Here’s a sneak peak at a small part of our latest Feature Film. Carolyn wanted to have her first look at Sweetest Heart of Mary Church. That didn’t work out, but the Guardian Building still provided a great backdrop to this beautiful First Look. A Big Thank you to Carolyn’s photographer, Michael Sackett. We always enjoy working with him.

Deidre and Nick were married at Holy Family Church and had their reception at the beautiful Atheneum Hotel in Detroit. This classy couple had the Johnny Trudell Band for their entertainment. Their photographer was Wilson Sarkis. We created a Custom Movie Poster and a Feature Film for them. We’re excited to show this!

#9. Plan Your Music List With Your Guests in Mind

Take the advice of your professional DJ when you are making your music list for your reception. If you have a good DJ and you give him/her the opportunity to do their job correctly by not being too restrictive in your music choices, you’ll have a better party. Be aware of the listening and dancing preferences of ALL of your guests when planning your wedding and you’ll have a more active party. It’s your DJ’s job to get people on the dance floor and keep them there. Let them do their job and you’ll have more fun. Sure, I know there are songs that you like and songs that you hate. That’s fine. Just keep your “Do Not Play” and your “Must Play” lists short. This is one area where over-planning is not good.

#10. If You Want a Rockin Party, Bride + Groom Must Lead the Way

If you really want your guests to have a great time, lead the way! You are not only the guests of honor at your reception, you are host and hostess. The receptions that we’ve been to that really rocked had the bride and the groom on the dance floor most of the night. If you spend the night bellied up to the bar, so will your friends. Get out there and boogie…everyone will have a better time.

#7 Make an Acceptable ‘Plan-B’ for Any Outside Activities

It’s always better to plan ahead. You might have your heart set on a beautiful lake setting for your ceremony or photo-shoot. But make some alternate plans just in case the weather doesn’t cooperate. Last minute planning is stressful and the results are definitely problematic, so, do some creative thinking about the best way to handle the weather and still get the results that you want. It’s definitely better to have plans that you don’t need rather than be faced with a “now what” situation.

 #8 Don’t Overdo the ‘Mood-Lighting’

Accent or “up” lighting can definitely make your venue pop. It sets the mood for the occasion and dresses up any venue. You can get this extra lighting from dedicated lighting companies or many times right from your DJ. It’s a big plus that can have a positive effect on your reception video and photos. BUT…you can go too far. More of a good thing in this instance is definitely NOT better. The follow spots that some brides like can make getting correct exposure for pictures and video virtually impossible. Heavily saturated colors on a dark dance floor can mean you will see red, blue and green guests in your photos and video. So when planning your special lighting, please remember the impact it will have on your photos and video. A little extra lighting goes a long way!

#6. Consider the ‘FIRST LOOK’

Most couples planning their wedding defer to tradition without thinking about new ideas that could enhance their day. One such idea that is very popular on the coasts is the ‘First Look’. This is a planned photo/video shoot where the Groom gets the chance to see the Bride in her wedding gown before the ceremony. Superstitions aside, there are some very good reasons to consider this option. First of all, this moment is packed with emotion, which makes for outstanding photo and video remembrances. While the Bride can only guess about the emotion of the Groom’s at her ceremony entrance, or by way of a photo or short video clip after the event, she will experience his emotion first hand at a ‘First Look’. Secondly, this is a great opportunity to get the Bride and Groom photo session out of the way before the day gets crazy. We rarely get all the shots of the Bride and Groom that we want after the ceremony for the simple reason that the schedule is very tight post-ceremony. It is relatively easy to adjust the timeline before the ceremony, but after you’ve got to deal with venue, guests and caterer which puts severe constraints on time. Most Brides and Grooms agree that once the ceremony starts, the rest of the day is a blur. But if most of your creative shots are finished before the ceremony, you might even have a little time to relax before the reception. How’s that for a great idea?

Claudia and Tony were married at St.John Vianney Church in Shelby Township and had their Reception at Pennas of Sterling. Their Photographer was our good friend Michael Sackett…just love his work! The DJ was Fletcher from Music Box; great job Fletch! The word that best describes this wedding is ‘Family’, just a great group of people. We felt like one of the family. Tony really liked the new ‘Sherlock Holmes’ movies, so here is their Trailer, a la Sherlock Holmes:

#5. VOWS/RINGS: WHERE YOUR ATTENDANTS SHOULD STAND

This tip could be considered important for wedding photography, but it is absolutely critical if you have hired multi-camera film crew. A one-camera shoot will always be ‘up the middle’, so unless the officiant decides to stand between you and the audience, there are no problems. In a multi-cam shoot, however, the ‘bride’ cam and the ‘groom’ cam are typically on opposite wings. That means that a ‘horseshoe’ or ‘V’ positioning of the bridal party could very easily result in a blocked shot. If you decide to have bridal party members stand with you during your vows, they should be either in a straight line or in a ‘V’ angled away from the audience. If they are further away from the audience than the bride and groom, any chance of them blocking the shot will be eliminated. Also, since the groom is typically taller than the bride, if you stand too close to each other and directly opposite, the bride’s face may be hidden by the groom’s shoulder. If the bride takes a ½ step toward the audience when she faces her groom, that problem is eliminated. Just remember the old photo adage:” if you can’t see the camera lens, the camera can’t see you.” Help your film crew deliver the absolute best product by eliminating potential problems in the planning phase.

4.  Try Mints instead of Gum /Turn Off the TV/ Radio/ I-Pod

These are two ‘day-of’ tips, something that you might not think about that will have a huge impact on your wedding film and even on your photos. Chewing gum may help to relieve stress, but it doesn’t look attractive on film. It will also give your photographer a headache if you’re one of those who has hired a ‘photojournalist’. Trust me, those close-ups will look so much better if you use mints instead of gum. Have a dish of them on the table for the Bridal Party or hand them out as favors.

Having your favorite tunes blaring from your I-Pod might seem the ‘cool’ thing to do, but if you’ve hired a cinematographer you’ll be missing all those great interactions that can have a huge effect on your wedding film. Talking with your bridesmaids about the day ahead or explaining to someone how you found your dress is simply priceless on film.

Two very simple ideas you may not have thought about…you’ll thank me later

Hire the Photographer/ Cinematographer who Fit YOUR Style

Hiring the right photo and video companies for your event are important because their style will determine your ultimate product. I speak here of ‘style’ as distinct from quality, as a process that determines the type of product delivered rather than the artistic value.  Many of the common terms, like “photo-journalistic” and “cinematic” have been so overused and abused that they are useless. And so I will define terms so that they will have more meaning to you in your search for the perfect (for you) graphic professionals.

In Event Photography there are two broad categories: Portrait and Candid. A Portrait style photographer is ‘hands-on’. They are meticulous in arranging every detail of their composition. The end result can be stunning, but the pictures always look posed. The other end of the event photography spectrum is the Candid Photographer. Capturing a moment in time is more their line, and though they may do some general posing, they’re aiming for a more relaxed look in their photos.

In the Cinema world, the corresponding terms would be Documentary and Stylized. The Documentary Video is the linear, capture everything that happened all day style that’s been around in one form or another since the 1980’s. The Stylized video is more often non-linear, definitely shorter, and more artistic style that has come of age since 2005 or so.

It is very important that you view an entire finished product from your prospective photographer or cinematographer before you book them so that you understand what YOUR finished product is going to look like. Speaking personally as a “Stylized” film maker, I find it easier to work with a “Candid” photographer because they inherently give us more space to get the creative shots that we need to do our work.

DON’T OVER-PLAN

One of the major hazards of planning your own wedding is over-planning. It’s a big temptation to want to do it all. Take pictures/ film all over the area like the ones you’ve seen on all the photo/ video blogs; have your hair done on one side of town and your make-up on the other. First looks downtown and photoshoots in the woods. Just remember to plan for travel time and leave a little extra for the unkown snags like traffic jams and late bridal party members. An even better idea is plan for just THE most important things you want to do on your wedding day. A more casual timeline will give you more time to have fun and fewer problems to get frazzled over. Have ‘PLAN B’ ready in case the weather or time doesn’t cooperate. So everything doesn’t go EXACTLY as planned or you weren’t able to do EVERYTHING on your list. That doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun and make your wedding as fabulous as you always wanted!