Blue sky wedding for Liz & Chris at Milwaukee Country Club

It’s Debut Day for Liz & Chris, who were married earlier this month on a bright sunny Saturday at the Milwaukee Country Club in River HIlls amid a small outdoor gathering of close family and friends.

We will always remember their wedding day as simply brilliant.

It started with perfect weather: A cerulean sky dotted with cotton ball clouds seemed to make the club’s grounds even greener than most late summer Saturdays. Perhaps the lush plants sensed fall creeping in and added an extra green lustre just for the newlyweds.

Then, let’s talk about Liz & Chris, who simply glowed with that special energy that two people in love always have. You could see it in their eyes, which always sparkled at each other, in their ready smiles, and how they always seemed to be within close reach of each other throughout the day. So sweet!

Thoughtful details

Every detail, too, had been thought of carefully, from the order of the Bible verses read during the ceremony, to the bride’s stunning Sareh Nouri gown to the artfully composed floral designs from Wood Violet. Owner Emily and her team created a stunning focal point design – on site on the day of the ceremony! – to frame the bride and groom as they said their vows. We adored the bride’s delicate bouquet that gave a nod to an arrangement carried by a certain elegant British royal, 😊

Two incredible moments stood out for us on a day filled with beauty and love. First, when the couple saw each other in their wedding attire during their first look on a picture perfect bridge on the golf course grounds. Wow! We never – ever – get tired of recording reactions when a wedding couple sees their partner all decked out for the first time. Pure love and joy.

The second wonderful moment came when Liz and Chris said a socially distant and loving hello to Chris’ grandmother, who was tucked safely to the side during the outdoor festivities. It was touch and go for her to attend, but every precaution was taken to keep grandma safe!

Congrats to the newlyweds, and we wish you a lifetime of happiness and love!

The Team:

santiagomurillophoto
gigimkeboutique
hhclothingco
lovebasedbeauty
erikofnorwaysalonspa
schwankekasten
milwaukeecountryclub

The Team – Choosing a Wedding Videographer – Part 2

The team is the next important factor in choosing the right wedding videographer.

All things being equal — for instance, the gear used to record your wedding — what truly makes or breaks a great wedding film is the person behind the camera.

Team Experience with Gear Matters

We know our gear inside and out, and I can’t tell you how important that is when filming a wedding.

Lighting and audio change dramatically throughout a wedding day. We absolutely have to know how to adapt to different settings and troubleshoot to ensure that we’re capturing everything correctly.

An inexperienced shooter who doesn’t have mastery of their gear will simply miss a ton of moments, or they’ll be out of focus or overexposed, making the final product unwatchable.

Having a full gear kit with the right cameras, audio recorders and lights is no small feat. On average, we bring about $25,000 in gear to every wedding shoot, and we think that investment shows in our final product. A videographer with just one camera is simply not going to get the depth and breadth of our coverage.

Team Experience with Itineraries Matters

If you’re considering a friend or non-professional to capture your wedding day, you might save a lot of money, but you might also lose a lot of memories.

We’ve filmed nearly 100 weddings, and we are experts at understanding the flow of a wedding day so that we are anticipating the action rather than reacting.

Because of our experience, we also know that itineraries can change on a dime due to weather or mechanical issues. No problem! One of our favorite moments at a wedding was when the party bus broke down, and we worked with the photographer to use that time for some great candids and romantic shots!

Team Experience as Professionals Matters

You can be assured that we’ll act in a matter befitting of a wedding. We dress appropriately and blend in like flies on the wall, yet still capture every moment. It’s only years of experience and confidence in our ability and gear that allows that kind of approach.

Next week, we’ll share the last important factor when choosing a wedding videographer.

Cheers,
Cindy

Audio – Choosing a Wedding Videographer – Part III

This is our Rode PinMic microphone. The nobby top is about the size of a button and we hide this mic on our grooms to capture vows. It’s the smallest, least-obtrusive microphone out there, and we use it so that no one sees our gear!

This is our Rode PinMic microphone. The nobby top is about the size of a button and we hide this mic on our grooms to capture vows. It’s the smallest, least-obtrusive microphone out there, and we use it so that no one sees our gear!

Audio is the last aspect we’ll talk about when choosing the right wedding videographer.

We love getting all those gorgeous shots of our couples in romantic settings, but all of that pretty footage doesn’t hold up unless you have a rock solid story to pair with it.

And that requires pristine audio.

Audio Capture with Three Sources

Audio is so important to our storytelling process, that we always have three sources of audio at every “big” moment of your wedding.

For instance, at the ceremony, we’ll hide the miniscule yet powerful Rode PinMic on the groom, tucked just under the boutonniere. This amazing microphone is about the size of a button, yet it pulls it the most delicious sonorous signals. This attaches to a tiny pocket recorder (about half the size of a deck of cards) that gets tucked into a pocket.

Then, we’ll use our RodeLink wireless microphone on your officiant to capture their important sermons and comments. Because this is wireless, we’ll be able to monitor the audio as it occurs, and because this setup is also powerful, it becomes our second source of your vows in case the groom’s mic fails.

We’ll also place a tiny recorder on the lectern, and if music is super important during your ceremony, we’ll also have a recorder next to your musicians.

Lastly, we’ll also have a recorder tucked near any speaker that amplifies the church or house sound of your venue. We rarely have to use this triple backup source, but having its recording gives me piece of mind.

Why Audio Is So Important

The reason we go to great lengths to get clean and rich audio recording is because as the editor, audio is the first source I turn to when I begin to edit your Cinematic Wedding Film.

I want the people who spoke at your wedding, as well as the words you two exchange, to drive the story arc of your film. That means you’ll see snippets of sermons or readings, toasts or asides, vows or first looks. I want you to feel the range of emotions you felt on your wedding day to shine through.

Audio is what makes the difference!

Cheers,
Cindy

Footage – Choosing a Wedding Videographer – Part I

How much footage you receive is one of the biggest factors to consider when choosing a wedding videographer.

It’s one of the “big 3” factors that we advise couples to consider when in the hunt for a wedding filmmaker.

Choosing a Videographer: Lots and Lots of Footage

Our pride and joy is creating your Cinematic Wedding Film, which is a finely crafted highlight film of the best moments of the day. We carefully listen to the words spoken on your wedding day and weave them together in a story arc that will have you laughing one moment and crying the next.

Our longest Cinematic Wedding Film is 20 minutes, and yet there’s still a TON more footage that won’t make it into your Cinematic Film. And we want to make sure you get as much of it as possible.

Documentary Films Mean More Footage

We also edit Documentary Films of your Ceremony and Reception Key Moments. These videos are of those events essentially in “real time.”

What does that mean?

For your Ceremony, we record from the processional to the recessional and everything in between with multiple cameras. If your Ceremony lasts an hour, then we deliver an 60-minute ceremony, crafted from multiple cameras that always deliver the best angle.

For your Reception, we focus on the Key Moments, which include a grand entrance, cake cutting, toasts, first dances and any other event that you want captured.

Most Sweet Pea couples end up with final packages that are 40 to 60 minutes long as a result.

Yes, we love creating our Cinematic Wedding Films. We know they evoke tremendous emotion.

But we also know the value of having all that extra footage, too, as time marches on. You’ll definitely linger on those Documentary videos to look back to see all the people who attended your wedding, and to relish in so many moments that didn’t make it into your Cinematic Wedding Film.

Next week, we’ll share the second important factor when choosing a wedding videographer.

Cheers,
Cindy

Best of Milwaukee: Marquette, Lake Michigan, War Memorial, Marriage

People who don’t know much about Milwaukee often wonder about the city’s appeal.

But for those of us lucky enough to live in this hamlet on the nation’s Third Coast, Milwaukee’s charms are more than abundant.

That’s precisely why Valerie and Ryan planned a wedding that would showcase some of the best of what their city has to offer: alma mater Marquette University with its gorgeous Gesu Church and our unparalleled lakefront with a joyful reception at the modernist Milwaukee County War Memorial Center.

The War Memorial not only became a beautiful location for a celebration, but its iconic bronze Abraham Lincoln statue by artist Gaetano Cecere holds a special place in Valerie’s heart, where she gathered her brother and cousins to take a photo for a grandparent who couldn’t make it to the wedding due to poor health. Lincoln is dear to this relative, and Valerie wanted to make sure they knew they were part of this special day.

Thoughtfulness like that perfectly explains how wonderful this couple is and how they are simply meant for each other.

Family means the world to these two, and above all they wanted their loved ones gathered close as they launched their married lives together.

Milwaukee on tour

These two Marquette grads started the day off at Gesu Church, which is the religious heart of the Jesuit university. A deacon from Valerie’s home church officiated the ceremony, and his personal connection to the wedding couple made the ceremony even more personal.

We enjoyed his entire sermon, but particularly like what became the opening voice over for Val and Ryan’s Sneak Peek. We won’t soon forget his statement about presiding over the wedding ceremony of “The Pope.” (If you want to fully understand that, you’ll just have to watch the Sneak Peek!)

Once the ceremony concluded, the rest of the day was all about fun!

Milwaukee’s lakefront

First the wedding party toured Milwaukee by bus while a light mist brought a glow to the streets. A quick stop at a favorite Marquette U haunt Caffrey’s Pub for refreshments and some hoops, and then it was on to the beautiful War Memorial reception.

The rain let up just enough so that guests could wander along the center’s expansive deck, which offers amazing views of the lake, Veterans Park, Milwaukee Art Museum and Discovery World.

The center’s newly refurbished ballroom sparkled, and guests sat down to a delicious meal. No only were guests treated to a great meal, but they also heard moving speeches by Valerie’s father, David, as well as best man Mark and maid of honor Alexandria.

While more of these toasts will be in the couples’ full film, we just had to include parts of David’s speech, because it was the perfect blend of funny, serious, sentimental and adoring. We hope you agree!

Congrats to Valerie and Ryan! We are so honored to have been given the honor of filming your big day, and we hope it brings you joy for years to come.

The Team:

Ceremony venue: Gesu Church
Officiant: Deacon Mike Penich
Reception venue: Milwaukee County War Memorial
Photographer: Happy Gnome Photography
DJ:
Sound by Design
Florist: Cora Flora
Cake: Batches Milwaukee
Bride’s gown: Bliss Bridal
Bridesmaids attire: David’s Bridal
Groom’s attire:  Cole Hann from Men’s Warehouse
Bride’s & makeup: Studio 890 Salons
Couple’s rings: Craig Husar – Fine Diamonds and Jewelry
Transportation: Camp Bar Third Ward

Love lakefront weddings? Check out Sarah & Adam’s lovely day at Discovery World