Wed Recap: The only tears shed on our wedding day...

...at least that I know of, came when I was basically all alone in the bridal cottage. Well, it was just me...and my videographer. Silly, I know. There were a few brief moments that I got choked up:

*  When I turned the corner during my walk down the aisle and saw Mr Fix It
*  At the very end of the letter I read to him during our ceremony
*  And at one point during my speech/toast at the reception

But other than that, there was no time during our wedding day that I actually shed any tears (except for what I'm about to show you).  And if you know me, you know that is *SO* unlike me!  I am a bawler...anything that touches a heart string, scares me, saddens me, even makes me laugh hard will bring on the waterfall of tears.  So I was anticipating lots of them on my wedding day.  But nope...as you'll see in this video, this was the only time that I actually started crying.

Our videographer includes a little thing he calls the 'He Said, She Said' interview in his wedding interviews.  He basically takes a few moments on the wedding day to pull the bride and groom each aside individually away from everyone else, and asks them some basic questions about how they met, how he proposed, what they love about each other and what they want to say to each other on their wedding day.  Here's our little interview:

At first, when I saw samples of this on our videographer's web site, I thought it was cheesy.  But now, I love this because it totally shows our different versions of the key moments of our lives together :)  I love how Mr Fix It thinks he proposed on Christmas Eve (when we spent the whole night with my extended family) when it was actually Christmas morning with just my mom and daughter.  I love that the thing he shares about me that he likes is my OCD behavior which he constantly kids me about and complains about. 

As for the rest of the tears on our wedding day, I asked my mom if she cried and she said she didn't but only because she just felt so relaxed and 'present' in the moment.  She said she was truly able to enjoy everything because she knew I had it all covered.  I wish I could have said the same...I think if I had been 'present' myself, I probably would have actually been crying a lot more!

We did catch mom wiping a tear at this moment :)

Photo by Robert Mullins Photography

I asked my sister if she cried and she said she 'almost' cried when I was walking down the aisle, but she felt like it was mostly because of the words to the song I had playing.  That song was played on my ipod while I was driving for the entire year before our wedding and it made me cry every single time I'd listen to it before the wedding!

I did notice (and shared with you) that my sister-in-law and mother-in-law were crying when I walked down the aisle.  So sweet!  I expected that Mr Fix It might cry at some point during the day, but he held it together, too. 

It was funny, because when we let all the girls back into the bridal cottage after the interview, they all walked in and saw me crying.  My mom said to the videographer, Gary, "What did you do to her?!?"  I laughed and my makeup artist quickly touched up my eyes.  And that was it. 

So did any of you ladies cry on your big day?  Or if you are a bride-to-be, do you expect you will cry at some point? 

Tomorrow is one of my favorite video recaps:  our first look!

TODAY'S WEDDING TIP:  BLOT, don't wipe your tears if you cry.  Just dab at the corners of your eyes :)  And false eyelashes do wonders as well because if you do start crying, you can buy the black ones and don't even need to wear mascara!

Our Wedding VIDEO Trailer!!! So exciting!

Woo-hoo!!!  I am *dying* right now because this weekend, Gary from Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills (our amazing, talented and oh so patient videographer who dealt so graciously with me) has shared a video trailer with me to share with all of you!!! 

I knew Gary wouldn't let me down.  And the coolest thing?  In just this 1 minute and 30 seconds of video I was able to see so many things that I didn't remember from the day.  He got shots I really wanted and he and his amazing team (we totally loved you, Jamie!) did a rockstar job of shooting and editing everything.  And on top of it all, he told me that he is almost done with the entire video (which can typically take up to 3 months with all the video footage they shot).  So I will really be able to get some fun recaps going with video to show along the way!!!

But for now, without further ado, here is what we get to see as a sneak preview!!!




Is it possible to be obsessed with something to where you can't watch it enough?  Because I am totally obsessed with this until we get the final full version soon.  :)

I absolutely *love* my necklace and shoes in these shots (especially where you see my feet walking and then the shoes hanging on the trellis).  The sun was shining and the tiger was on the prowl...the lighting is just gorgeous.

I was totally crying when I watched this because the words you hear me speak are from the letter that I read to Mr Fix It at the ceremony...but the words he is speaking are from the personal interview that our videographer did with each of us alone...so this was the first time I'd heard them.  (And of course, I don't remember anything from our ceremony so hearing me say these words to him just brought a wave of emotions over me.)  But what really brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it is the very end where Mr Fix It says "Let's get married."  It's like he's proposing to me all over again!  :)

My favorite part of the whole trailer is me walking across the bridge to Mr Fix It where Jamie (the cameraman) is following me from behind. 

The part where Mr Fix It is laughing and throws his head back is either during the video I created that played at the ceremony before I walked down the aisle OR it's right when he saw his nephew (one of the 4 ring bearers) carrying my special surprise sign down the aisle (more to come in a future recap). 

Now I am ever so anxious to get the video back!  And my photographer told me my disc of pictures should be here any day now!!!  So lots more to share very soon!

Why in the heck is he bringing a crew of 6 guys?!?

Before I start, let me just say - for the first time, with 3 days to go, I am feeling really excited about our wedding!  'Bout time!  Though I may get nervous again, the anxiety seems to be gone and the joy and giddiness of anticipation is finally starting to set in.  I am SO happy that I have everything done.  I pick up my gown tonight and then head off for a 90 minute massage and facial!  Then tomorrow is my last day at work...so crazy and exciting!

Anyway, if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm pretty controlling, detailed and anal when it comes to organization and planning things.  Needless to say, I definitely met with every single one of my vendors in person after interviewing at least 3 to 4 people in each area of service.  Once I booked a vendor, I had several follow up meetings with them to go over the plans, details and terms of our agreement.

I was able to negotiate almost every one of my services with the vendors we hired.  And for things like the DJ, photographer, videographer, coordinator, etc I asked for an additional assistant to be working at our wedding.  So we have two photogs for example.

The one vendor that I have not met in person yet is our videographer, Gary Freedline of Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills.  I loved their web site as they have tons of samples of videos from past weddings they've done.  But they were all the way up in Bev Hills.  So after interviewing 2 or 3 other videographers in person, I settled for a phone meeting with Gary.  I was also really happy when I happened to be watching Get Married one day last year and Gary was a featured vendor they were using for a spot on new videography options and techniques!

So I asked Gary for an additional shooter on the day of the wedding so we could be sure to capture different angles of events.  Like when we do the toasts, I want one camera on the person giving the toast and one on the guests' reactions to the toast.  :)  But for the deal he was giving us, he said he couldn't guarantee a second person in our package.  However, he did indicate that April is typically a slow month and that if they weren't fully booked, they'd try to surprise us with some extra equipment and an extra person if possible (at no additional charge of course).  I was happy with that - and hopeful.

Well, along the way, we've had some lengthy e-mail conversations but with just a few months to go before the wedding we hadn't really communicated much.  Gary was busy with personal family related issues and the responses I got from the e-mails I sent him were very short and didn't seem like they covered everything I was wondering about.  But I had total faith in Gary.

This past week, I actually phoned him instead of e-mail to confirm our details and final payment.  During the conversation, he asked me how many vendor meals we were providing him?  I told him I had allowed for two in case he was able to bring an extra person with him.  To which he responded, "Well, there's probably going to be six of us."  SIX people from my videographer's company?  Is he kidding me?!?  I was so super excited!

He then asked if there was a place where two guys could set up in a room somewhere to be working throughout the day.  I asked him why...were they going to try to do a same day edit on site?  He said "Well, I'm not telling you."

Oh my gosh...I am so excited about all of this.  It sounds like Gary is going to hook us up big time and I cannot wait to see what he is trying to pull off and what our video will look like!  I am looking forward to sharing it with all of you just months from now :)

PS  I also had hired my coordinator for her and 2 assistants but she told me in our meeting this week she's bringing a 4th assistant as well - her hubby :)

Were there any vendors who went over and beyond what you contracted them for in your planning process?

A sneak peek at my BIG surprise!!!

Ok, so I have eluded to the fact a few times that I have a special surprise for all of our guests that is my absolute most favorite thing about the entire wedding!  And it is also the biggest DIY task that I have taken on.  I have been working on it since July and have spent countless months (off and on) and hours trying to piece it together.  But alas, with only 79 days to go until the big day, I am just getting super antsy about wanting to share at least a little bit of a teaser with all of you fellow blogger brides about what I am hoping to finalize within the next month.

Of course, none of my family and friends read this blog, but just to be safe, if you are a family or friend and you want to still be invited to my wedding, then you will absolutely jump ship right now and get the hell off of my blog site!  Love you ;P

Music Monday # 9

So I've not posted anything since Christmas Eve due to a busy schedule with family and then being sick with a sinus and ear infection on top of that.  I thought I was winning the battle against this illness all last week but unfortunately, come Christmas Eve, it was obvious I had lost.  Thankfully, my doctor is a surfing buddy of Mr. Fix It's so I was able to get some anti-biotics and cough syrup without having to go into a doctor's office.

But alas, though I still have not gotten my voice back and am still not feeling better, I am somewhat functional and wanted to begin up the posts again with today's Music Monday.  This song is called Beautiful Nature and is by Quinley Faye.  I first heard it as part of a demo of wedding photographs that the photographer who my sister hired three years ago showed us when we were interviewing him.  The song is great and I think it is perfect to add to a wedding video or maybe some upbeat cocktail hour music. 

To add a bit of fun to the listening process I included a portion of my sister's wedding video that I created for her where I used the song as a montage for her bridal party photographs.  What do you think?

Share your wedding on the web

Ok, so this is the coolest thing! While browsing through another blog today I noticed off to the left side one of the ads. (I NEVER look at the ads on a web site but for some reason this one caught my eye.) It is an advertisement for a LIVE broadcast of your wedding on the internet. How amazing is that?

Our original guest list is like 300 people (including children of friends that we will not be inviting to the wedding due to budget and space limitations). We have a lot of family and friends but the venue can only hold 200 guests inside the room we want to use as a reception area. And then of course we will have a few guests who live out of the area and can't make it anyway. With this feature, you pay a minimal fee (I think it was like $250 for 50 guests to log in) and then your guests can watch up to 4 hours of your ceremony and reception. You can either have your videographer work with the company to arrange for broadcast or if you have a laptop, a DV or USB Video Camera and obviously an internet connection, you can set up everything yourself.

I might seriously consider this as there are so many more people I wish I could invite but won't be able to add to the guest list due to our budget and the reception room restrictions.

Check it out here.  Would you consider doing this?

How you can edit your own wedding video

In a previous post, I wrote a lengthy opinion of why I believe it is important for every bride to document her wedding day with professional wedding videography.  I suggested that even if you can't afford the cheapest package, consider asking a professional videographer (or a college student in that field) to videotape the day for you and then hand over all the raw footage and video files to you.  That's what we did for my sister's wedding three years ago.

It took me about a year after her big day, but I finally finished a 90 minute wedding video of the big event that I had edited together for her using a PC program by Ulead titled Media StudioPro.  Here are some clips from the final video to show what is possible with a little self-taught video editing and some research of demos on videographer's web sites and blogs (obviously the quality of the uploaded computer version isn't as good as what we have on the video, but you can get the gist of it):

A recap of the ceremony (I love how she is nervously

bouncing while waiting in the bridal prep room)

You can't see/hear it in this video clip, but during the sand pouring, the bride and groom were laughing and making comments about racing to see who could pour their sand out first.  None of us (not even us bridesmaids up near the arch) could hear them or knew what they were doing.  But since the videographer had the groom mic'd, he picked up their entire conversation!  It was so much fun watching it later and adding it into their wedding video for all of the family and friends to see their silly sense of humor.  Something a photographer would not be able to catch and the guests knew nothing about. 

All the details my sis didn't get to see as guests arrived, mingled, and waited for her big walk down the aisle...plus the set up of the cake and reception room details before the guests barged in.

My sister's a little crazy and decided she wanted the guests to have something to do while they were seated on the lawn waiting for the ceremony to start...thus she provided them with beach balls to toss around like people do at sporting events.  You will also see guests signing the calendar guest book she created that I referred to in a previous post. 

A little montage of the 'wedding events' focusing on the bride:

  pre-ceremony photography, toasts, bouquet toss,

 garter removal, cake cutting, etc

This part of the video was meant to show my little sister's off-beat sense of humor and silly personality.  I think it does such a good job of capturing her attitude and her movements throughout the day. 

This one is by far my fave!  It was shot on our own personal camera by a friend we asked to follow us around, not the professional videographer.  A clip of the fun bridal party having all their pictures taken and the laughter and smiles that kept us busy most of the afternoon

Now remember that I just do this as a hobby, but my baby sister wasn't going to have anything at all if it was up to her husband and this is what I came up with for her to revisit her big day on future anniversaries, holidays, etc.  And for us girls, who had such a blast hanging out together, planning her shower, and laughing all day, it is a great way for us to relive the fun of our friendship surrounding the special event.  We pull the video out sometimes just to remember the moments and funny jokes and such that you can't even always see 'in the video' but are implied by something we did or said.  :)

My Very First Blog Award!

So while beginning my morning browsing of recent updates on the blogs I have been following, I came across a Chocolate Lover's Confessions and found that she presented me with my very first blog award (also thanks to Handcrafted Hitching Post for honoring me with this award as well)

Oh my goodness.  I am so excited!  Being new to this whole blogger thing (and encouraged to do so by Chocolate Lover herself) I saw all these brides with their awards on their blogs and wondered how they received them.  Now I know.  So for this one, the directions are simple:

Post the award on your site, write 10 interesting things about yourself, and then pass it on to 10 other bloggers.

10 Fun Facts (easy - I could give you even more but I'll limit them):

1. I am an anal, control freak, OCD, perfectionist...and I don't understand why they call it 'common sense' because most people don't have any so it must not be that common!

2. I have never broken a bone in my body but have had one surgery and a couple weeks ago cracked a rib (wait, is that a broken bone?).
3. My daughter's APGAR score was 0 when she was born...which was by a c-section due to a prolapsed cord. She had to be fully resuscitated and put on a respirator in an incubator for 5 days...she truly is my miracle baby...though she is now almost 15 years old (in February).
4. I was the Editor-in-Chief of my yearbook my senior year in high school. The yearbook was named as one of the top 10 in the country...something I am still proud of to this day. Of course about 25 other people helped me make it. :D
5. I LOVE the Food Network and am a self taught cook from the many recipes you can find on their shows and web site.
6. Video editing is a hobby of mine...I've made hour long videos of my my daughter's soccer season, her all-star softball season, my best friend's wedding and my sister's wedding. People suggested I should do it professionally, but it takes me a year to put one hour long video together.
7. I used to want to be a wedding coordinator but decided it was too stressful, too competitive and demanded too much time on weekends and holidays.
8. By the time I was 19 I had worked at Cinnabon, Mrs. Field's, Kinney Shoes, Farmers Insurance, a clothing store, a furniture store, as a telemarketer, at an alarm company, and in a grocery store...but I worked in the grocery store for almost 10 years and have been at my current job for 7 1/2 years.
9. I met my fiance, John on match.com and ironically, neither my fiance nor I drink any alcohol...at all! Neither of us has touched a drink in over 15 years. Up until last year, whenever a recipe called for wine I would use grape juice as a substitute. I have found that the wine is much better in the food.
10. I have led groups of high school and college girls in weekly bible studies for almost 9 years now. The group I have now is made up of 5 ladies in their early 20's that I have been with for about 4 or so years. They won't leave, they just keep coming back each week. And I love them for it.

Bonus facts:
11. I don't like wearing makeup or curling my hair. I will only do it on special occasions when I have to and it drives my fiance crazy. But hey, I work in an office where I'm all by myself for 8 hours a day...what's the point?
12. I have been skinny my entire life and rarely ever work out or exercise. I often get frustrated because no one has any sympathy for someone who struggles to GAIN weight!

And the fellow Bloggers I would like to pass this award onto:

Gettin' Hitched

A Creative Bride

A Los Angeles Love

Becoming His Mrs.

BP Wedding

Newport Nuptials

Nu Flaiir

With This Ring, I Thee Blog

The Roddy Bride

The Indecisive Bride

Have fun with it, ladies!

Do it yourself wedding videography - Should you or shouldn't you?

I have seen many bride's blog posts in which they debate or justify their reasoning behind whether or not to hire a wedding videographer.  But in today's DIY age, the question has also become whether or not to handle the wedding videography on your own to save money.  While this might seem like a good idea, I just wanted to quickly share the pros and cons of this service...and yes, to some, luxury item for your wedding.

To me, the video is even more important than the photos.  Why?  Because it captures the tears falling, the laughter ringing out, the sweet comments, funny jokes and moment by moment events as the day unravels.  As fun as the photographer's shots of your guests on the dance floor are, nothing beats getting to pull out your wedding video each Thanksgiving and show the family all over again how Grandma got down doing the hustle with the bride and groom on their big day!

My sister's husband was one of those grooms that didn't want to spend the extra money on a videographer and did not see the point.  So I helped split the cost to hire a professional wedding videographer for her wedding...but with a twist.  We contracted him to simply shoot the entire day with an assistant and then fork over all the video tapes to us before he left that night.  The cost was much cheaper than actually having him edit a video together of her event because the editing process is the time consuming portion of wedding videography.  In addition, instead of just getting a 90 minute video recap of the entire day and the ceremony vows, we received ALL of the raw footage of everything he shot.  Granted some of it was obviously shaky and him running around to get in the right location, but we had it all.

What was cool was that in today's computer era, just about anybody can purchase a simple or extensive video editing program for $100 to $2000 and make a video themselves.  This is what we did.  I have become an amateur videographer shooting things like my daughter's soccer season, all-star softball season, etc and then editing the footage into montages set to music and clips of big events to pass out to the parents of the team as a keepsake.  I love doing it and was able to create a wedding video for my sister from the raw footage the professional videographer shot.  Granted, it's just a hobby and I am by no means a pro, but I did do some research browsing wedding videographer web sites for samples and styles of things I could replicate.  And it was all our own and to our exact desires.

Now, don't get me wrong...there are definitely brides out there who will tell you that you can just have friends and family bring their camcorders to shoot everything from their persepctive and give you the same raw footage at the end of the day.  My best friend had a friend do that and I took the footage and edited it into a simple wedding video for her...it was the first video I ever made.  However, as you will see in the excerpt below, it's always better to hire a pro who knows where to be when, how to get the right shot, use good lighting and will be respected by the guests to get out of their way.  :)

The following is an excerpt from a comment posted on Blogger Brides of one girls experience with DIY wedding videography:

Being a bride that took the diy approach with video, I have to write about my video. Family and friends will do your video for you because they love you, but they are not pros, know that going in. We can barely hear our vows at the ceremony. Our first dance got cut off half way through because they all turned the cameras off to join us when the DJ asked them to. It's all pretty shaky and hard to watch. The cameras are of different qualities, so some look good when the reception lights went down and others look like a grainy mess. Also I notice that the color is different, my flowers look bright and colorful on one camera and dull on another.

 I agree with the previous poster that the editing is what makes video so expensive. When I asked videogrpahers in my area what they would charge to make this into something watchable, they said it would cost as much or more than their full coverage packages because of all the corrections they would need to make.

If you really want a video and it is important to you, don't skimp on it. If a pro is just not in your budget, look for a college student (ask for the best in the class). There also may be a pro willing to shoot and hand over the tapes like the poster above mentioned, but in my area, they all said no. If I were doing it again today, I would try asking them if they would shoot the wedding and allow me to pay for the editing later when I could afford it.

This is great advice.  Ladies, I am telling you...figure it out and make it work if you think this is something that will be important to you.  Heck, most brides don't realize how important it was to them and then end up regretting not having a videographer afterwards...especially since the day flies by so quickly and with you off taking pictures, you will possibly miss half of your guests arriving, mingling, etc.  You will miss the way the reception room looked before all the guests broke in and tore it apart.

Many girls say that their proposals were a blur and they could not remember anything their fiance said to them as he popped the question...do you want the same experience when you are reciting your once in a lifetime vows to each other?  To me, the videographer is the absolute most important part of my day.  We couldn't afford what I wanted, and so I negotiated a phenomenal deal with a very understanding and amazing company...but there is no way I wanted to spend so much time and effort and thought planning this one event and then not have it permanently recorded to revisit throughout my life. 

And for some final encouragement, here are some samples of people's video clips from weddings that friends and family took (in a future post, I will share some clips I edited of my sister's wedding video):
):

 Holy Shakes-a-lot!

 Blurry, people walking in front of camera, BACK of Bride & Groom!