Loretta & David | LoveStory

Loretta ♥ David ... Highlights from Love Story Media on Vimeo.

Loretta and David's wedding fell on a beautiful, classic rainy Vancouver day at the end of May. When I woke up and saw the gloomy skies all around me, my heart sunk a bit. Although we had a "plan B" for their ceremony, I knew that Loretta really really wanted an outdoor ceremony on the lawn in front of the their Brock House reception venue. If it were to downpour, we'd be forced inside, which would have made for a very unhappy bride. Although the rain didn't stop, it was light enough to go to Plan C, which meant outdoor wedding ON, clear umbrellas UP. The rain, although inconvenient, made for an incredibly romantic day, and even provided the opening shots of their ring close up for this incredible highlight video, created by the ever talented Erik of LoveStory Media.

I'm a bit of internet addict, so prior to catching some shut eye, I lay in bed and checked my email on my phone. Erik's email appeared in my inbox and my heart began to flutter. That meant that Loretta and David's wedding video was up! Woot woot! I kind of feel like a kid on Christmas morning when I press play- and I guess that's very fitting, because truly, having a wedding video from Love Story Media is probably the best gift one could ever open. Eager and full of excitement, I watched it for the very first time on my iPhone laying in bed with my hubby right beside me. I couldn't stop gushing about the video, about all of Erik's videos, and how incredibly incredibly talented he was. I then went on to reflect on our wedding day and how heartbroken I was that I hadn't even thought of a videographer during my planning process (I was not a wedding pro until about 8 months after my own wedding day- so although my wedding day was beautiful, carefully planned out and full of intimate details, I lacked the knowledge and experience to know what really matters when it comes to capturing a wedding day.) My hubby went on to say " You really like this Erik guy, hey? A bit of a crush, have we?"... I laughed, because little does he know that the real cursh I have is on his videos. I fall in love with each highlight video like a teenage girl falls in love with the current heart throb de jour while watching movies like Twilight or High School Musical (who am I kidding? I'm not a teenager and I'm in love with Zac Efron and Robert Pattinson). All quips aside, if you haven't already done so, head over to the Love Story Media blog, and start watching some film reels and you'll know what I mean. I can watch them all again and again.

I'm sure I'll update again when the photographs are ready, but in the meantime enjoy! And congratulations again to Loretta and David!

Sneak Peek of NYE wedding from Love Story Media

Video by Erik Andersen of Love Story Media.

While most people were putting on their party dresses, gearing up to clink their champagne glasses, and heading out to spend a crazy NYE dancing the night away, I was making a little wedding magic happen. Kristin came to me about 6 months ago to hire me for her New Years wedding. Interesting, I thought. What a fun way to ring in 2010 while starting a new life together! But this wasn't just any wedding. This was a wedding planner's wedding. Kristin owns and operates SugarLily Custom Event Design, and her portfolio of work is very impressive. The stakes were high, but we clicked right away and share many of the same OCD qualities (that I assume is a necessary quality in our line of work).

Kristin and Tyler's wedding was everything I would have expected it to be and more; touching, romantic, and beautiful in an almost ethereal way. The love Kristin and Tyler share was so apparent that I found myself having to dry my eyes more than once throughout the night. It was a stunningly gorgeous event and I was so happy to be a part of it.

I have almost recovered from that day, which started at 8:30 AM on the 31st and saw me arrive home the next day at 6:30 AM. It was an incredible feat to flip the room from ceremony to banquet while trying to make sure it looked perfect, in a timely fashion on course. As well, Kristin wanted to surprise her guests, family and wedding party alike with an uber cool lounge, so once the dinner was finished I went to work flipping the buffet room into the lounge. Midnight saw a cloud of white confetti fall upon the dance floor, and 2 AM saw myself get down and dirty for tear down.

The night ran perfectly (thank goodness, because there was a lot of pressure!) and I got to hang out with some amazingly cool vendors that I've been looking forward to meeting. Erich Saide wowed us with his brilliant photography skills and impressive collection of equipment; Photobooth Vancouver was a complete blast to hang out with; and last but certainly not least, this incredible sneak peek at the wedding was filmed and created by a very talented duo from Love Story Media. It was incredible to watch Erik of Love Story work his magic- you can really tell he knows what to shoot and when, and how to make the most out of your wedding footage. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, brides-to-be: hire a videographer! It is so worth it, and I guarantee you will be happy with Love Story.

I hope to post pictures from the wedding soon, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy this video!

An example of great wedding videography

Ashley & Jamie's Same Day Edit from Anguilla from Julie Hill on Vimeo.

I mentioned videography in an earlier post, but didn't post any relevent material to really back up my firm recommendation of hiring a professional videographer to capture your wedding memories. Well, here I have it; a lovely, short and sweet clip by the amazing Elysium Productions first found on my favourite blog ever, Style Me Pretty. And if you're anything like me, you will probably shed a few tears.

I can't stress how invaluable I believe videography is and forever will be to yourself and your family. It's perhaps the most amazing gift one could have, and you only have one shot at it. Why am I so passionate about this crusade? Well, let's just say that yours truly decided that family-shot footage on a just-bought, barely-charged video recorder would suffice. Well, it didn't. Albeit it is much better than nothing at all, but the camera died before mine or my husband's speeches, we have no video of our guests and when you have one camera, you only get one angle, and one view. We love movies, so why wouldn't we have wanted our own real-life fairy tale captured artistically forever? Don't ask me, I'm still bitter myself about the oversight on my part.

If it is anywhere in your budget, make sure to hire yourself a great videographer. You'll be happy you did. And if it's not (we understand times are tough), rally up a handful of friends and family with fully-charged digital camcorders, and make sure they capture every detail of your big day. You can then send the footage to a production company to edit it and make a video for you, learn to do it yourself using programs like iMovie for Mac, or have a talented friend do the work. Another option for those who just refuse to listen to me, or their wedding day has come and gone, you can always make your photos into a slideshow, put it to music, or commentary, and burn it to a disc. Regardless, record all of your hard-work and all of your priceless emotional memories, and I promise, you'll thank me in the end!

Credit: www.stylemepretty.com , and http://www.elysiumproductions.com

Top 10: #5 Don't underestimate the value of photos and video

5. Don't underestimate the value of photos and video. I always find photography and videography a touchy subject for brides. Of course most brides would love to have the best of both, but are scared away by the hefty price tags associated with them. Truth is, I was too, and since I hadn't properly been exposed to the world of creative photography yet I didn't really realize what the value was. If you don't think photography is important to you, then I challenge you to check out some magnificent photography on Style Me Pretty or another real weddings blog. Most likely you'll be overcome with a wave of emotion when looking at the true artistic nature of the photographs. They truly capture the feeling of the day, and after all of the hours of hard work and all the money spent, why wouldn't you want to capture your wedding in the best light possible? Now take a look at the portfolio of a less experienced photographer, and you will probably notice a significant difference. One is art, one is a picture. Sure, many people can photoshop and edit the photograph to look more professional, but determine the style of photography you want and then go for it. If you are completely satisfied with purely portait style photographs, then you can get away with a less expensive photographer. If all your little heart desires is a wedding album worthy of being published in a magazine, with jaw-dropping artistic shots, awe-inspiring detail shots of the little things that matter to you (like the favors you worked so hard on) then you might want to prepare yourself to re-adjust your budget. The one thing I PROMISE you is that you will regret not spending enough on a photographer, but you won't regret spending more for a true artist (as long as you're not getting ripped off). Another important thing to remember with photography is to make sure you ask your photographer for ALL of your photos on a disc. If they give you the best 300-400 edited on a disc, you will still want the rest that were taken. You never know, there might be some hidden gem in there that you truly fall in love with that your photographer may have passed over. My last and final piece of advice regarding photography is to make sure you scour for photos and poses and scenes that you love online and in magazines, and give those examples to your photographer so that they know exactly what you are looking for. This is one piece of advice that I knew before my wedding, but due to time constaints and stress overload, I completely overlooked (every part of me wishes I had done this).

I promise not to drag on about videography as I did with photography, but wanted to stress the importance of hiring a videographer. Now, you don't need to hire the Spielberg of the video production world to get a worthy product, but do do do actually hire a videographer instead of asking your cousin who has never operated a camera in his life to videotape your wedding with the new camera your mom just bought at Best Buy and only charged for 2 hours (yes, this really happened). Think of the joy your kids and grandkids will have being able to watch young versions of you walking down the aisle, dancing your first dance and cutting the cake. Yes, it's great to have for you, but think of the kids! Not to mention, the day goes by SO FAST and you're sort of in a little stress-induced high that by the end of the night you're not really sure you remember everything. A video capturing all of your hard work, all of the guests feelings and emotions, and that perfect day with your new husband will end up being a pricelesskeepsake. I know this isn't number one on the list, but if you asked me the one thing I could go back and change it would be this. I really really wish I had a great video of my big day.

Bella Tip: Get business cards printed online for next to nothing with your contact info, a photo sharing site and upload instructions. Include them in the envelope with your Thank You cards and hopefully you'll get even more photos from your big day. Even the best photographers can't capture every angle (well, unless you have 20 of them), so you'd be surprised how happy you will be to have your guests photos. My favorite shot from my cake cutting at my wedding is a guest photo because I love the angle they took the photo from!