Naked Opie, Julie Dots... breathless

There are a couple of reasons that I like it when a bride gets ready for her wedding day at her home.

First and foremost, there is usually good food there and the moms always feed me.

Second, is that this environment can help the bride to be more comfortable and she also tends to reflect more on how her life has brought her to this moment.  The home creates such a beautifully personal and rich background for a wedding film.    

Julie wanted to be at her childhood home on the morning of her wedding.   She wanted her parents, sister and the girls she grew up with to be there with her too.   And, she asked me to be there to document it.    I’m glad she did.    Judging by the comments from all the people I talked to, it is clear that Julie is well loved.  She is a beautiful person in every way. 

Jeff (also known as Opie) has a slightly larger than life persona.   Everyone knows and loves him.   He is fearless, funny, sincere and  just an all-around great person.   The two of them make a really fun couple.    It was a pleasure getting to know them and their family and friends.   

May Lee shot the event with me.  May is absolutely one of the most talented video journalists I know.  During the shoot,  we each went in our own directions gathering a ton of great interviews and footage over the course of the weekend.   When we shoot a wedding film, we often come away with 7 to 10 hours of footage and interviews that we then weave together into the story of the couple and of the day.     May is a real storyteller and a good friend too.   I am grateful  for her and the amazing work that she does.

I also had the great pleasure of working with Maria Cooke of Ritzy Bee Events. Maria did the day of coordination for the reception.    I have been wanting to work with her for quite a while and was thrilled to have the chance.   Thanks Maria for helping to make it a great experience for me.

The wedding was held  just outside of Baltimore at the Towson United Methodist Church.  The reception was at the Valley Mansion in Hunt Valley, MD. 

Congratulations Julie and Jeff.   Thanks for the stories.

Jamilah and Wissam ,the love of a family

The first time i met Jamilah and her family, it was her brother Mahmoud who was the one getting married.

I was thrilled to find out several months later that not only was Jamilah also getting married, but that she wanted me to shoot the event for her as well.

During the filming of these two events, What really stuck me was the incredible and strong relationship Jamilah has with her parents and two brothers. There was no questioning the importance of family to them.   They would do anything for each other.

What struck me even more was their love for Wissam and his family. In the eyes of Jamilah’s family, Wissam was now a son and a brother.  There was now no difference than if he were blood related. And, for them, this was not just something you say on a wedding day. It was the absolute truth and always will be.

Another bonus for this shoot, for me, is the fact that I was able to work with Don and Lindsay Mears of Don Mears Photography. Two wonderfully talented photographers. They are so great to work with and always do an amazing job.

I also had the pleasure of shooting the film along side May Lee.  May is not only a great video-journalist but truly one of my inspirations and mentors as well.

The event was at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington D.C. in the Georgetown area.

What a great day to shoot a wedding.

Congratulations Jamilah and Wissam!

Liene Stevens Blogging Bootcamp

Yesterday, I attended a Blogging Bootcamp for people in the wedding industry.    The workshop was conducted by Liene Stevens, founder of The Smart Planner and Blue Orchid Designs.

  Not only did Liene have tons of information about blogging, she encouraged and got the participation of the attendees, which was also a wealth of information.

 

 There were some really great people attending.   Everyone I spoke with was so warm and friendly.  What a pleasure.   

Andrea Jacobson of The Observatory photographed the event.  I will see if I can get some photos to post here.

Thanks Liene and thanks also to Sara Bauleke of Bella Notte for recommending this to me.

Happy blogging!

behind the stories- wedding weekend

This year I seem to be doing more traveling than ever shooting weddings.   I have to admit that I really have enjoyed these shoots quite a bit.   Not because I am traveling to exotic locals.  I am not.   In fact, I have travelled to many small towns and even some places that I have never heard of.  

What I have grown to love about these traveling weddings is the experience of being totally  immersed in the events of the whole wedding weekend.   To meet and interview family and friends on the rehearsal day and the wedding day.    To feel the excitement when people come together for the  first time with people they haven’t seen  for years.   I see how they interact during the rehearsal and the dinner that usually follows.  I see the big moments and the quiet intimate ones too. The event is actually much bigger than just a one hour ceremony.  

Not too long ago, I saw the film Rachel Getting Married.   That film reminded me that,  not only are families wonderfully complex, but  it also reminded me of how  all of the amazing and moving and funny and strange family stories seem to bubble to the surface during the wedding weekend.    It is an incredible thing to witness as an outsider.

I attended a wedding last fall in Staunton, Virginia, a beautiful town in the Shenandoah Valley.     I was invited to document the wedding weekend of Jamie and Greg.  They are a fascinating couple with a great story.   However, it was all of the stories told by the family and friends that really made me appreciate the fact that the wedding was not really about just this couple.      It was also  about  their families and friends.  It was about  the past and present and, most certainly, about the hope for the future.    But, somehow, this wedding was also about me.   Somehow, watching a wedding weekend unfold  like this  affected how I look at the story of my own life.   It’s funny how that happens.  

I have had several wedding weekends I have attended this year and several more to come.   It is really amazing how each one is so different and each shows me a little bit about the world that I didn’t know existed just a week before. 

I guess it is always possible to get tired of traveling, to forget about the importance of these events.   I really hope that never happens.  Or if it does, I hope that I have someone who cares about me enough to give me a kick in the ass to remind me of how lucky I am.

Take care.  Gotta pack.

We are each others future.

Most of the time, a marriage is not fully tested until well after the wedding.  However, Erin and Earl’s  relationship would be one that would last though many years of trials, all before the proposal even  took place. 

They supported one another through high school graduation, college,  the passing of loved ones and being separated by a call to duty that took  Earl halfway around the world.  Somehow,  though all of this,  their relationship not only held together but grew stronger.  They grew up together.

The wedding day was beautiful.   It took place at The Gardens at Sunday Park in Midlothian Virginia.   The weather was absolutely perfect for the ceremony and reception.    The reception venue allowed for a great view of the sun setting across the lake.  Simply breathtaking.    The event was less  about the formality of ceremony and more about the coming together of a small group of people that are forever connected by the lives of this couple.

Meeting some of these people at the wedding was a truly great experience for me.   This event really reminded me that weddings are about much more than ceremony or tradition.  They are a celebration of complex stories of life, love, family and friends.   

What a great story to help tell.