I’m really proud of this one, perhaps my favorite film to date, maybe because it’s a little off the wall. . . . like me.

Trash the Dress, a concept that usually makes couples run for the hills, but in the case of Kimi and Geoff, it made them run for town. . . a ghost town to be exact. . .

I had the privilege of teaming up with the very talented Brandon Kidd of Brandon Kidd Photography, who managed to lock down a KILLER location. A very special shout out to the vintage vineyard truck which we found abandoned in the weeds. Just one of the many antiques left for us to feast our imagery upon in this gem of a location.

In any case, this is part 1 of a two part series. In part 2, there will be a behind the scenes look at the shoot itself including some of Brandon’s stunning photography. -Steve

This year Weddings by SML is in a transition to the Short-form edit. Traditionally, brides have always expected to see their wedding film in a “documentary style” meaning, the film would be anywhere from 45 minutes to 1:30 in length.

The film would show the day in its entirety with the ceremony taking up a large portion of the film (depending on the length of the ceremony). Needless to say, when friends come over, there is fast forwarding and constant jumping to the “fun scenes”. After all, sitting through a 1 hour Catholic Mass ceremony doesn’t always make for the greatest cinema. 🙂

Inevitably, the “fun scenes” were the montages and cinematic portions of the day (Ex. Bridal Preparations, Post ceremony footage with the Bride and Groom, etc.), which personally, I love not only to shoot, but to edit as well. Well, as our commander in chief likes to say, the time has come for change, not only in the way we shoot, but the way we edit the final film as well. . .

enter, the Short-form edit. . .

The concept is simple, “Deliver a final film that not only will entertain the bride and groom, but also knock the socks off the friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else dying to catch a glimpse. So, while we have been speaking with clients who booked their weddings with us for 09 in 2008 about the concept, here is an extended highlight, which takes on the look and feel of a shortform edit. Easier to let you press play then explain in text. . .

As we edge closer to 2010, we will ultimately make the jump into delivering only shorform edits ( 20-30min in length ) to our clients as a final delivery package. Keep in mind the video below is an EXTENDED HIGHLIGHT ( only 16 min ), however, the taste, touch, feel of it is very comparable to a full length Short-form Edit (once again 20-30 min in length).

There is something about large families with ties to their ethnic backgrounds that I absolutely adore. The controlled chaos that is the interaction between one another. The emotion that spills from their bodies as you can tell how much they care about one another. The fact that no matter how much stress, (and in the bridal suite prior to the ceremony. . . there is lots of it) these families always seem to bend, not break. Nectaria, Jeremy, and their families are no exception to this rule.

From the start of the day, this one had everything in it. A little chaos, a little emotion, a few nerves, and even an off the cuff political joke (explained in the clip). Never the less, with all the challenges, emotions, and quirks a big family can bring to a wedding day, this one performed flawlessly with a lot of love in the process.

Nectaria and Jeremy were married at the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Long Beach with the reception at the Long Beach Hyatt. When I went back through the footage, I found the toasts to be so fun, yet compelling that I had to share with everyone, and so here it is, the highlights from thier special day.

A very large thanks to Tony and Marion from Elegant Photography. Always a pleasure to work with! Couldn’t ask for a better Husband and Wife team!

There are several laws in nature that guide us in our lives and the way we live them. Gravity keeps us grounded. Traffic keeps us cranky. Weather keeps many of us in California. And last, but certainly not least. . . It doesn’t rain on the New Year’s Day Parade in Pasadena, nor does it rain on a bride’s wedding ceremony.

The forecast called for rain moving in on a Thursday and carrying on through the weekend, which happened to be Robert and Marianne’s Wedding Weekend. Saturday at 4:30pm to be specific. I assured Marianne of the “no rain on a ceremony” law and told her to keep the faith. Come Saturday morning, hail the size of marbles were hitting the ground outside my house. Wasn’t looking so good. . . but, sure enough, as the sun rises every morning, I couldn’t help but notice the clouds clearing as we cruised up to the Summit House in Fullerton for this beautiful “Black and White” affair.

The ceremony commenced at 4:30pm and sure enough, not a drop of rain. And no sooner had the rain parted for the two hour window we needed, did it return even harder by nightfall. Fortunately, by that point, the party was already underway under-roof without a hitch!

A Special Thank You to Scott Lim from Scott Robert Photography for being so easy to work with as we stressed out getting everything together in just a few hours for the presentation. Also, a HUGE Thank You to Justin Lopez from Generations Entertainment for his assistance with the Same Day Edit playing smoothly!

And here it is. . . Robert and Marianne, A Black and White Affair. . . . .

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Weddings by SML has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means Weddings by SML is one of the very best Video Production Houses out there!

Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

I would personally like to thank all of our past clients for speaking on our behalf and helping us win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award! If you haven’t had an opportunity to review us online yet, please do so by clicking HERE