Monday, July 27, 2015

Beautiful Memories 10th Anniversary Project: Andrea + Nick




Today, Andrea and Nick celebrate their third wedding anniversary as a trio with their son, Blake. If you follow our blog, you may be familiar with Andrea and Nick. We did quite an extensive blog post on the many DIY details from their very colorful wedding and shared a few video clip, including one of the surprise Zumba Andrea did with the girls. Here is a look back at that moment.


So, what have they been up to since their wedding? First and foremost, they became parents. Andrea and Nick are a sweet, super fun, not afraid to be silly couple and they did many fun photos throughout Andrea's pregnancy.


We already knew that Andrea is a crafty and creative gal, but she is also very digitally savvy. She's been dabbling in photography for quite a while now.  With a bit of help from Nick and her mom, she photographed her own maternity pictures.


Along the way, she also documented the growing size of her belly, while holding a chalkboard with some details about the baby's progress, their thoughts and other cool tidbits.

 

When the day finally arrived, they were excited to finally welcome Blake to the world, one week overdue.  It looks like this click happy couple couldn't help themselves.  I'm pretty sure the photo on the top right is a delivery room selfie.  So cute!


Andrea also documented Blake's first year in photographs, month by month to show his growth. This adorable little boy is going to have the most amazing pictures to share with his kids one day, thanks to mom, with a little help from dad. 



When I asked about how their lives have changed since Blake's arrival, Andrea offered the following:

"Our lives have gone from "easy living" do as we please whenever -in regards to going to dinner, hanging out at the ball field, hanging with our friends, running to the store "quick", etc...  It allllll changes...and it's hard and exhausting BUT we also have been shown the true extent of love. Of course we love each other and our bond is still so strong, but the love and bond we have with our little boy is indescribable. Sometimes we can't imagine having another baby because how can we split that attention and love, but then we think we won't be splitting anything.  It'll all just be doubled; the amount of love, the amount of laughs (and tears), the hugs and kisses, etc...


The extreme change in lifestyle and the exhaustion that comes with it is sooooo worth it. Advice to newly married couples looking to start a family: take that trip you've been thinking about, take a random weekend road trip, go grab some drinks some night together because all that gets tricky. That being said, the new highlights are watching his lil face light up when we bring him to the zoo...when he spots the airplane in the sky...when he sees the swings at the park... life is more about the little things...things we never thought would be such a big deal."


So, when I said that Andrea "dabbles" in photography, it may have been an understatement. She has been taking photos for a while.  Below is a sample of her work. 


Since Blake's arrival, she hasn't been able to photograph for others as much as she'd like, but it's all to spend the free time she has with Nick and her beautiful boy.  This just means that Blake becomes the subject of Andrea's photographic creativity whims. Not a bad life for a cute baby.





When not at work, Nick can be found playing on the softball field, taking apart and rebuilding mopeds or putting together things for his son, like his play set and crib.  Andrea has been spending time rehabbing old furniture pieces for the house, like the dresser turned changing table for the nursery, and, of course, she is often crafting.  This fall they will be attending four weddings, for some of which, Andrea is crafting for showers and parties.


I want to end this post with one final thought from Andrea:

"As Blake gets older, it'll fun to show him the wedding video and see his reaction.  He'll probably tell us we can't dance, we kiss too much, mommy's hair is funny looking and the music is horrible, but he'll be able to see that his life all started with true love and happiness.  Not just between us, but by all the family and friends he'll recognize in the video."

Here are the highlights from Andrea and Nick's wedding three years ago.


Congratulations to Andrea and Nick!


To see more from Andrea and Nick, follow the links below:



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Friday, July 24, 2015

Beautiful Memories 10th Anniversary Project: Marissa + Justin



There is simply no denying that these two are completely in love and in it for the long haul, not to mention utterly adorable and super photogenic! They're celebrating their 6 year anniversary today, but they've been together for 15 years. As you can clearly see, they are still as happy as they were when they first met and just as adorable!


Some of you may recognize Marissa and Justin, but might not know why they look so familiar. They have been prominent in our logo and advertising for years. We were looking to change up our look the year they got married and these two were happy to be in front of the cameras, willing to try something a little bit different and had a sense of adventure, so they were the perfect candidates for some fun and creative shoots we'd had in mind. The infectious joy they emanate made them prime candidates for our logo and the urban shots we got on their wedding day spoke to the modern shift in which we were taking our business. It was a perfect match, much like Marissa and Justin!



I always like to explore new, artistic and fun ideas when it comes to wedding video and I take inspiration from lots of different sources; from art and documentaries to movies and music videos.  Through the years of filming weddings, I'd always loved filming candid photo sessions, but even with great planning, it always seems rushed on the wedding day.  You do what you can in the time frame allotted and then have to move onto the next event.  Our couples were coming up with really great locations for their shoots, but I always left thinking of all the cool things we could have shot, if we only had some more time.  To be able to explore these ideas I had, I began asking couples to consider getting back into their wedding attire to go out to do post wedding day shoots with us.  We saw it as a way to get some really cool, artistic footage and to give the couple another day to wear the clothes that would probably be stored away in a closet for the rest of their lives. These would be for the artistic shots we didn't have time for the day of the wedding, the locations that were considered, but were too far away given the tight timeline of the wedding day or the types of shots that most couples love, but would never consider doing on their wedding day for fear of getting too dirty before the reception. My ideas were always to either create a strong juxtaposition between the beautiful white gown and the unexpected location or visit the dream locations that weren't logistically possible the day of the wedding.


This was before Trash the Dress sessions became really popular. We had asked couples for about a year and many of our brides told us that they were worried about getting their dress dirty or didn't have an interest in going out in the clothes again.  Then we met Marissa and Justin.  They seemed open to creative, artistic and outside the box ideas and we could tell that they were a fun couple.  When I asked Marissa if she would be willing to get in her dress again after the wedding, she was very excited about the idea, wasn't concerned about ruining her dress at all and was willing to do just about anything in it, including get wet or muddy. The spring following their wedding, we did two days of shooting with her and Justin. The first shoot was a post wedding/anniversary session, where we didn't get the dress dirty, but revisited the City of Poughkeepsie to find locations we didn't have time for the day of their wedding day and to check out other nearby, fun locations, including the newly opened Walkway Over the Hudson.


We had to wait a few months and let the weather get warmer before we attempted the second shoot. For this one, we asked photographer Cheryl Bolton-Reuter to come along. She not only happened to have been their wedding photographer, and ours coincidentally, but she is also a great collaborator, shares a like minded sense of adventure and loves the outside the box, artistic nature of these shoots. This was going to be the shoot where we could really get creative and not be overly concerned about the condition of the dress at the end.  We started the day with artsy, fairly clean setups and as the day progressed, we got more bold and adventurous and, in the process, got Marissa and Justin wetter.
 

In the final moments of the shoot, we asked Marissa to get into the water and ultimately into a waterfall. We were surprised and delighted when Justin decided to jump in too at the end.  The entire shoot was a creative collaboration that was not only fun, but quite challenging.  We had to climb over and around objects, us with our equipment and Marissa and Justin having to wrangling her dress.  No matter what we asked, they were game and we were willing to do whatever we needed to to get the shots. At the end of the day, we all agreed that it was much more fun than we had ever expected it to be and the photographs and video from the day are still among our favorites. Marissa and Justin were the first to agree to a post shoot and we have since done several shoots based on how much people love watching theirs. 

 


Since our adventure 5 years ago, Marissa and Justin have gone on to start a family. The first additions were their fur babies, Lily, their dog, and their miniature horses, which got to take part in their first maternity photo session.




Next came their three adorable sons; Caiden, Lincoln and Weston, who was just born this year.  When we were preparing to film their wedding, we learned a lot about Marissa and Justin.  One of those things was that Marissa comes from a large family and that she also wanted a large family. With three boys, they are well on their way to reaching that goal and there is no shortage of love in the family.





Marissa announced she was pregnant with Weston by posting these cute photos of Caiden and Lincoln. Though very funny, it's clear that the boys love their new baby brother just as much as mommy and daddy do.


We can't forget the original baby.  Part big sister, part babysitter, part plaything and all awesome, Lily has grown up the the boys and is great with them.  She may be up for the best dog ever award. She is a gentle and sweet and Caiden loves her so much that he insisted on getting in the kennel with her one day.


Marissa's mother died of breast cancer and, in her honor, Marissa's wedding color was pink. There were pink flowers, pink ties, pink shoes, and breast cancer ribbon shaped necklaces for her bridesmaids, but the one thing that stood out was the pink ribbon the sash on her dress created, wrapped around her waist, loosely bowed and draped. 


Marissa continues to be a breast cancer research supporter and has done charity events to honor her mother. And, if you couldn't love her enough for that, she also grows out her hair in order to donate it  for wigs, something I do as well.  Her latest donation went to Wigs for Kids.


Congratulations on 6 married years and 15 happy years together, Marissa and Justin! We know that you, along with your family, will be happy for many, many more years to come!


For more from Marisa + Justin, you can view the following:

All of these are on the old video player, prior to our upgrade, and may be difficult to play, 
but they are still cute, so I included them:
 









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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Brittany's Bridal Prep



We're so excited to share this prep! Our beautiful bride, Brittany, is the sister of one of our past brides, Noelle.  We were so happy to receive the call to film another wedding with this super sweet and loving family.  It was such a great joy to be a part of this celebration!



We are animal lovers and so is this family!!  Both times we filmed with them it was dogapolooza and we loved every minute!  At times it was hard to tell who was having more fun, the girls getting ready or the dogs, who were getting a lot of attention!
 


When we filmed Noelle's wedding in 2013 and saw how much her dogs were a part of her life and wedding, we were tickled!  They were prominently featured in the prep segment of her wedding film and her reception favors were cookies in the shape of her dogs. 


Much like her sister, Brittany loves her dogs and made them a part of her wedding too.  Her favors featured her dog, Maximus, who also served as ring bearer at the ceremony and her dog, Tyson, who has passed away, was walking her down the aisle in spirit. His tag was included as a a part of a keepsake attached to her bouquet.



Here is Brittany's Prep from her wedding day! Hope you enjoy!
 
If you watched this clip, please let us know what you thought by leaving a comment on the blog or on our Facebook post.  To see more from Brittany and Dan's wedding when it's available, please follow us on Facebook.


I'm sure there will be another post from this wedding soon. There were so many fun moments to share!




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