheryl Bolton-Reuter.  Once she was on board, the five of us set out to choose some cool places to go.


The first stop was an abandoned warehouse that Kristin and Dave have been to with Mike.  Totally cool, but also falling apart dangerous and completely creepy (dark areas where someone could come out of the darkness after you creepy, but there was also plenty of light to be found on the outside).  Here are some stills from our film.

Though we could have spent all day there, we had a schedule to keep, so we moved onto our next location, the streets in the city of Beacon.  Dave and Kristin are friends with the owner of The Beacon Cafe, so made a quick stop there in our travels to do some urban shots.  While there, Kristin and Dave were serenaded by a famous opera singer from China.  What an unexpected treat!

With other places to go, we headed out to our third location, The Cornish Estate. It was quite a hike to get there (a real hike, not a figure of speech), but once we saw it, we knew it was worth it!  We were quite surprised to find that there was a crew there clearing away vines and grown in branches as part of a restoration project. We are so glad that people are taking the initiative to clean up and restore these local treasures. Among the volunteers in the crowd were Thom Johnson, who is also a member of the group restoring Bannerman's Island (He wrote a book about Bannerman's Island and has been seen on the show Off Limits telling the story about it) and Rob Yasinsac, who wrote the book Hudson Valley Ruins (along with Thomas Rinaldi). We have been following Rob's work for a long time, so it was quite a surprise and a genuine honor to meet both him and Thom while we were out that day!  We own both of their books and highly recommend them to anyone with an interest in abandoned places and historic architecture.  Here are some of the stills from our stop at the Cornish Estate.

The beautiful red rose bouquet was provided by Morgan's Florist in Poughkeepsie.  Thank you to Steve for supplying these gorgeous roses to us at the very last minute and for the tips you provided to us for keeping them fresh as we worked with them all day long.  They lasted for days after the shoot and made my kitchen smell and look great!

Kristin had a series of outfits with her that day.  In fact, the back of my truck was jam packed with dresses, shoes, accessories and other fun stuff in addition to our gear.  Sadly, we only had the time for one costume change that day.  While at the Cornish Estate, she made a few changes.  The first change was to add a pop of red with some red sparkle shoes and her wedding dress.  After a series of shots, she changed from her wedding gown into her mother's wedding gown, which she wears as a costume when she attends the Renaissance Fair.  It was fun to see her run around and play in her mom's dress. I'm a big fan of the long draping sleeves (my wedding dress had those too, just not nearly as long).  What a great reuse for a wedding gown.  It was so great to see it get some love!!  Thanks to Kathleen for letting Kristin wear your beautiful dress.  Below are shots of Kathleen wearing the dress 35 years ago and then Kristin wearing it this year in the woods.

Heavy rock walls with a dirt floor and no ceiling, a true ruin.  This is such a beautiful place.  The restoration group is trying to save this structure so it doesn't fall into complete disrepair like many of the old buildings in the area.  Like others, this is a site where kids like to go to drink and party, leaving their trash and destruction behind.  We hope their effort will save this structure from further disrepair so we can all continue to enjoy these marvelous structures.

Here is the Trash the Dress Film from our adventure with Kristin + Dave.

If you enjoyed this clip, please add a comment and/or write on our Facebook Wall (Don't forget to like us while you're there)

Again, we could have spent hours at the ruins, but we had one more stop to make.  My Mike is a big fan of all things automotive and locomotive; classic cars, trains, big steam engines, or any other engine for that matter, etc... We find every opportunity we can to ride on, photograph and visit trains (we did a great trip to The Grand Canyon by train in an old Pullman Car).  When Kristin and Dave said they knew where we could find some abandoned train cars, we jumped at the chance to go.  Here are some of the stills from the video we shot while at the trains.

Not thinking it was possible to secure a florist in time to make flowers for our shoot on such short notice, I got my craft on to create the flowers in the photographs above and below.  If only we had more time to organize some additional props, I would have brought more than the flowers and the Bride's Magazine Kristin is reading in the train shot.  We shot so much footage that day that it was impossible to get it all in that one clip.  Maybe when I have some time, I can look through the footage and edit a part two.  Of course, there's always hope for an Anniversary shoot with all the other outfits Kristin didn't get to wear!

What a wonderful adventure!!! We were so happy to be take part and are so thankful to Kristin and Dave for being so willing enter dilapidated buildings, trek into the woods and sit on rusty train cars to do this shoot with us! Kristin, you looked as beautiful as you did on your wedding day and Dave, you really came out of your shell! Below is his impression of Jack Nicholson.  "Here's Johnny!"  We had so much fun spending the day with you and exploring new places and making new memories.  I wish more couples were so brave to go out after their weddings to do shoots like this.  It is a completely different experience from your wedding day.  It's more relaxed, a lot more creative and you end up with the most phenomenal film and photos from it.  It's liberating, freeing and expressive.  It's true art! Don't just take it from me, here is what Kristin had to say about her experience.

Speaking of art, please check out this beautiful post by Cheryl Bolton-Reuter with some of the great photographs she took with us that day.  We're so glad you were available, Cheryl!  Thanks for coming along on this adventure with us!  It's always a pleasure to have a like-minded and creative photographer along with us on these shoots!

For more from Kristin and Dave, you can check out Kristin's Bridal Prep and Kristin and Dave's Preview Clip.


Remember to leave a comment if you enjoyed this post!

Halloween Wedding Inspirations

For those of you who don't know already, Michael and I were married on Halloween. We met at a friend's birthday gathering at a karaoke bar.  These are friends associated with County Players Theater in Wappingers where I had been involved with several productions on stage and off before moving to New York City to pursue my career in film and TV.  Michael was just starting to get involved with the technical side of the theater with the lighting crew and in lighting design just after I left.  Coming from the theater and having hosted several years of Halloween Movie Nights at our home, we thought Halloween was an appropriate day for our wedding.  We wanted to have a wedding that would celebrate our favorite holiday, but we didn't want it to be tacky or expected Halloween fare. 

Our biggest fear about asking guests to come to a Halloween wedding in costume was that we would see some really bad costumes; wall to wall super heroes or comic villains, people dressed as babies or coming in pajamas or worst yet, the sexy sets; sexy witch, sexy nurse, French maid, etc...  It was a wedding after all and we wanted elegant, not trashy.

To eliminate the bad costumes, we wanted to create a theme that was unique to us and would keep the elegance in our wedding.  We decided to use Pre-20th Century Masquerade Ball with a touch of Dia De Los Muertos.  With the theme being this specific, it ensured that we would get elegant dress (I added a little note with the invitations just in case).  It also made it very easy for us to say yes to some elements and no to others that would have been tempting purchases.

We wanted everything to be about Halloween, but still maintain that level of elegance, so we had masks imported from Venice for our bridal party.  The girls and guys wore these as they walked down the aisle instead of carrying flowers.  It made for a more dramatic entrance for everyone and really fit the look of a masquerade.  We knew that there would be some people that would feel weird about coming in a costume (grandparents especially), so we gave guests masks as favors.  This way if they came in regular dress clothes and had a changed of heart, they could join in easily and not feel left out.  Lots of people wore them all night long and most had them on for a least a little while.  The favors were masks that I crafted myself or enhanced using stock masks from Columbia Costume Shop.  Just about every element of our wedding had our hands in it or our personalities on it.

To celebrate Dia de Los Muertos (which actually began the next day), we had an alter set up with candles, decorations and photos of our relatives and pets who had passed away.  This was only a small alter compared to what people generally do to celebrate this holiday.  It also includes making candy sugar skulls and decorating them with vibrant colors (that was a DIY project that I ran out of time for), adding lots of marigolds (which weren't available here by the time our wedding day came around), your relatives favorite foods (which would have been messy) and other personal items.  Our families especially appreciated the display and guests spent time looking at all the photos even though they may never have met those pictured.  This was our way of having the people we lost close to us on our wedding day.  Even though my dad wasn't there to walk me down the aisle, he was watching over my shoulder all night along with all the other members of our families we wished could have been there.

My grandmother has made cakes for everyone's birthdays and anniversaries for as long as I can remember.  She loves to bake and we love her cakes, so we asked her to bake our wedding cake.  She was not crazy about the whole Halloween idea, so she started to buy Martha Stewart books on cake decorating to make an elegant cake.  After some convincing by the rest of my family, she embraced the idea and gave us pumpkins, leaves and ghost garland.  She had to include the tiers to make it look like a real wedding cake, but it was delicious and made with love.  It was so delicate that our cake topper couldn't be placed on top, but she was probably happy about that. :)

Instead of floral centerpieces, we did glass mosaic lanterns with the silhouette of ghosts and pumpkins.  They were given away at the end of the night to the guest whose birthday was closest to our wedding day.  Even though my sister and grandmother were at the same table and my sister's birthday was the closest to our wedding and won that centerpiece, my grandmother managed to obtain two.  She's very proud of them, tells everyone where she got them and lights them every year on Halloween.  Glad to see they're getting some good use.  We still have ours too.  I often wonder if anyone else kept their lanterns and masks (besides my mom who kept one of everything from our wedding).

Some personal touches we had that you don't see here:

- We wanted to have candles on our aisle, but I didn't want them on the ground; I was worried that my dress would catch on fire.  So my wonderful Michael built rustic candle holders that would accept a tall candles in a glass vase.  They looked great, everyone could enjoy them and no fire hazard!

- Vampire brand wine was the only wine at our wedding.  We couldn't believe there was such a thing when we found it and it was perfect for our wedding.  At the time, we had to have it shipped in.  Since our wedding, it has become more popular and you can find it in local stores this time of year.  Michael is a beer enthusiast, so he had a selection of great beers for our guest as well.  Things you never see at a wedding like Old Speckled Hen, Pilsner Urquell, Spaten and Sam Adams Octoberfest.

- We named our tables for all things Halloween.  Because we have a black cat, our sweetheart table was the black cat table (he was going to be our ring bearer, but the BnB owners had a dog).  The rest of the tables were named for classic horror movie characters; Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy etc...  It was right in keeping with our Halloween Movie nights.

- We asked our DJ to stay clear of all the typical Halloween songs that people expected to hear, especially "Monster Mash".  One song that was a must play was "The Time Warp" from the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" because we had shown that at our house and all of our friends knew the dance.  It was a crowd pleasing moment with lots of fun - our answer to "The Electric Slide" which was also on our Do Not Play list.  We also requested the "Mexican Hat Dance" because we thought it was a dance you don't see very often at weddings.  Our DJ threw out a sombrero and started the music.  Guests rushed the floor and joined in immediately.  Everyone loved it!  To this day, we haven't seen this done at another wedding.

Anything I wished I could have done differently?

- I wished I'd given myself more time to do my DIY projects.  DIY takes A LOT of time, so much more than you realize.  If you think a project will take you a week, give yourself three.  I made my necklace and that took me a long time and then countless hours on the masks.  If you plan to DIY, my advice, start asap and make sure you do the crucial stuff first, even if you think something will only take you a couple of hours.

- I wished we had more money in our budget for decor.  I would have loved to have done some custom lighting (which wasn't popular at the time, but we have always been big fans), draping or other things to alter the look of our venue.  Don't get me wrong, our venue is beautiful and we absolutely loved it, but today, I might add something more that would really make the space our own besides the smaller items we brought in.

- I wished I hadn't listened to our caterer's linen advice.  When we had the linens discussion, his first comment was "I hope you're not doing the same old tired colors" (orange, black, red).  All the colors I loved and wanted.  I shouldn't have let him convince me to do white table cloths.  If I could do it again, they would have been black or red to make the plates and other things on the table top pop.  White was just too clean and proper for our wedding.

Maybe we'll make up for these with a renewal ceremony some day.


One final note, if you want to have your wedding on Halloween, don't let anyone tell you it's a bad idea.  When some people heard our wedding was going to be on Halloween, they had all kinds of comments for us.  The top among them was that we would have a cold, wet and rainy day.  Unlike this year's snowy Halloween, many are actually beautiful.  We may have been luckier than most getting married on Halloween.  It was 70 degrees and partly cloudy on our wedding day with a beautiful purple sky as we said our vows which turned to a red colored sunset.

No matter when you get married or what anyone says, think positive, stay true to your vision and hope for only the best. Hope this inspires some other Halloween weddings.

If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment here on the blog and/or our Facebook Page.

Looking for more Halloween Wedding Ideas?  Check out these posts I found!

http://www.bridalguide.com/blogs/bridal-buzz/halloween-wedding-ideas
http://www.bridalguide.com/blogs/bridal-buzz/halloween-wedding-cakes
Masquerade Wedding in Florida 2010
Corpse Bride Glam Halloween Wedding

Kate + Tony: A Preview

The secret to having a great wedding is not in the location, the dress you wear, the decor of the room, the food you eat, the cake you bake or all the tiny details.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love all of the above and it adds a tremendous amount to the experience, especially when the details are personal, but without one key element from the couple, it's just not quite right.  Kate and Tony had the locations, the dress, the personal details, etc..., but they also had that one key element, the spark.  

From the moment Kate arrived at St. Mary's Church in Wappingers Falls for the ceremony, she was glowing, excited and ready to get married!  She was dancing outside the limo, dancing in the vestibule of the church, dancing at the alter (as you'll see in the preview) and dancing outside the church when the ceremony was over.  She was a ball full of energy from the beginning to the end of the day and when she and Tony finally got to see each other that day, it multiplied and spread to their guests.  It was clear to everyone present that this was one very happy couple.  In fact, I don't think there is a single shot from the entire wedding day where Kate and Tony aren't smiling, dancing, laughing or having a great time!

Every couple is happy on their wedding day without a doubt, but you don't see energetic bursts of continuous joy like this all the time. Once the two of them were together in the church, their energy and the presence of love between the two of them became infectious to everyone around them. It was electric!  From the moment Kate and Tony said their vows to the very last dance at their reception at The Links at Union Vale, it was hard for guests to not get caught up in the intense feeling of love and joy.  To look at their smiles put a smile on your face and seeing them having fun on the dance floor made you want to join in.  That spark drove the entire day and made their wedding one that guests won't easily forget.   It was abundantly clear to everyone at the wedding that these two are very much in love, super happy when they're together and have a lot of fun being around each other!  It's this infectious joy and energy that really makes a wedding memorable!

I usually write up a long post about our weddings showing all the many details, but to me, Kate and Tony's wedding was really all about two very simple and pure things; the love Kate and Tony have for each other and their want to celebrate their love with family and friends in a really big way!  I honestly can't describe the feeling or atmosphere of their wedding better than the looks on their faces or the energy these two had all day can.
 

Here is a preview clip from Kate and Tony's wedding day!

It puts a smile on my face every time I watch it.  Hopefully it will do the same for you!

If you enjoyed this clip, please leave a comment here on our blog and/or on our Facebook Wall (Don't forget to "like us" while you're there).

Congratulations to Kate and Tony!  May the joy and love of your wedding day remain with you both for the rest of your lives!

A Sweet Thank You Note

It's always so great to hear back such wonderful comments from our couples, but especially when it's so soon after their wedding!  Here is a sweet note we received from Lisa-Marie whose wedding was last Saturday at the Highlands Country Club. 

Jenn,

Although this is not my “official” thank you I wanted to let you know how happy Patrick and I were at the wedding.  When I told Patrick before the wedding I wanted the videographer he was really not loving the idea of someone putting a camera in his face. He told me afterwards he  was so impressed with how you guys filmed. We are so excited to see the end result.

We plan to do out hand writing thank you notes and vendor reviews within the next few weeks but I was so happy with everything I had to tell you sooner.

 

 

Thanks again,

Lisa-Marie

It means so much to us to hear comments like this!! It means even more that Lisa-Marie felt compelled to send us this message right away!  We try so hard not to be that stereotypical videographer everyone fears, so it makes us feel good when we hear that we were able to make a skeptical groom feel comfortable with us filming him.

Thank you, Lisa-Marie for sending us such a lovely note and thanks to you and Patrick for having us there with you on your wedding day!

Kristin + Dave Trash the Dress: A Love Note

Trash the Dress and Post Wedding sessions do more than just give you an opportunity to wear your dress again (and the guys can come too!). It also gives you some great shots and footage for your wedding film that will be unique to you based on where you go and what you do. It is beautiful to see and empowering to do (like supermodel for a day). No one ever expects to have as much fun as we do on these types of shoots. With nothing to loose and everything to gain, including images like the one below (and a video soon to come), why doesn't everyone jump at the chance to go out and do it?!?!


A sweet Thank You note to prove this point follows:

Jenn, Mike and Cheryl,

Dave and I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Today was an amazing experience and we couldn't have dreamt of anything better. You made us feel so special and really took the time to make each shot perfect. It was a pleasure to work with such professionals with a passion for what they do. It really shines through in your work. It is a day we will never forget and we can't wait to see the stunning results from our adventure. Your planning, research, patience and sense of adventure really made this a spectacular day!!!

Thanks again!

Kristin + Dave




Kristin + Dave,

We were so honored to take part in this adventure with you. I don't know who had more fun, you guys or us, but I do know that the photos and video we created together that day will be special for you in so many ways. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to do what we love, filming couples in love having a great time, and in such unique and fun places too!


There will be more posts to come on this adventure.