We had such a great time shooting Janah + LeMarcus’s wedding in Houston. Not only was it great to escape the winter weather for a bit but these two were so much fun to be around and you can really feel the love they have for each other.
They were going to be married in the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston, which was damaged severely during hurricane Ike in 2008 and for a while they weren’t sure if it was going to be ready in time for their wedding. About a month before the wedding Janah told me that the ceremony was going to be at The Houston Club – their reception venue. I could sense the disappointment in her voice since the church renovations wouldn’t be completed in time, but then they soon got the great news that the church would be ready in time and they were the first couple to be married their since it opened back up.
One of the most incredible moments of the day was an amazing performance of Beyoncé’s “Smash Into You” during the processional, and Janah took over singing as she walked down the aisle with her amazing beautiful voice. I used the original piece for their highlights, but rest assured the live performance will be part of their feature film.
If you haven’t seen it, check out their love story which I posted a couple weeks back. We premiered their love story film before Janah and LeMarcus were introduced as they watched from the balcony.
Mandy and Chris were married on a beautiful September day at The Colonial Hotel in Gardner, MA. You can check out their same day edit in the archives. Mandy loved her sister Michelle’s wedding film which we shot almost exactly a year prior. Mandy was Michelle’s maid of honor and Chris was Ian’s best man, so it was quite fitting that the roles were reversed this time around.
I try to bring something fresh to each piece – a same day edit is essentially a highlights film in itself that you can share with your guests during your reception. It typically focuses more on the early preparations so the groom can see his bride getting ready and vice-versa… and it typically ends with the ceremony or perhaps first dance. I wanted to tell more of the story with this piece rather then just simply re-creating their SDE with some extra shots. So the end result is a piece that has more of a cinematic feel to it and there are many more layers of the story. I wanted it to feel upbeat and happy while capturing their personalities and the experience of an amazing group of friends and family coming together for such an incredible day and how much fun it was. This film not only stands apart from their SDE but also from their feature film, yet I think they all complement each other nicely. Enjoy!
Last night I had the opportunity to premiere Addie and Dave’s feature film and highlights at their home with some of their family and friends. Normally I would send a piece of the film ahead of time but I held back everything except a 30 second teaser I posted recently. Being able to experience their reactions as they watched everything for the first time was priceless and they were definitely thrilled with the work we did. Dave used to be the lead in the band Orange Island and they both worked at Newbury Comics so needless to say their music selection was phenomenal.
I shot Addie and Dave’s wedding with Mike back in September. They were married at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA which is just an absolutely breathtaking spot with some gorgeous views. There was quite a bit of anticipation over the weather leading up to the ceremony. They had their first meeting at Fruitlands about an hour before the ceremony and at that point the wind was blowing awfully hard, it was cloudy and no one knew how the weather would hold up. Well as you’ll see the weather worked out beautifully and the sunlight was amazing, especially during their photo session.
Addie and Dave were also very lucky to find an incredible photographer to shoot their wedding… Channing Johnson of Channing Johnson Photography. There are certainly a lot of good photographers out there but in my opinion there are few truly great photographers and I’m not that easily impressed. Channing’s work is absolutely amazing and he has an incredible eye for reading the light. You can check out some of Addie and Dave’s beautiful wedding photos on Channing’s blog.
Typically the highlights has some of the best shots from the film and sometimes I’ll save a few shots that will only appear in the highlights. For Addie and Dave’s film I actually saved the entire first meeting for the very end of the highlights (which typically plays at the end of the feature) and I built the highlights piece around the anticipation of the meeting. Enjoy…
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