Ah planning a wedding. Venture with planner Vicky Johnson and her "Nearly-Wed" band of brides, through the ever glamorous, vitally important, detail oriented process of orchestrating the most important day in a woman's life (or at least it seems that way at the time) all while attempting to maintain some decorum and have a great time. These are the DC Nearlyweds!!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Video Titling
One of our wedding vendors, The Pros, just emailed to ask what we'd like to have our wedding video titled. I had never thought about this, but now it seems to be such a huge decision. I want it to be more than "Glen/Allen Wedding", but not quite so wordy as "True Love at It's Greatest Moment" a MIL suggestion. My thoughts so far:
The Day Forever Began
Endless Love
Lady & Guy. . . Always
What does everyone else title their wedding videos? Any suggestions?
I've made no secret of how much I loved our wedding video from Monachetti and I'm happy to say that their talents are really starting to be recognized. Monachetti was recently picked to be in Style Me Pretty'sLittle Black Book of the best wedding vendors. Only 3 vendors are chosen for each category so it's quite an honor to be chosen. They are featured as a top pick for videography in the D.C. area.
Monachetti has also launched a new website and their new featured video is beautiful! Check it out below. Don't you just love the bridesmaid dresses???
I know I've been major MIA lately, but I'm back to go through the details of my wedding day!
Unlike most brides who like to reveal the wedding to you piece by piece starting with the beginning of their day I'm going to do the exact opposite and show you the whole thing all at once and then go back to the details! I'm going to start with one of my favorite wedding vendors, our videographer - Michael Eller from Monachetti.
Check out our awesome video below (don't worry it's only about 6.5 minutes, so it'll be a good little break from the work you're supposed to be doing).
^Needless to say much of the video quality is lost when it's played through youtube, but the original is full sized, super crisp, and the lighting is better.
I've spoken before about my earlier disdain for wedding videography, so no one was more surprised then me that one of my favorite things from the wedding is something I once swore I didn't even want.
Here are just some of the reasons I'm thrilled with Monachetti -
1) Unobtrusive - Mike from Monachetti was barely noticeable throughout the day. I've seen videographers at other weddings with huge cameras, bright lights, and the cameraman literally in the face of the bride, groom, and guests. But with Mike there were no lights and no giant cameras, and he definitely wasn't in my face...just him and a handheld. I barely noticed he was there.
2) Open - For the most part, I'd like to think I'm not too demanding of a bride but I did have a couple requests. I wanted the video to be in black and white and I wanted the music to be completely un-wedding related (and no country). I didn't want any of the good ol' standards like "at last" or "the way you look tonight." This wasn't a problem. And even after all the editing was done and I wanted a couple extra things added they had a new version done up in less then 24 hrs.
3) Real - Husband and I aren't super models. Our wedding isn't going to be in the next issue of Martha Stewart. We're real people, with a real wedding, and I wanted an authentic video of the day. I LOVE the documentary style of our video. What I hate most about other forms of wedding videography is the overuse of what I call "tricks" - like putting everything in slow motion to make it seem more dramatic, or using soft focus to make things seem romantic. I didn't want our wedding to seem like a Hollywood production. I wanted it to be real. I wanted our video to show us how we truly are....real people---not movie stars. I wanted our video to reflect how our wedding really was. I think Monachetti really captured the spirit of the day.
4) Unique - I've said it before and I'll say it again. No one in our area is doing what Monachetti is doing. Their work is unique, and in my opinion exceptional. I truly believe that other videography companies in this area will have to adapt and follow Monachetti's lead. They represent the new generation of wedding videographers. Modern brides will never look back.
Presenting a slideshow of favorite pics is a pretty popular and common thing at many weddings. We didn't do it at ours cause the whole "multi-media extravaganza/keep your guests entertained" thing isn't really my style. We just wanted to have a nice dinner and some dancing, but having sat through a number of slideshows I think it's important to keep them short and of course keep them interesting.
I was browsing the films over at Mason Jar Films and I saw that, in addition to their creative wedding videos, they also make slideshows for weddings.
Yes, of course, you can do a slideshow yourself, and I really have no idea how much it would cost for someone to do it for you, but if you had the money to spare I just love the below slideshow that Mason Jar Films put together for Morgan and Eric. It's a 3-d slideshow made with 2 dimensional images. Have no idea what that would look like? Check it out --
Cute no? If I was a guest I'd be totally entertained.
You know, after a 2 yr engagement and 9 months of blogging about DC area weddings and vendors it's not often that I come across something that blows me away anymore. Well, thanks to Laura and her blog I have been incredibly impressed with the talent of Mike at Monachetti.
When we began planning, Fiance and I briefly considered and then disregarded the idea of a videographer for our wedding. Why? Well for one thing videography can cost up to $10,000 (yes!) in the D.C. area and honestly I wasn't all that impressed. The cheaper vendors were cheesy and even the work of the more expensive videographers seemed very contrived to me. It was all kind of overly dramatic, slow motion shots that just didn't fit me or what I wanted my wedding to be.
I briefly flirted with the idea of 8mm films but there weren't many vendors in the area offering this service (if you are interested check out In Films - packages starting at $2,000 and Layer Cake Films- packages starting at $2,300) . And with so many other things to pay for I just couldn't convince Fiance that this was a necessity.
I can honestly say now, though, that if I could chose anyone to film our wedding it would be Monachetti. Just watch these two sample clips and tell me you aren't totally IN LOVE.
The Wedding of Amy and Casey
The Wedding of Shannon and Matt
Mike is really kind, and his prices are consistent with quality DC area videography (don't worry, he's no where near $10,000!). He's also willing to negotiate with price.
What appeals to me most is that his films look like a beautiful documentary of your day and not like the "Hollywood production" of your day. Nothing contrived here. He also has great taste in picking really unique music that creates the right vibe for your video.
Be sure to check out all the clips on his site under "video". The two I featured above are black and white, which I happen to prefer, but if you want color he has done plenty. Of the color films, I liked "Sarah and Stephen" because the bride has beautiful red hair and the ending was so happy it made me smile.
