Debbie and her family and I go waaaayyyyy back. I’ve know her since I was about 5. That made it especially important for me to create something that she and Nate would really cherish and share with their families over the years. I can’t even say how many times I’ve shot at the Golf Club at Newcastle… but every time is different. You simply can never get tired of the incredible views or sunsets… each night spent there is truly a gift.
From the first time I met Mandy and Todd, something just clicked. I knew we were a lot alike. Come to find out, we love some of the same music, make a living in art, and think a little differently. How many times has someone approached me about a wedding that will take place in an altered version of wonderland!?!?!…. only once. I remember riding through downtown in a pedicab on a perfect Seattle night thinking “this is awesome!” So turn the little key and come take a peek….
Michelle + Rich were hitched East of the mountains at the incredible Suncadia Resort. Our crew (Brett and Dan) traveled out to the resort to capture this perfect day. Michelle is a school teacher, which explains the careful planning and attention to every detail that went into making this day special for all that made the trip. Once the footage came back to Seattle, the goal was to wrap all the art (see custom program below), detail, and flavor of the event into the personalities of M+R to create a memory that is uniquely their own. The result:
Katelyn and Grant contacted me a couple years after I shot her sister Jennifer’s wedding. It’s really such an honor to be called upon by a family member of someone who you’ve worked for in the past. I always try to match the compliment with a product that the family will be proud of. K&G celebrated their wedding on a perfect Seattle day at the Seattle Tennis Club.
Negin is a person who knows EXACTLY what she wants. When you have a person like this plan a wedding, no detail is left to chance. Her and Bashar poured themselves into the planning process to ensure a weekend that family and friends would never forget. Working with people who have such high standards is always a challenge that I love. In my mind, a wedding video is something organic… that you can’t plan. Stories grow out of moments, lasting memories are created from the unexpected….so how could Negin be sure that her video would be EXACTLY as she wanted? The good news/ bad news answer to this questions is that she couldn’t. She had to put her trust in me. The good news is that a couple cannot anticipate the experience of watching these moments through the eyes of my lens. Her and Bashar’s expectations for the entire weekend were surpassed, as was their joy for being able to watch it all over again… from my view:
Amy and Dustin picked a perfect day at the perfect location for a perfect wedding. One thing I truly enjoy watching, is when an event slowly unfolds, and the couple is relaxed, taking in each moment as it happens. Even when this is the case, however, 100% of my clients tell me that the day flies by so fast, it’s difficult to soak in the reality of each passing hour.
A+D hired us not only to create a slideshow for their reception, but a Same Day Edit to follow. Everyone eye in the room at the Golf Club at Newcastle’s St. Andrews Ballroom was fixed on the projector as the slideshow ended and the SDE began to play. The emotion was palpable… and I’ll never forget the collective ‘gasp’ as the final image hit the screen. It’s one thing to see a highlight video of your wedding… it’s another to see it surrounded by your best friends and family only hours after it happened.
Venue: The Golf Club at Newcastle
Coordinator: Laura Gram, Simplicity Events
I met Michele and Brian on the day of their wedding. They live out of state, but Michele’s mom lives in my neighborhood. Michele’s mom planned more surprises for her daughter’s wedding than I have ever experienced… two of them being a slide show and Same Day Edit. She was able to wrangle three sets of photos between two families in secret… and the entire wedding day team coordinated by Merry Beth Trupin of Aisle of View was in on the secret SDE. I was really touched by the extensive efforts to surprise and delight her kids…. so much so, that the first thing I did when I returned home later in the evening was tell my wife that we have to remember that for my daughters wedding (she’s only 2).
Photography: Azzura Photography
DJ: Emerald City Productions
Coordinator: Aisle of View
Venue: Lord Hill Farms
Loriann and Trevor were guests at Ryan and Susie’s wedding a couple years back. They came to me after seeing the Love Story video we created for R+S’s wedding, and wanted to create something similar. L+T planned an intimate Hawaiian wedding, and wanted to tell the story of them to all their friends and family back in Seattle at their reception at Palace Ballroom. Let’s face it, when you plan a Hawaiian wedding, you can’t bring along the hundreds of people you really want to. At first, we tried to brainstorm a way to tell the story by shooting here in Seattle. When it came right down to it, however, L+T decided that while they couldn’t bring everyone to Hawaii, they could bring Hawaii back with them to Seattle. Our goal in shooting this was to make every single Seattle attendee feel like they were right there with us on the shores of Maui. I know the word ‘epic’ is trendy and overused… but that’s all I could think about during this wedding. At one point I turned to Hawaiin native photographer Frank Amodo and said “how does this rank on your ‘incredible’ scale…. because this is off the charts on mine.”
In the end, L+T got exactly what they had hoped for…. a room full of Seattle guests who felt like they were in Maui right there with them. I have to thank them for inviting me on such an incredible ride, being such gracious hosts, and becoming new friends.
One thing I think I’m pretty good at after being in business for 10 years, is recognizing true happiness in a couple. Everybody says that their wedding day is the happiest of their lives… but for some, that feeling is something that permeates their every diminutive action. I see it in the way the couple looks at each other, the things they say, and the way they carry themselves throughout an event… they can’t hide it! Such was Joelle and Loren. Their wedding at the Fairmont Olympic was a union of two families. I’m quite certain that despite my many years of being around happy couples on their wedding day, I was not the only one in the room who made these observations. If you were at this wedding, you saw it.
Photography: Stephanie Cristalli
Coordinator: Lisa Chambers, Chambers and Co.
Hair & Makeup: Tiara’s on Location
A couple weeks ago, Loriann and Trevor flew me out to Maui to capture their small intimate beachfront wedding. I was so excited about the resulting footage, that I cut a little trailer to some of their music on the plane ride home. I’ll post the full version of their story soon…
