On my birthday a few years ago, my wife bought me a beautiful leather bound notebook. “What’s this for,” I asked? “It’s to write all these ideas you have down, so you don’t forget them” she told me. What a gift it was. I have a lot of ideas in my book. There’s a few that have been in there for a long time and may never come to life. Others ideas, like the letters I like to have the couples write to each other the night before the wedding, I use all the time.
I had an idea for an epic movie trailer, but didn’t feel like I had the right backdrop. I needed a location with ornate architecture and a feeling of grandeur. Then Sara Ranson called from Viva Bella Events to ask if we were open for a wedding at Plum Street Temple with the reception held at the breathtaking Hall of Mirrors at the Cincinnati Netherland Hilton. I had what I needed and the idea has become a reality.
Meet Amber and Michael, who’s wedding was amazing. Everything is coming together and we still have few more weeks before we finish. Here’s a little preview of things to come.
Sometimes I hear the words “Well, we really don’t have a wedding video in our budget”. “Why” is all I ask. Think about it, your wedding photos are going to be it, well that and what you remember. Nothing against all my photographer friends, they capture you day differently, one frame at a time. We really do work together as a team.
Which brings up another point, hired a great photographer, you’re only going to do this once. (There’s a few of my personal favorites off to the right).
A wedding video (or film as I prefer) is a time machine that takes you back to the movement, sight and sounds of your greatest day. The cool part of our job at Lifetime is to put the three together. I love to have the couples write a letter to each other the night before the wedding and have them read it to me right before the see each other the day of. In the clip you’ll see below, I just asked Teresa at question. What follows is an amazing journey of this couples day.
Think of your wedding budget as a pie and you have to cut out slices. Make sure you cut one out for the people that can take you back. You’ll have this forever and you might even show it to your kids someday.
Meet Teresa and Jeremy, one of my personal favorite couples of all time. They were nothing short of amazing to work with. We just clicked from the get go. We’re almost at the half way point and I know you’re dying to see what we’ve been working on. Here’s a quick preview. I’ll be in touch soon,
I love to chat with brides before we start editing their production. The reason is, I want to see what you remember from your entire wedding day. Beside your photographs and your memories, your wedding film is it. My goal is to give our brides a time machine to go back to this one day. I also love to ask “Do you remember what your husband’s reaction was”? “Kinda, but I couldn’t see him when I first started down the aisle” is the most common response.
Meet Dana and Stephen. Just as I happened to catch this stunning woman looking at herself in the mirror minutes before seeing her future husband. I told her “I guarantee he’s gonna cry when he sees you” “If she was in sweats he’d cry…” one of the bridesmaids replied. After I found this gem in time, I decided to build their wedding trailer around Stephen’s reaction.
Some fantastic camera work by Lifetime lead Chris Joecken. He’s just in the right place at the right time as you’ll see.
Some of my great wedding friends and some of the absolute BEST wedding vendors in all of Cincinnati teamed up for this one:
Timing is everything. The rhythm of this toast was impeccable and the “punch line” was perfect. Courtney the MOH and the bride’s sister pulls off one the the funnest moments at a wedding reception I have seen. Katie and Logan we still have another couple weeks, but thought you’d enjoy a preview of things to come.
We capture absolute magic during some toasts. Katie’s dad telling her all his wishes came true that day was just some of that magic. This production is turning in to quite a nice showpiece for us here at Lifetime. As we went through all the footage we kept finding gold, just some incredible moments in time as you’ll see.
We’re putting the finishing touches on this one Katie and Jon. I’ll be in touch.
What gets me excited is music. Epic music that is seamlessly timed out to the visual scenes from a beautiful wedding. Meet Christine and Nathan, who had an incredible day as you’ll see here.
Nearly everyone but myself from the Lifetime team help put this latest wedding trailer together and I am so proud, this is great! Some fantastic shooting by Dan, Greg and Mark with Chris Joeken’s editing make this fast paced trailer so fun to watch.
One of the best parts of our job here at Lifetime is being in the right place at the right time. Capturing emotions the exact moment they happen. There are several here in Amy and Scott’s trailer, including Amy’s father speaking of his new son-in-law right before their wedding. Or Scott’s increidlbe reaction to seeing Amy for the first time (he mouths the word “WOW”).
Great working with some of wedding industry legends on this one:
A huge part of our business comes from the nearly 20 years we has spent capturing one day in peoples lives. I consider it such a wonderful compliment when a past bride refers another. Becky and Todd came from Sarah and Scott and they were refer by another wedding we produced. It’s so cool to go shoot these wedding, cause we know half the families (lots of Westside peeps)
Becky, I got your voice mail today and was going to call you and let you know it’s all taken care of. Instead, since I know you stalk our blog, it’s taken care of and here’s a preview of what we’ve been working on:
Your FI’s reaction to seeing you for the first time on your wedding day is our most important shot. We get all kinds of reactions: smiles, tears even the “dear in headlight look”. What’s the icing on the cake for me as an editor is the best man reaction in the background. This is priceless. As the clip fades you see him look up to his best friend and say “She beautiful man”. (And Lori you were stunning).
Lori & Rob, thanks for letting me tell your story. We still have a few more weeks. Thought you’d like a little a preview of things to come:)
enjoy,
~mp
P.S. Please click here if you’d like to view this in HD
A young lady approached me at a wedding yesterday and said “My sister and I stalk your blog”. I was so flattered. We love to hear that people enjoy watching. In fact there’s actually quite a few Lifecasting blog stalkers out there. Our blog hits have tripled since late March of this year. Thanks for tuning in:)
Meet Ashley & Tom. Ashley was and still is one of our favorite blog stalkers, so this is going to be a nice surprise for her when she checks in…today:) We had so much fun working with you and your families. This is just a quick preview of things to come.
~mp
P.S. I love the shot of the flower girl during the photo shoot. Too cute.
P.S.S. We enjoyed working for the first time with Christina from C.J. Photography. You’re way too much fun!
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