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Exciting news for My Memories Forever. We have decided to buy 2 more of the HD Sony cameras and sell off all of our old equipment. This is wonderful news for anyone that has already booked our company for they’re wedding, as these cameras deliver superior quality over our old cameras. They are bigger and heavier, but an absolute joy to use.

Sarah and Matt had an absolutely perfect day for an outdoor wedding. It was held at the Paine Art Center in Oshkosh, Wi on June 21, 2008. One of our favorite venues to have an outdoor wedding. The ceremony was beautiful. The highlight was a butterfly release before the recessional. Butterflies everywhere as Sarah and Matt came down the aisle. We captured some beautiful footage. I went back to the Paine a couple of days later and recorded even more footage of the property. I think I could spend all day there just getting video shots. We should be editing this one towards the middle of July, if not sooner. Check this blog often for my updates.

Bruce & Janell

June 14, 2008. What a beautiful wedding this was. Some of the best music we have ever heard. A string quartet that was awesome, beautiful weather and wonderful people were the recipe for this perfect wedding day. We captured some great footage and great audio. I am looking forward to beginning the editing on the wedding, which should begin on June 30, if not a little sooner. Keep an eye on my progress reports on this blog.

Bruce & Janell

This is the time of year when we are all caught up with our editing and Bruce looks back at the year and gets all caught up on paperwork and clean-up stuff!  It’s a wonderful time of year for playing with the equipment and trying to perfect all those new techniques we picked up at conferences last year.  During the height of the wedding season(seems like the season is extending itself every year!) we stay pretty focused on the job at hand-capturing great memories.  But February and March are months when we usually don’t do too many weddings so it’s time to PLAY with the equipment and filters, and features, and all the stuff that is just too "new" during a wedding. 

Stay tuned-we’re getting ready for 2008!

Bruce is back hard at work on our January wedding video. Using a few new ideas he picked up at the Videography Convention we just attended, he is making great progress.  There have been 2 teasers posted for the newlyweds to preview and their response has been wonderful.  We’ve really been thrilled with the use of the blog by this couple as they have shared the teasers with other members of their family.  It’s a great way for a family to see where we are in the editing process AND for us to get reactions along the way. 

Creating a video is really a blend of different skills-the marriage of good equipment, a good sense of timing and what is important to the couple, and the ability to blend multiple camera shots into a cohesive telling of a story about a very important day. Looks like we are making that blend work again-that’s exciting for everyone!

Monday always brings a dose of reality for our work schedule but returning from a Convention in Orlando is really HARD!  Bruce spent time Sunday afternoon going back to the location of our last wedding to get some outdoor shots of the church and reception site. The temperature on January 19th was sub-zero and there was no way that he was going to be able to walk around with camera in hand and get the shots he wanted.  So-even though it was Sunday-back he went.

The editing begins now on that wedding. Since we hit all our deadlines on 2007 weddings, we are right on schedule again.  We had a really good time at the January 19th wedding and are excited about doing the edit.  Of course, that means Bruce won’t be able to spend too much time playing with the new equipment he got at the Convention!  Watch for photos of what we have added to our working equipment this week.

We have spent the last 3 days going to interesting seminars about our craft.  It has been fun to see old friends and meet new friends while talking about new trends in videography.  We have sat in on sessions ranging from HD vs. regular video, how to make a music video with the bridal party, Marketing our new ideas, and have seen some great new ideas for using special effects during high light videos.

We have one more day of sessions today and then it is back to the cold of Wisconsin.  Florida has been a real treat with the temps in the high 60-low 70′s each day.  Tomorrow reality will return!

After a wonderful wedding on Saturday, Bruce and I flew to Orlando on Sunday to attend a video convention to learn some new techniques for our business. The wedding was beautiful.  Bright sunlight was coming in through the stained glass windows as the couple made their vows. The bride looked so elegant and was glowing in her white strapless gown with ruffles held up at the side by sequins and beads. The long train of netting was the perfect ending to the gown.  The 9 bridesmaids were dressed in street length black dresses and all carried bouquets of white roses. It was very stunning.

The reception was at a great country club and, inspite of the sub zero weather when packing and unpacking equipment, was fun to be at.  The dining room was breath-taking with white, black and crystal accents. Snowflakes were everywhere on the tables for a sparkling touch.

When we got home, after the dance, we checked the video and can’t wait to get started editing it!  The audio is crisp and clear and the bride’s blue eyes are beautiful to see.

Watch for more on the conference. We return home on Friday, January 25th.

Tonight the charging begins! Every time we have a wedding it requires planning to make sure all the batteries are fully charged.  Our studio becomes a mess of cameras, boxes open with equipment peeking over the edges, and wires running everywhere. You would think that in this age of techno advances, someone would have invented a simpler way to charge batteries. BUT NO!  You still have to plug the darn things in and wait.

Friday night we will go to the rehearsal and have our first chance to meet the rest of the wedding party  and officiant. We willwalk through our camera placements and decide where to put recording devices.  Bruce always tries to get some of the audio devices in place and taped down if possible.  The wedding is in Appleton so the drive won’t be too long.

Our area of Wisconsin is expecting 4-6 inches of snow today and tonight but we expect to be dug out by tomorrow for the rehearsal. What a Wisconsin winter we are having!!!

We spent Sunday at a bridal show at the Paper Valley Radisson Hotel in Appleton, WI.  There were quite a few photographers and dj’s there and only two other videographers. It’s always interesting to see the blend of vendors at an event like this.  We had plenty of time to talk with some nice prospective brides and grooms. About half were doing their final planning for a wedding this year and the rest were looking to 2009.  The show was pretty elegant with waiters passing around glasses of champagne and hot h’ors d’oeuvres-very high class!

Bruce is trying to focus on editing a great ceremony while we both look forward to next week’s trip to Orlando for the 4Ever Group’s Video Convention!

Janell and I are both exhausted after a successful Wedding Show at Shopko Hall in Green Bay. It was our 4th show and as always, it was a great show. 3500 people attended and that kept us busy for the whole 2 days we were there.

We really liked our booth-we were next to The Cookie Ladies-a great bake shop that makes  wonderful cakes.  Being next to nice people helps the show go fast-being next to wonderful cupcakes and a chocolate fountain is fantastic!

We talked to quite a few brides who were just starting their planning for 2009 and even talked to 2 couples that were looking at 2010 for their wedding.  It was nice to have so many folks looking specifically for video!  We were able to talk quite a bit about the benefits of having a video and shared our highlight clips and discussed the specific way that we edit our videos. We met so many nice couples-everyone seemed excited and not too over-whelmed by the planning ahead of them.

We have another bridal show this coming Sunday in Appleton, WI. That should be fun too! Hope to see you there.

It’s almost time for the Green Bay Bridal Show at Shopko Hall this weekend.  This will be our 3rd time at this Show and we really love it.  The other vendors are nice and there are plenty of new brides and grooms to meet.  Bruce has been busy with all the support information that we take with us to share with prospective couples.  This year we have new business cards and brochures.

But Bruce is really excited about the new demo DVD that he compiled to share.  He spent a full week going back and forth through all the weddings we have done selecting just the right examples of our work.  Even though these are only highlight clips or snippets of different parts of a more complete video, these demos illustrate what makes our work special.  It was like looking at old family photos when we previewed the completed DVD.  We had a lot of fun reminiscing about what happened at each of the weddings. 

We’ll be in Green Bay Friday and Saturday and look forward to the whole event. There are daily bridal fashion shows, awesome cakes to sample, and lots of vendors to talk to about every part of a wedding.  We enjoy visiting with everyone.  It’s a lot of work getting ready for the event but the excitement in the air makes it all worth while.

We hope to see you there-be sure to stop and say Hi at our booth.

Julie and Pete were married Friday afternoon as the snow floated down.  Julie was beautiful in a white chiffon halter dress with silver crystal accents.  The bridesmaids wore black chiffon halter dresses with snowflake crystal accents. All the ladies carried beautiful red rosebud bouquets with silver spikes adding just the right amount of sparkle.

Because Julie had on white tennis shoes, the photographer (LIsa Ann) convinced her that it would be safe to walk out into the snow and pose for a few photographs.  We followed them into the snow and captured Julie spinning around like a beautiful snow angel before she vamped for the camera.  The ceremony was lovely-a full Catholic mass set amid poinsettias and Christmas trees. We had our usual 5 cameras and plenty of audio devices. The priest had no complaints when we were done and we think we captured everything. 

At the end of the ceremony, Julie and Pete went back out into the snow and exchanged a romantic kiss and a dip as the cameras watched every moment.  When the videographer gets kind of choked up, you know it’s a tender moment!

When we finish a video and drop the copies in the mail, it’s like saying goodbye to a friend.  Although we always include a feedback form and ask for comments, we don’t always hear back too much about our work.  So you can just imagine how excited we were to be asked to sit in on the Shefchik family watching Bruce and Julie’s video for the first time. We drove up to Green Bay for supper with the family and were greeted with hugs and smiles. Supper was great-lots of good food and plenty of great conversation. Then-it was time to watch the video!

We sat amidst the 12 family members, including the bride and groom and many of their wedding party, and listened with delight to the comments, laughs, and even saw a few tears. When Bruce’s dad and mom moved to sit next to each and hold hands during the vows, we knew we had done the kind of job they expected us to do.  LIstening to their comments on the music, the funny moments during the bridal preparation, and the tender glances that were exchanged during the ceremony, made all the hard work editing worthwhile.

Thanks to the Shefchik family for letting us share this special event!  We really enjoy your family and were so pleased to be able to tell the story of this special day in your lives.

Lindsay and Tom’s wedding was one of the most memorable weddings we documented. As Lake Michigan as a backdrop and a sunset wedding, what more could a bride want for?

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