A time to reflect and a time to relax

The month of May has been a whirlwind of weddings. Except for our quick trip to Disney, I have been in the depths of weddings of all types. The traditional wedding is no more, from what I have seen. Brides are doing their weddings their way, with their own style, so nothing is out of the norm these days. Our climate and beautiful surroundings make outdoor weddings very popular and I have done my fair share of those this year and I have enjoyed each and every one.

First up was Julie and Brandon. What a great couple they were to work with. I have known Julie for a while before her wedding as she helped treat my daughter for a while. Julie and Brandon got married in a historic Catholic Church here in Knoxville that posed a great challenge for me. I could not be up on the altar during the ceremony, according to the rules of the church, so the only way I could get a shot of the bride coming down the aisle was to be down on my knees.. It ended up being a really great shot of her and her dad walking down the aisle. The reception was at the Foundry, which is a very nice place to have a reception. The whole day was great. Here is a photo of Brandon and Julie:



The next wedding was a very wonderful young lady, Keeli and her groom Mark. They are both from Georgia, so everything I did with them was through email and my wedding planner Brenda. They had their wedding at a simply beautiful location on her Aunt and Uncle's property. They spent months and months to get the grounds just right. They had a huge (and I do mean HUGE) pond put in, new grass, several flower gardens just for this wedding. In fact, I found out that the whole project was finished 3 weeks before the wedding. Talk about timing. Mark is a state trooper in GA (I hope he gives me a break one day... LOL).

Other than the fact it was an outdoor wedding, the biggest difference between Keeli's wedding and Julie's, is that Keeli saw Mark before the wedding. This is becoming a common thing with brides today. That goes with the whole tradition thing being gone. It was a very sweet and special moment when they saw each other. Most brides see the groom when walking down the aisle. There are lots of people around and loud music playing so you don't get a lot of the emotion you would get when two people who love each other see one another for the first time and it is just them (with two photographers and two videographer around).

This reception went well into the night since it was a private property out in the country. I got this really great shot of the full moon that night. Here is Keeli and Mark:



Kristi was next up in May with a small wedding in Morristown. Her new hubby, Craig, is the youth minster at the church they got married in. This was a church that reminded me of the church I grew up in. A small Baptist church out in the country where everyone knows everyone else. A friend did the catering at the house behind the church. The great thing about this wedding was the entire church community turned out to see this one. There was standing room only for the ceremony and I thought that was simply beautiful. Here is this small church out in the country that had the entire membership and then some come out to support this couple. The reception here was very small, only about 2 hours long. I was home before it got dark, that was really a strange feeling for me on a Saturday night.

My next and longest wedding for the month of May was Abbey and Stephen. They picked the Maple Grove Inn and I have to tell you, they could not have picked a better day for it. It was a little warm and a small storm came close to the ceremony, but the rain held off the entire time. I have not had much of a chance to look over everything, but most of the footage looks wonderful. Abbey is a kindergarden teacher and did her student teaching with my daughters 1st grade teacher the year before Katie went into the 1st grade.

They had a great band playing at the reception and it was so much fun to watch everyone have a great time. I had a little problem come up on this wedding. You see, most times at the end of a reception, the bride and groom leave by a car or limo. But Abbey and Stephen were staying at the Inn that night, so I was going crazy trying to figure out how to get the a departure shot to end the wedding. Then it hit me (man, I am good)! I had the bride and groom enter the front of the Inn, walk up to their room and kiss each other as the door closes on them. I watched it, and it is great. I am so thrilled with that shot and can't wait for them to see it.

The last wedding I had was this past weekend was with Laura and James down in Ethowa (50 miles from here) with the reception in Athens (another 13 miles from the church). This was just a fun wedding to do. The mother had set up a 30 minute music prelude that she wanted to be sure we got, and we did. It was also at a baptist church, but a bit bigger, but again a large number of guests came out to support this couple. The bride and groom were great to work with, they were very receptive to every thing I wanted them to do and had smiles on their faces the whole day.

The reception was held at a city park in a wonderful pavilion and was catered by the minsters wife. Now, since this was a baptist wedding not many people danced, but the wedding party really did kick up their heels for most of the night.

I can't pick one wedding as a favorite, they each have something special that makes them stand out from the other. Some were indoors, some outdoors. Some brides saw the groom before the wedding, some didn't. Some had a small budget, others had a huge budget. But the thing that brought them all together was a love that knew no bounds. Each wedding reflected the couple, each reflected their style and taste. Traditionalist may look at some of these weddings and scratch their heads and wonder what each couple was thinking, but I think it each one was great because it was what that couple wanted to show their love for each other.

Seventeen years ago this December my wife and I got married in a small church here in Knoxville. We had a very small budget, but it was a very special night for us. My grandmother was there that night (the last time I would see her alive) and I was told later by my cousin that she left the church convinced that we were not married. My cousin asked her why she thought that and my grandmother, being an old fashioned baptist woman that she was, said: "Well, they had a female minster and a male vocalist. That was just completely backwards." Memaw, it may have been backwards, but it meant the world to us.

A Magical Place and a Magical Time

Last week I took a bit of a break and packed the family up and headed off to Disney for a couple of days. Yes, that is me on one of the rides and yes, we had a great time. A little too hot and a little too crowded, but we still had fun.. Our daughter had a great time and there is nothing like watching the joy on a 9 year olds face as she rides a roller coaster (in some cases for the 8 or 9th time).

Even on a short little vacation, I am never far from thinking about my work or about my brides. I take a great interest in each one. I want to make sure that they are always able to get in touch with me no matter where I am or what time it is. I was thinking about that one day while in Disney and I saw this couple that either had just gotten married or were about to be married. The had on mouse ears that had a veil for the girl and a black top hat for the guy. Now, I don't know if it was the heat of the day or if they had their first argument, but neither of them looked very happy. I know that it is impossible for two people to be happy all the time, but I work hard to provide them with a chance to remember how happy there were on their special day.

I get such a rush from knowing that I am creating something that you can watch over and over again for years to come. Right now, there could be a couple I did a wedding for 3 or 4 years ago sitting down and watching their wedding video that I created for them and they are laughing at the moment their best man was dancing with the brides mom, or watching the kids try to dance the Electric Slide. You see, you only have once chance to capture that special moment, one chance and one chance only. Do you want to trust that cousin Bill with his handy camcorder will get that special moment? This is one of the many reasons why I tell brides that you NEED a professional videographer for your wedding.

So many times I hear them say, "we have a family member who has a video camera and they are going to tape it for us", or "we don't have it in the budget for a videographer". I so wish that I could re-visit those brides a year after their wedding and see if they like cousin Bill's video of their wedding or if they wish now that they could go back and see grandma dance one last time? Or better yet, if they even remember anything about the wedding itself.

Did you know that almost 90% of brides say they don't remember anything from their wedding day. They are so busy with all that is going on or are so nervous about everything that they don't take time to enjoy what is going on around them. Why spend, in some cases, thousands of dollars for a day you won't remember? As a professional wedding videographer, I will work with you on your budget, I will work with you on your special day to make sure that 5 years from now, you can look back and remember how happy and magical your day was.

Goal and Must-Have-Shots

When I started booking wedding in January and saw that May was going to be a packed month I knew that I had April to get the March weddings finished and out the door. In my last blog I said I had one down and one to go. Yesterday I met my goal and mailed out the finished video for my second March wedding. This wedding was the biggest wedding I had done to date. The video is over an hour long and most wedding videographers will try to keep the video to just about 45 minutes. The bride loved the video and only wanted to make one change. Seems that someone she was not very fond of popped his head into a shot and said hi to the bride and groom. She just wanted that removed and very happy with it otherwise.

I have talked in past blogs how important the "must-have-shoots" in your wedding video and that is one of the main reasons you need to have a professional videographer to shoot your wedding. By my count there are 22 must have shots, things like the bride coming down the aisle, the parents during the reciting of the vows and so on. There is a list of these must have shots and anyone who is a professional will know those shots without thinking about it. Anyone can get a list from the internet, but do you want your videographer looking at a list before each shot? Think about it, something is happening and you look up to see your videographer looking at a sheet of paper to know weather or not he should be shooting.

This is my last couple of days without having a wedding in front of me. All of the month of May is booked solid so this may be my last blog for a couple of weeks, but I will do my best to keep you up to date with how it is going.

One Down.....

One of the March videos is finished and out the door. The wedding at the cabin is, as they say, in the can. I finished burning the last DVD today and boxed them up and sent them out. It is a good feeling having the video done. I take such ownership of the project when I am working on a video, I think about it all the time, it is all I focus on at times. My wife has to come and get me off the computer sometimes at night just to go to bed. Thus the name, Midnight Magic Video. When I started this, I was working a full time job (not that this is not a full time job, but a full time job at a corporation) and most days the only time I could work was at night and most of my best work was around midnight. My wife said that is when all the magic would happen, so the name just seemed to fit.

I am waiting on the other March wedding to tell me what if any changes she wants to make on her video. That is the part I get the most nervous about. Here is someone who is looking at something I have put long hours into and they are going to nick pick it apart. No one ever has, most times it is just some minor adjustments or a change of music. But, I still get nervous just the same.

Why have a wedding videographer?

Well, to say I have been busy is an understatement. I have finished up the rough cut for both of the March weddings. The mountain cabin wedding video has been mailed and delivered. Now I just wait to see if she wants any changes. The second wedding rough cut is also finished, but the bride and groom have been busy trying to get back into the normal swing of things that we have not been able to get together and watch their video. Speaking of their video, it is the longest video I have done to date. Most videographers, myself included, like to keep wedding videos under an hour for the most part. If it goes over an hour, you tend to loose the audience. Well, this last video was hard to do that with since the ceremony was 45 minutes alone. With everything else we added to the video, it ended up being about an hour and 15 minutes long. WOW.

My wife and I went out this past Saturday night to see Sugerland in concert with some friends of ours. Their daughter baby sat our daughter that night for us. When we came home we were chatting with her and she was telling us about a wedding shower she went to that day. She said that the bride was looking at having a photographer but did not know if she wanted a videographer for her wedding. So our baby sitter told her about my business and that my wife is now doing wedding photography. The girl said she didn't think she needed a videographer. Our babysitter then asked me, "why should you have a wedding video done?"

I hear that question a lot, mostly at bridal fairs and wedding shows. I have one simple answer for that question. You are going to have a photographer at your wedding right? Of course, everyone does. Everyone wants to have photos to go back and look at and share with their friends and family. But, lets say your best friend was getting married, and for some reason you could not be there. You had something you just could not get out of and you were going to miss the whole day. When your friend came back from her honeymoon and you two got together, would you rather sit and look at her photos or her video?

Think about it, the pictures are great and capture a moment in time. They are artistic and can last a life time, but they only capture a second of time and more time than not, they are staged. The photographer studies long and hard to learn how to pose everyone for that perfect shot, the bride, the groom, the families and such. But, it is staged. What about that little moment you and your groom stole and you just looked at each other or you put your head on his shoulder while the photographer was setting up the next shot? What about the little kids running around or dancing during a song? Those are just a few things that the photographer will not get or can't capture the true feeling of the moment.

Also, think about this. You are planning a wedding you want to remember for ever. Your special day with that person you have looked long and hard for. Your day arrives and you are lost in all the preparation for the day, make up, hair, pictures, not to mention the actual ceremony itself. Shouldn't you get it see it as well? With a professional videographer, you will get to see everything you planned and get to see it the way your friends and family saw it. You can relive the vows that mean so much to you, the first dance you had as husband and wife with that song that reminds you of him. You can see the tear in your dads eye as he holds his little girl close for their special dance. These are emotions that a true professional videographer can capture for you on your most special of days.

So ask your self again, would you rather look at her pictures or her video?

Inside Out

My last blog said I was going to be busy the last couple of weeks. Was I ever. I have had two weddings the past two weeks, one inside, one outside - sorta. The first wedding was in Wears Valley in the Smokey Mountains. When I booked the wedding, it was to be an inside wedding at a cabin. I knew going into this wedding that it would be a challenge since they were not going to have a rehearsal the night before. The rehearsal is very important to me so that I know what I need for the day, where my cameras will be and about how long I will be there. Well, with no rehearsal, it is really fly by the seat of my pants situation.

The wedding was supposed to be inside but when I got there, plans changed because it was such a beautiful day. The big problem (for me) was that the wedding was going to be on the deck with the view of the mountains in the background along with a big bright sun. SHADOWS are had to video tape. I don't have a light bright enough to overcome the sun. I definitely understood the couples decision to move outdoors because it was a stunning view... I was just concerned about how the video would come out. In the end, it went really well and was a lot of fun and Eli, a videographer working with me did a great job. We got great footage. Brenda, the coordinator, is wonderful to work with and this was my first time working with Carlos, the photographer. We all worked great as a team and I'm really looking forward to the other weddings that I have booked with them in the coming months.

The wedding this past weekend was indoors and just as much fun, the bride and groom were wonderful to work with as was the family and bridal party. Again, Eli was wonderful... he's been a huge help.

So far I am ahead of where i thought I would be in editing the videos. Editing is the best part for me. I get lost in the creativity of it all. I love working with people and being a part of their excitement of the big day - but my real passion is editing and coming up with a product that they will hopefully cherish for a lifetime.

More later.
Don

Real busy the next couple of weeks

The past couple of weeks have been very busy for me. I did a shoot for the concert my daughters school had. My daughter was not in the concert, she was at vision camp, but I had a great time shooting the concert. The kids did a great job and it was fun to watch them put on their best.

I have been spending the better part of the past two weeks putting the video together and making the DVD's. I had a deadline to get it done because I have two weddings in the next two weeks. The one this weekend is an informal wedding in a huge cabin. I am looking forward to this in the fact that I am doing it by the seat of my pants this time. No rehearsal the night before, so everything will be done as we go. That is fun.

The next wedding is more formal in a big historic church. The bride is really nice and just so laid back about her wedding.

I plan to have both of these weddings done by the end of April because of the crazy month of May I have in front of me.

Hope everyone has a great Easter.