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.

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.

One more point I want to make about the photo/video team that surprised even me, and I have been to probably a thousand weddings, is how much time you end up spending with your photographer and videographer.  I have done this a million times at weddings I have shot, but never experienced it as a bride before.  You spend five minutes, maybe ten, with most of your guests during the course of the day, but you spend thirty to forty minutes with your photo/video team.  I was surprised by that, but also so happy that I had chosen to work with such a great team.  Kristi, Chris and Mike are all so pleasant and I had a lot of fun “hanging out” with them.  Just a word to the wise, make sure you like your photographer and videographer, because you will see a lot of them.

You can see from the photos and the video on this page what a great job the photo/video team did - and how great Bart and I looked - but a big part of what made those images so beautiful is the setting.  Stonewall Golf Club was a great venue, but the access they have to Lake Manassass provided an incredible backdrop!  I also have to say, the food was great.  We were so happy with the choice of venue and working with Jennifer Mott and Jeanna Hilton during the booking and planning process was so easy.  They were always prompt to reply with answers, and everything just ran seamlessly at the reception.

A big part of that, of course, is due to our deejay, Wayne Boyland, of A Sound Plan.  Wayne was so helpful in giving us music to choose from for all of our main dances, in advance of the wedding, of course.  On the day of, he kept the reception moving along, the guests dancing, and played all our favorite music.

Last, but not least, we have the cake.

I have been friends with Mary and David Supley-Foxworth, of MallowDrama, for a few years now, and it was really a no-brainer when it came time to choose my cake maker.  They are great friends to have for many reasons, but one of them is that I have gotten to taste so much yummy cake over the years.  When it was time for us to choose our cake flavor and design, they brought over a ton of samples of flavors and icing and then suggested and sketched out an original design for us.  We had a layered cake of bananas foster and chocolate espresso and I only wish I got to have my cake and eat it too because it was so pretty I didn’t want to cut it up, but it was so yummy I wanted to eat it all!

I had a wonderful wedding.  From the planning to the photo and video keepsakes, it was a great experience.  And, of course, I get to keep the very best part until death do us part.

Wedding Team:
Hair: Jen Erk, Studio 61
Makeup: Kim Giammaria, Beauty Mark
Flowers: Elegance & Simplicity
Minister: Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, UUCF
Ceremony Music: Eric Waters, MSE Productions
Photographer: Kristi Odom, Kristi Odom Photography
Videographer: Michael Alvarez, Jessica Pi Productions
Cake: MallowDrama
Deejay: A Sound Plan
Reception Venue: Stonewall Golf Club

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.

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.

As you can see, I shortened the video of the ceremony considerably. Not so in the Blu-Ray disc we have at home. It was such a beautiful ceremony that I kept in almost every moment for our own video. Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, the minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fairfax, did such a fantastic job writing a very personalized ceremony. We had met with her several times before the wedding day and she really brought so many unique-to-us tidbits into the ceremony that Bart and I were both on the verge of tears the entire time. And yes, I giggle when I am trying not to cry, so if any of that comes across in the video of my vows, it’s a nervous habit.

The last vendor I have room for in part one, is someone else who really added beauty to the day. I have been friends with and known Katie Martin, of Elegance & Simplicity, for six or seven years. I have videotaped so many weddings where her team did the floral arrangements that I just had to ask her to do my wedding. Now, I need to point out, or Katie will kill me, that the sea grass and shell on the podium behind us during the ceremony was not her work. (It just happened to be in our church on the day of our ceremony.) We were conservative with our floral order and just had Katie do the two bouquets, which were gorgeous beyond belief, and the boutonnieres. For our reception, we wanted something eco-friendly and alive, so Katie suggested live, potted herbs for the centerpieces, which was a fantastic suggestion especially since they doubled as party favors.

Wedding Team:
Hair: Jen Erk, Studio 61
Makeup:  Kim Giammaria, Beauty Mark
Flowers:  Elegance & Simplicity
Minister: Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, UUCF
Ceremony Music:  Eric Waters, MSE Productions
Photographer:  Kristi Odom, Kristi Odom Photography
Videographer:  Michael Alvarez, Jessica Pi Productions
Cake:  MallowDrama
Deejay:  A Sound Plan
Reception Venue:  Stonewall Golf Club

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.

Aside from the bride and groom being gorgeous, this was a beautiful all around event, and a lot of the credit for that goes to the wedding planner, Mr. William Grace. He put together a fabulous event and seemed happy and relaxed the whole time. He was a pleasure to work with and I know the bride and groom loved him. You can see the bride giving him a little token of her appreciation in the bridal prep video.

It was a beautiful wedding day and there was a lot of love to go around. I am glad I was there to catch some of it!

For years now, I have offered couples the Recap (in addition to the longer edited video). This brief video montage is set to music and shows the big moments from the ceremony and reception. Clocking in at about 3 minutes, the Recap is a glimpse into your wedding and a great reminder of your celebration for your guests to enjoy.

The Highlights Reel is a new offering to share more of your day. This option lets you relive your wedding with your family and friends, and is a wonderful way for those who could not attend to watch you exchange your vows, see your first dance, and the hear the words offered in toast to you. Or, use this as the trailer or preview to your full-length video. In the 10- to 15-minute Highlights Reel, video, music, and audio are woven together to showcase the joy, excitement, and details of your wedding. The Highlights Reel captures the iconic events and elements as well as some of the smaller ones that help set the scene - smiling relatives, the bride getting ready, decorations dancing in the breeze.

Check out the Highlights Reel from this wedding in the Dominican Republic.

Their destination wedding was a weekend-long affair, and the video includes footage from their rehearsal, as well as personal messages to one another.

View another example of the this Highlights Reel from a Persian wedding reception at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium.

There are clips from live music and dance performances, as well as toasts, and traditional wedding moments.
Contact me to discuss the many ways we can share your special day.

This video includes footage from Rome, Venice, France and the Dominican Republic.  Where you go to say “I Do,” make sure you have a professional there to document your journey.

Here’s why hiring a professional videographer for your destination wedding is important.

1.  Video is necessary. There will come a time when you look at your photo album and wonder, what made me laugh in that photo?  What did he say that brought a tear to my eye?  You can play your video 5, 10, or 20 years from now to find out.

2.  Many destination hotels offer on staff photographers and videographers.  Unfortunately, this usually means that you don’t have a selection - that there is only one choice.  That person may or may not be a professional in the field he will be booked for your event.  It is hard to attain assurances in advance when the person is not local.

3.  Once your video is taped, you will want it to be edited.  This takes a lot of time and a lot of correspondence to make sure it is being edited to your taste.  Working with someone in another location could entail language barriers, format issues, or just a lot of long distance phone and shipping costs.

4.  I have a BFA in production from NYU film school.  I have been professionally capturing events for the past 11 years and have traveled many times with my camera gear.  You want to be sure you are in good hands and don’t have to worry about anything going wrong on your wedding day.  Hiring a professional will take one more concern off your shoulders.

Jessica worked with other Bliss Collection members to plan a staged wedding.  We used actors for all the principle roles and then the entire group got together and contributed services to show what a beautiful wedding we could put on if we all work together on one event.

You can see the promo video we created from the day’s events on the Bliss Collection Website. I  also recently completed a behind the scenes look at how the day went, showing each of the vendors at work.

Here is a list of all of the vendors who participated in this event and what they contributed:
Bergerons Flowers & Events – ceremony flowers, bouquets, personal flowers, centerpieces
Blush Bridal Boutique – gowns for bride and bridesmaids
David Madison Photography – photography
The Finer Points – member of events committee, added event planning support
For All Occasions – member of events committee, added event planning support
Gala Cloths – tablecloths, napkins, chair covers
Jessica Pi Productions – videography
Leslie Kane - Mary Kay Cosmetics
M. Beem Jewelers – engagement and wedding rings, and bride’s jewelry
Makeup Artistry by Tracie Rosales – make-up application for bride and bridesmaids
MallowDrama – wedding and groom’s cakes
My Mobile Salon – hairstyling for bride and bridesmaids
Photography by Alexander – photography
Presentations – invitation suite, programs, escort cards, menus, table signs, custom-labeled wine bottles
Say “I Do” Your Way – officiants
Seasons Cards & Gifts – favors
Select Event Rentals – china, chargers, glasses, flatware
A Sound Plan – DJ/emcee
Stonewall Golf Club – event facility

I have already met with one of Stephanie’s 2010 couples and could tell that they are really enjoying working with her on the wedding planning process.

Stephanie has been in business for herself for a little over a year now and has been learning about all of the different venues and vendors in this area since she moved to Northern Virginia from Blacksburg last year.  Stephanie is extremely detailed oriented and able to take care of all of your wedding and event planning needs.

If you are interested in learning more about Stephanie, check out her website or visit her blog!

I recently sat down for coffee (well, tea, really) with Andrea Jacobson of The Observatory.  Andrea and I are both members of the DC Couture Wedding Consortium as well as the DC Green Wedding Consortium together.  We had a great talk about the wedding business and bigger things, like life in general.  I had a great time and the best part was when Andrea shared some of her current projects with me.

The Observatory, as you can see from these photos, does amazing work.  Andrea is not only the owner, but also one of the photographers.

The photographers for The Observatory are all unique, yet they all shoot documentary style.  Furthermore, as you will see if you visit ObservatoryPhoto.com – is that they all like to watch.