love your wedding videographer
Our bride, captured by Black Tie Video Productions.
Click on the picture to see her wedding highlights.
Our special series of “loving your wedding vendors” continues:
Today we are going to talk about your wedding videographer.
More than half of our clients want to have video captured of their wedding. This is a digital age (duh!) so just think into the future after your children are born…..they will want to see video!! Video is an excellent compliment to photography to remember your wedding.
Reasons why you should love your wedding videographer?
- Their equipment is heavy and can be cumbersome, it’s back breaking work!
- They have to be as creative as they are stealthy to capture those moments.
- Unlike photographers with digital cameras, they have to shoot a lot of film and usually will not check it until they are back in their studio the next day.
- Serious skills in the editing department; that’s what makes you tear up when you watch your wedding video.
- Flexible and understanding; they work long and hard while often not getting a chance to sit down or eat a full meal.
- They are challenged in capturing your moments because people walk in front of their cameras all the time (sorry, I do it too).
- Somehow they get your vows on film, even though your pastor or priest will not allow them to stand in a good position in the sanctuary.
- Like any true artists, they pour their hearts and soul into creating a video by editing raw film footage and adding music that will leave you feeling like a movie star!
Our groom, Luke Lear at his wedding to Brittany (Burris) by Black Tie Video Productions.
Click on the link to see their wedding highlights.
Behind the scenes:
I’ve worked with a few wedding videographers both locally and outside our immediate area. It never ceases to amaze me how professional and how much energy they use on a wedding day (I thought I was the one that buzzed around a lot).
Humorous things that I see is how often videographer’s shots get messed up (of course after the editing process all is usually good). Because they stand so still they seem to blend into the background, which is a good thing. BUT, guests and wedding planners (okay, me) sometimes will walk right in front of them, which is not a good thing. I’ve had to train myself to be aware of where they are at when I’m running around on a wedding day.
They can have challenges also with DJ lights. You know the first dance is beautiful and then there is a blue light bouncing off the bride’s face. No problem when you are watching it in person; but when you transpose that image into video…they may end up looking smurfs!
They hear and see EVERYTHING! You know when they are recording you and your bridesmaids getting dressed on your wedding day; they are recording with audio too!!! It’s a good thing there is an editing process and music takes the place of some of those conversations. *wink* At one of our weddings, the videographer taped me threatening to stick one of the “overly-friendly” groomsman with a boutonniere stick pin. It was fun to see that raw footage later.
Overall, wedding videographers are absolutely committed to capturing all your memories to create something that you, your family and friends will enjoy for many years to come! For that and all their hard work, THAT is why you should love your wedding videographer!
Tomorrow: love your wedding planner
Read More »love your wedding florist
Our special series of “loving your wedding vendors” continues: Today we are going to talk about your wedding florist.
If you have every tried to do your own DIY flower arrangement, you will know why you should love your wedding florist. It’s more than just having a green thumb, they have to be creative and have serious skills to create dazzling floral works of art! Let’s face it; it’s more than collecting a bunch of flowers, putting floral tape around it and a ribbon!
Reasons why you should love your wedding florist?
- They’ll let you know what flowers are in season so you can save a buck.
- They can take a $450 bridal bouquet picture that you ripped out of In Style Weddings and recreate it without the impact on your pocketbook.
- They make it their business to know a zillion kinds of flowers; all filed and stored in their heads!
- Florists are like MacGyver with interesting and creative ways to create an awesome visual!
- Great florists are willing to: make a prototype before the wedding, make minor adjustments to your bouquet and will throw in an extra boutonnière or corsage (for breakage or oops-you-forgot someone important).
- While this is a creative job it is also incredibly physically demanding. They have to stand for hours in a chilly warehouse so you can have your dream wedding.
- They work under tense deadlines and tremendous pressure to cater to emotional clients.
- Snow, rain, humidity, oppressive heat or cold…they work hard to setup/tear down your décor whether it is inside or outside!
Behind the scenes: I have so many behind the scenes stories regarding florists…that this could be a long post. So instead I’ve decided to tell you a story about how this whole “love your wedding series” was born. During my trip to Atlanta earlier this year, I went early with Sally (a florist whom I hire frequently for our client’s floral needs) to work with a floral/event designer friend of hers. We worked actual production for two large weddings that where in the 5 to 6-figure dollar range for décor. Definitely Big City stuff! On Friday, we worked production in a cold, large warehouse to create the centerpieces. Can I just tell you that I would personally want to manage 10 crazy, emotional brides than work in a warehouse? But that’s just me.
Look at the money flowers in this warehouse!
On Saturday we showed up at the gorgeous downtown Hilton to assist with installation for a large Indian wedding reception. This was actually their second wedding reception, to honor the groom’s family in Atlanta. The bride loved red roses and there were at least 45 centerpieces with about 50-75 roses in each one (there were two sizes). When her New York wedding planner saw the rose centerpieces we had made the previous day, he simply shook his head and said, “No! The bride is not going to like them…she wants the roses tighter together with minimal spacing or greenery”. Oooookay…no problem.
These were the centerpieces before we did the redesign.
AFTER the redesign, nice and compact.
So in the outside veranda at this beautiful and expensive hotel we laid down plastic sheets and reworked the design in every single centerpiece. I pulled out and cut over 2,500 roses while Sally would create arrangements. It took us four continuous hours with one break. We were very methodical at first but towards the end we had to really push ourselves so we could clean up before guests showed up! Literally we were rolling the carts out to the service elevator while guests were starting to come up the stairs. Whew.
Those suckers were heavy!
Pretty room! and the centerpieces did look better the way the bride wanted them.
The bride and groom never knew how hard we worked. And for the record; I no longer like red roses. For the florists that deliver exceptional service and let their brides see their wedding bouquet and floral arrangement before the wedding, like we do, for that … you should love them! Question: what do florists get on Valentine’s Day? teehee.
photos: planning…forever events
Tomorrow: love your wedding videographer
Read More »blog love from earth friendly weddings
Jennifer at Earth Friendly Weddings blogged about our tree at Super Bride…she is such a sweetie! Thank you so much!
Which brings me to talk about her latest endeavor… earthlyaffair.com :: earth friendly invitations. Original and unique (of course on recycled paper) it proves that making a green friendly decision does not mean you give up looking good. Take a look at one of her creations, Pinwheel (which comes in a variety of colors, as all her invitations).
So cute!!! Make sure you take a moment to look at the rest of her creative line!
Read More »
My Bride’s First National Broadcast!
My bride, Kelsey Starks is a news reporter in Charleston. You remember her beautiful wedding this past summer? Anyway – with that hurricane last week, her live reporting made National News for the first time! How exciting!
The bride’s mom emailed me the link (I just love it when clients stay in touch). Look out Katie Couric, cause Kelsey is coming for you!
Click here to see her broadcast!
Read More »A Special Note
I would like to say congratulations to my favorite, husband-and-wife team wedding videographers, Todd and Tracy Lamkin with Black Tie Video Productions. Today is their 22nd wedding anniversary!!
We first met three years ago and as wedding vendors we stay in contact with each other bouncing off business ideas and so forth. We’ve also worked on quite a few projects together (in fact we will be working together at a reception this Saturday). They are a great team – Todd knows the equipment and best camera angles and Tracy manages the editing to give the finished wedding DVD that special human touch. It’s great to be able to recommend them – because I know they are going to be professional and dependable.
Makes you wonder…..do they have a video of their wedding? *wink*
Congrats you two and best wishes! – saundra
