On this cold fall day we want to share a few fun stills we pulled from a little warmer wedding we filmed earlier this year. Matt & Stacey were married on Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. A lot of couples choose sparklers, bubbles, or streamers for their guests to throw after they’re married… & that’s totally fine, but every once in a while we love seeing couples change things up a bit. In this case, Matt & Stacey chose pink & white beach balls to be thrown about after they were pronounced as husband & wife.

The way we begin our day usually determines how the rest of our day will go. If we start off the day by waking up, going straight to work, & barely speaking to each other, then let’s face it, we’re probably going to have a crappy day. So to avoid this, we always start off our day by making cappuccinos together in the kitchen while Eva begs at the door to go outside because she knows the routine: once we start making our cappuccinos, it means it’s almost time for her to go outside so she can play.

After teasing Eva with a game of shutting & opening the door real fast, we then drink our cappuccinos together on the back porch while she runs around the back yard. Then when it’s time to start working, we’re completely relaxed & we feel good knowing that we have spent some time together that morning.

You don’t specifically have to drink coffee with your spouse or maybe you’re not even married, but we would encourage you to spend your first hour of the day doing something that relaxes you or whatever best gets you ready for your work day.

A Reception can be the most fun part of a wedding day to film. We’ve found that the only downside of filming a reception is that (unlike photographers) we can’t use a flash. We never use to like using a video light because they always seemed so intrusive & we preferred not to make wedding guests feel like a deer in the headlights (I know you’ve seen those kind of wedding videos.) Well, sometimes there’s no way to avoid a dark reception venue, so we purchased a small video light that we have come to love because we’ve learned how to use it right… the Sima Video Light Model SL-20LX. It’s the perfect size for us to hold or to fit right on top of our DSLRs.

We’ve found ways to dramatize certain aspects of the reception (like special dances) with the aid of our Sima Video Light. Usually, we speak with our couples & contact our couple’s venue to speak with the person in charge about keeping the lights at a certain level; but every once in a while they forget or it just doesn’t work out… & this is when our trusted little video light has come into play many times.

Instead of aiming the video light right into the eyes of a couple who’s dancing, we simply use it as a background light, which also gives the feel (in the video) like the couple is the only people in the room… the center of attention, which is exactly what they have intended to be.

We filmed Joy & Dan’s beautiful wedding in Canada last weekend & while we were capturing footage, we pulled this clip below. It hasn’t even been colored or anything, but it still looks great. In case the lights are too low, Eugene & I now have a system that works every time. He stands on the opposite side of the couple with the video light while I film the couple’s dance. We filmed part of this clip for you to be able to see where Eugene is standing & how he holds the light just high enough for it to highlight the couple without them squinting. Towards the end of the clip you’ll see how I move the frame to crop Eugene out while keeping the same great highlight on the couple. See how a little bit of light used in the right way made Joy & Dan’s special dance with their little girl, Gracie even more beautiful!

It’s been almost one year since our first Charleston wedding… which means happy anniversary to Todd & Candice! Charleston is one of our most favorite cities to visit & we absolutely LOVE filming the beautiful weddings there! We actually have another Charleston wedding coming up in a few weeks which we are very excited about & we can’t wait to share with you!

So with this one year celebration of Todd & Candice’s wedding anniversary & our one year anniversary since our first time filming there, we want to share Todd & Candice’s beautiful Wedding Teaser with you again…