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Jessica Piscitelli Got Married - Part 2

on Jan 17 in Deejay, Wedding, Wedding Cake, wedding photographer, wedding video

In my previous post about my fantastic wedding team, I focused on pre-ceremony and ceremony, with a little touch of reception, but this blog is really going to focus a lot on what happened after we said “I do!”

After the wedding ceremony, we had our photo/video session. It’s generally referred to as the photo session/cocktail hour, but since video plays such an integral roll, especially in my wedding, I’ll call it the photo/video session.

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Kristi Odom, of Kristi Odom Photography was a fantastic photographer to work with. Not only did I love the end result - the photos I have and am sharing on these blogs - but, and maybe more importantly, she was a pleasure to work with on the day of. Of course I have to remember I wasn’t “working with” her that day, as I have done on many weddings. I was simply the subject of her work, but she, and her assistant, Christopher Yost, were both fun to be around, professional, and didn’t get in the way of anything we were doing that day - yet somehow came back with great photos.

Then, of course, there is my video. I obviously couldn’t shoot this one myself so I used my associate videographer, Mike Alvarez, to capture the day.

I did edit the video myself, I must admit, but he gave me so many great shots to work with and I was so excited when I saw the footage. I also have to confess that I cried when I watched the video of Bart and I saying our vows. There is something about reliving that moment, something about the way video brings that day to life, that is moving in the way nothing else can be.

Jessica Piscitelli Got Married - Part 1

on Jan 11 in Deejay, Wedding, Wedding Cake, Wedding Flowers, wedding photographer, wedding video

I fell in love with a wonderful man. He gave me a beautiful ring in return for my hand. That was the easy part. Planning the wedding was a little more complicated.

As you can imagine, I have a lot of friends who work in the wedding industry, and only one wedding to go around. If I could, and my now husband would put up with it, I would get married three times at least just to be able to work with all the wonderful vendors I know in this area. Alas, I am sure he would not put up with it and so I had to choose. It was very difficult, but I ended up with the best wedding team a girl could ever hope for.

I have listed everyone I worked with with at the end of this post. They were all fabulous and I highly recommend every one of them, so please follow links to their websites and hire them for all of your weddings (especially if you are lucky enough to have three or more!).

But I need to say a few words about all of them, because it really was a fantastic wedding and I hardly had to do anything but show up. Turns out I have a lot to say, so this blog is going to come in part 1 and part 2.

First of all, my hair and makeup team. I am not a girlie girl and you don’t want to let me near a hair dryer or a makeup kit, so I knew I needed some extra help. I have been going to Jennifer Erk Reed, at Studio 61, for about five years. I first got her card at a wedding I was videotaping because she did such a fantastic job on the bride’s hair. She does a great job cutting and coloring my hair on a regular basis, but she really blew it out of the park with the hair style for my wedding! She also did the mother of the groom’s hair, who looked gorgeous from head to toe, but especially the head.

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And, of course, I loved my makeup as well. It was certainly not something I could’ve done myself, so I hired the lovely and talented Kim Giammaria, with Beauty Mark. Even though I was running late due to - you guessed it - traffic, she was very calm helping get my makeup done half an hour before my ceremony was going to start, and it looked great the whole day through.

In the following video, I made sure to include live audio from both the procession and the recession because Eric Waters, a guitarist with MSE Productions, did such a fantastic job. I married a Robinson so the recession song was particularly key and, even though it wasn’t on his playlist, he learned it especially for my wedding.

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Jewish Wedding at Sixth & I

on Dec 14 in Awards/Honors, Baltimore Wedding, Corporate Video, Deejay, Destination Weddings, Wedding Cake, Wedding Flowers, Wedding Planner, wedding photographer, wedding video

I recently finished a wedding video that was jam packed with so many of my favorite things - Sixth & I, Elegance & Simplicity, Tom Van Veen, of Documentary Associates, and the Decatur House. You can see from this short recap some of the highlights of the ketubah signing, the ceremony, and the reception.

The ketubah signing, bedeken and ceremony were at historic Sixth & I. It’s such a great place to have a ceremony and the chuppah was gorgeous. The flowers, provided by Elegance & Simplicity, were, if course, beautiful. Elegance & Simplicity also did the wedding planning, so everything ran on track.
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Fall Wedding at the Omni Shoreham

on Dec 06 in Wedding, Wedding Planner, wedding video

I sent the bride and groom their Blu-Ray discs over two weeks ago. Now, it isn’t always the case that I hear back right away. Sometimes I never hear back. Different people respond differently. But I was so excited when I finished this wedding. It was beautiful in so many ways, and I was very sad to not hear anything.

And then my phone rang. It was the bride. She had been out of town and had only just watched the video the night before. After watching it “My husband told me to call Jessica right away and tell her how much we love the video. We do, Jessica. It’s perfect. We love it!”

I love hearing that. It’s why I do weddings.
Here’s a short version of their recap so you can see a little of what made them so happy.

Live Streaming in Lieu of Catering

on Nov 03 in Deejay, Wedding Flowers, wedding video

A second wedding for both the bride and groom, this couple wanted to keep costs down, keep the event simple, but still include friends and family in their wedding ceremony. How to do all that? Simple, broadcast the event live.

To live stream the event, I set up one camera to be the live feed to the web, for all the friends and family tuning in at home. I also videotaped with a second camera, which gave me more flexibility for editing later. When you live stream, you need the camera to be connected to a computer which is online, so that camera really can’t move around much. Since the bride and groom also wanted their video edited, I recorded both the footage from the streaming camera as well as from a second, mobile, camera.

The result? Well, here’s what they had to say:
“I could not imagine a better videography vendor! Jessica provided top-notch quality, consultative, personal, creative, and timely service. Through the entire process of the initial planning sessions to logistics to the big day to the final product of a lovely video, everything was smooth. My husband and I watched the video and cried and laughed over and over when we received it, and we will enjoy it for years to come. I will recommend Jessica Pi Productions to anyone who needs a videographer.”
-Stacy & Damian

Russian Orthodox Wedding in DC

on Nov 01 in wedding video

I have videotaped Greek Orthodox weddings, Persian weddings, African, Jewish, and Catholic weddings, but this was my first Russian Orthodox wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony, the bride was gorgeous, and it was a great wedding to be a part of.

Why You Need Video - Words from a Bride

on Oct 12 in wedding video

“Enlisting Jessica Pi for videography was a last minute “splurge” I made one week before the wedding and I could not be happier with that decision! I’ve heard/read that so many brides regret not having a videographer to capture the day and I decided that was one regret I didn’t want to have.

Jessica was recommended to me by my amazing photographer, Kristi Odom, and I was extremely lucky that she happened to be available on such short notice! Jessica was awesome to work with - even though we didn’t get a chance to meet until my actual wedding day! Upon waking up the morning after the wedding, my first thought literally was, “THANK GOD WE HAVE VIDEO TO RE-LIVE THAT AMAZING DAY AND SEE ALL THE THINGS WE DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO SEE/APPRECIATE YESTERDAY!”

My wedding day was so magical and wonderful and Jessica captured everything in the video. She did such a wonderful job that I start crying (happy tears) all over again when I watch the video and I’ve watched it more than I want to admit!

Thank you so much Jessica! You’re so talented and I will definitely be singing your praises to future brides!”
-Allison and Brian

Outdoor Wedding on the Eastern Shore, MD

on Sep 07 in Wedding Planner, wedding photographer, wedding video

I love hearing from brides after they received their DVDs. Allison wrote me within days and I was so happy to hear that I made her cry!

“Hi Jessica,
Thank you so much!!! We LOVE the wedding video! It made everyone cry all over again and you caught all the wedding day details I was hoping to see. Is it possible to get 2 more copies of the DVD?
Thanks!
Allison
P.S. Is there anywhere in particular you’d like me to write a review for you?!”

Check out this recap of their beautiful day. Maybe it will make you cry.

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Beautiful Outdoor Wedding in Bluemont, VA

on Jul 21 in Baltimore Wedding, Corporate Video, Wedding Flowers

I could not get over how gorgeous this outdoor wedding in Bluemont, Virginia was. The couple was glowing, the scenery was amazing, and it was an all around incredible atmosphere. Here is a video that recaps the best moments of the ceremony and reception throughout the day.

The outdoor ceremony was lovely, and the bride and groom could not have been happier. Their photographer, Hyon Smith, did a fantastic job capturing the mood and feel of the day’s events, and was great to work with.

The floral and event design of Holly Heider and her team was absolutely amazing, and deserving of it’s own video. Check out the video below to see how she covered every little detail, and added little touches to make the day extra special.

A Diamond Events Wedding in Occoquan, VA

on Jun 22 in Wedding Planner, wedding video

I just finished editing an HD wedding video of a beautiful wedding in Occoquan, VA.

Here is a glimpse of all the best moments of the wedding day recapped in one song.

The bride and groom were lovely, and I had a great time working with them. Michael Alvarez was my second camera person for the ceremony and we captured a lot of great details in our high definition footage.

But what made this wedding special was the planning and the design by Stephanie Hughes, of Diamond Events. The following video is of the photo session/cocktail hour. You can see a lot of touches of design put into the flowers and decor at the reception at the Harbor View, in Occoquan, VA.

Stephanie and her crew were great to work with. As expected, the day ran like clockwork and everyone was where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there. More importantly, Stephanie is just a pleasure to be around, always with a smile on her face. And no wonder - she threw such a beautiful and fun wedding event, she had every right to be smiling!