Christi & Justin - Galena, IL

Christi and Justin had an awesome wedding day. Shortly after I arrived, the decision was made to have the wedding outside, under the prediction that rain would hold off long enough to make it happen. It was a good decision because the rain did hold off and the Galena Ramada has a great backyard, which made for a really beautiful ceremony. By the way, I'm convinced that Galena, IL is one of the best places in the area for a wedding. Of course, I am a bit biased since I got married in the Galena area, but still...it is a great place. The setting, the decorations, the people, and most of all the obvious and grounded love between these two made it really enjoyable for me to be able to capture this day.

A couple fun clips...

Usually when I post my wedding video work here, I only post highlight videos and not many people really ever get to see any of the full-length video. Today I'm turning over a new leaf! These two clips are taken from Christi & Justin's full-length video and they crack me up. I hope they crack you up too.

Ashley & Sean's Wedding Photos

I had such a hard time narrowing down photos to post here from Ashley & Sean's wedding. In the end, I decided to just post a whole bunch of them. Kelsey and I have been friends with Ashley & Sean for quite a while. Kelsey grew up with Ashley and has been friends with her just about as far back as she can remember and we both got to know Sean pretty soon after they started dating. They're also talented photographers themselves and have both assisted us on some of our wedding shoots. These two are such a great couple. Their fun and laid-back personalities complement each other so well and we're so happy they found each other.

Ashley & Sean used Sean's parents' beautiful property as the setting for their wedding and the weather was perfect.

This was a first for me at a wedding and it was awesome - Sean and his groomsmen showed their talents as stuntmen with a mock fight. After the first dance, Sean's groomsmen pretended to make a pass at Ashley and Sean fought back, ultimately throwing each of them to the ground after a few punches and flips. It was quite the show!

Katrina & Anthony Are Married!

You may remember seeing Katrina & Anthony's Love Story Video on my blog not too long ago. Now they're married and I love how the highlight video of their wedding turned out. On the day of their wedding, it rained in the morning and then turned into a beautiful day just in time for the wedding. When evening came, the sunset was amazing and the warm light flooded onto the dance floor, which was really cool. Also, I've gotta say that I love my job. I work with so many awesome people and because I work so closely with them capturing every moment, by the end of a day of shooting I often feel like I'm a member of the family. Then I get really excited about being able to show them everything I captured. Katrina and Anthony and their families definitely left me feeling that way and I'm excited to display their highlights here.

Lauren & Tom at Oak Hill

Almost three years ago, Kelsey and I got married outdoors at a beautiful location near Galena, IL called Oak Hill. Just a few weeks ago, we both returned there to shoot someone else's wedding. Lauren and Tom got married in the on-site chapel, so it wasn't exactly the same spot that we used, but it still was so cool being back there. It brought back lots of memories!

Their reception was at Eagle Ridge which also provided an absolutely beautiful setting. Lauren & Tom had all their family and guests drive to Galena from Chicago because Lauren wanted to use these locations away from the big city.

I must confess that personally, I'm not a huge country music fan, but I wanted to post this video anyway. Tom & Lauren had a bit of a country theme going on, and I think the music they picked out ended up fitting their video really well. Plus, they got married at Oak Hill, so I've got to show it off!

Kelsey was the photographer and she got some great pictures - check out some of her favorites from the day here and here.

Joy & Trevor - April 26, 2008

I had to put this video on the blog. Joy and I have known each other since we were about 2 years old. My first memory of Joy was being together at a daycare while our moms were at a Bible study. I remember seeing this girl who had the audacity to chew her gum with her mouth open. I told her close her mouth when she chews! To be fair, I hear one of her first memories of me was of her scolding me for coloring outside the lines. Fast forward 20-some years and we've both found spouses who can accept us, flaws and all! Joy and Trevor's wedding was stunning - thanks in large part to Joy's mother, the queen of crafts. I learned that it's quite a challenge to work at a wedding where you know most of the attendees, especially when you haven't seen many of them since college. I think I managed to (somewhat) catch up with people while still shooting all the action!

Elise & Josh - January 12, 2008

Rock Star wedding video numero dos! Josh and I have been friends for a long time so this was another wedding that was very fun to shoot! It was also nice that their wedding day was about as warm as you could ask for a day in January to be! I really wanted to make another Rock Star video, and since I didn't have one to show when Josh & Elise booked us, I don't think they knew exactly what to expect. But I talked them into switching out a less cool part of their package for this video instead and I think it was a good decision! I made a regular highlight video for them also, but I wanted to just pick one for the blog, so here it is!

Adair & Ben - December 8, 2007

This video represents a milestone in my artistic progression in video. Sometime during the fall of 2007, I came across a video on the internet that inspired me to think of wedding videos in a whole new way. I've always tried to make my videos more exciting and dynamic than the average traditional wedding video - and here was an opportunity to take it one step further. The idea of the "Rock Star" wedding video was born. A few months later, I had the chance to make one! Here it is - Rock Star wedding numero uno.

Megan & Kyle - June 2, 2007

Kyle & Megan are really good friends, so this is one of my personal favorite videos just because they are in it! I was one of Kyle's groomsmen, so I had my wife and sister take the job of shooting the ceremony. They did such a great job that I've continued to use them both as assistants since then! I love the shot Lauren got of Megan smiling up at Kyle on the altar with the background all dark behind them.

Our Wedding - July 15, 2006

My career as a wedding videographer kicked off with our own wedding. Technically, I had filmed another wedding previously, but I was really sick that day and the video was never edited, so I don't count that one! If I look at this video with a "professional videographer" eye, I have to cringe at the low video resolution and the lack of editing prowess. So it's a good thing I don't look at it that way! This video actually fits our wedding very well. Our wedding day happened before Kelsey and I had really jumped into the "wedding industry", so we didn't have all kinds of preconceived notions about which wedding trends were in, which weren't, and which trends were too "cliché". We just had a wedding, Kevin & Kelsey style. And we were very happy with how it turned out. I could say the same about this video. I know so much more now than I did then about making good videos, but this video has the exact flavor that we were looking for at the time and because of that, we still enjoy it very much - I hope you do too!