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.

Rory & Brian's Highlight Video

Rory & Brian got married on July 3rd at Allen Centennial Gardens in Madison. It was a beautiful day, a great couple, and a great location for a wedding. This was another day that Kelsey and I got to work together - check out her blog if you'd like to see some of her photos from the day. Congrats Rory & Brian!

Erin & Tim's Rock Star Video!

Erin & Tim's wedding was absolutely beautiful. Kelsey and I had the privilege of being at their wedding to capture it with both photos and videos. Check out a few of Kelsey's photos from the day here.

It's amazing how much creative energy comes to you when you work with people that you just click with like we did with this couple and their families. We put a lot of energy and thought into shooting this event, but it felt effortless to do so because we enjoyed it so much. Erin and Tim were all about doing things a little differently, so they chose the Rock Star video from me and I'm pretty excited about how it turned out.

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.

Kristyn & Ryan

Kristyn & Ryan were a really fun couple to work with. They got married a couple weeks ago at First Presbyterian in Oregon with their reception at the Madison Marriott West. If you watch this video, be sure to watch the end, because it's my favorite part! I like it all, but from about the cake cutting on, their reception highlights are so fun to watch! Partly because of the backlighting on the dance floor. (I'm a sucker for backlighting.) Oh, and also, their wedding cake was made by Sweet Nothings Cakes and was immaculate.

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.

Katrina & Anthony's Love Story Video

Katrina has spent the last few years in Missouri, Anthony in Indiana, now they both live in Minnesota, they're getting married in Illinois, and they came to Wisconsin to make this video - talk about road trips! I'm starting to think I might be making a lot of these videos in the future - as enjoyable as the usual slideshow can be at a wedding reception, a love story video just seems to better apply to a wedding and IMHO, it's just more fun to watch! Katrina & Anthony are getting married this Saturday and I'm really looking forward to working with them again!

Christa & Paul's Love Story Video

I'm pretty excited about this video because it's the first of its kind for me. I've offered the "Love Story" video for quite a while, but Christa and Paul were the first to take me up on the offer. They're planning to show this right before their ceremony and I think it will be a great way to set the stage. C&P - thanks for giving me some great footage - can't wait to get some awesome photos at the wedding!

Justine & Dan - Rock Star Video!

It's been almost a whole year since I've made my last Rock Star wedding video so I was really excited to make this video for Justine & Dan! This style of video takes SOOO long to make, but it's SOOO fun for me to see the fruit of my labor once it's done! I have been so blessed to shoot weddings for some of the nicest people in the entire world and Justine & Dan and their families were no exception. They were definitely rock stars!

Katie & Steve - October 18, 2008

Katie & Steve's wedding was so much fun. All day, I felt like I was a member of the family. All the details were totally classy and beautiful and God blessed them with the most gorgeous fall day you could ask for. I think their video turned out really well!

Avery Speaks!

At some point, I plan to take all my footage of Avery and make a really cool video out of it. That might be a little while in coming, so for now, here's a quick little sneak peek! Recently, Avery has been smiling and "talking" quite a bit, which has made her one very fun baby! Here's a little excerpt from our footage:

Kelsey Propaganda

This is a fun little video that Kelsey and I made earlier this year. To give you some background, there's a photographer in Louisianna named Kelly Moore who is the absolute best wedding photographer in existence, in our opinion. Kelly and three other great photographers put on a photography workshop for women that Kelsey really wanted to attend, but since it's in San Diego, we couldn't really afford tuition and travel costs. But they offered a scholarship to the winner of their contest - basically they asked people to submit anything, as long as it had the words "Love Affair" in it (the name of the workshop). This is our submission - I thought it was worth sharing! Kelsey didn't win, but that's okay because we found another great workshop that we can attend together instead!

Amanda & Neil - June 28, 2008

The day after Rachel and Billy's wedding, Kelsey and I trekked up to the north shore of Lake Superior for another awesome wedding. Amanda and Neil are a very cute couple and I love this video because everything was just so beautiful all day long! Whenever I watch this video, I find myself lusting over the strawberries on their cake. I mean seriously, how do you find so many plump strawberries like that in Minnesota?

Rachel & Billy - June 27, 2008

Rachel & Billy are possibly the nicest people I've ever met. And I know a lot of nice people! When I first met with Rachel & Billy, I thought they were only looking for a videographer. When I mentioned that my wife does photography, they wanted to book her right there without even seeing her work! I'm not sure what prompted the blind faith, but I'm glad I got to work alongside Kelsey for their wedding. We were both able to get to know them a little bit and Kelsey got some great pictures from the day. They mentioned that they'd like to expand their family sometime in the future - we're excited to meet their new addition(s) whenever the time comes!

Sheila & Charles - June 13, 2008

Sheila & Charles' wedding featured the most fun reception-entrance dance I've seen (with lots of Liberian spirit), the best salad I've ever eaten, and a beautiful in-love couple. I was so impressed by how the participants in their wedding didn't rush anything. They took the time to savor every moment and truly experience the events of their day - which challenged me to do the same everyday.

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.

Katie & Matt - July 14, 2007

Katie & Matt's wedding was so fun to shoot. You'll see why if you watch this video - their wedding location was absolutely beautiful, God couldn't have provided better weather, and Katie and Matt were both so HAPPY all day long! It was also a momentous time for Kelsey and me. Our 1-year anniversary was the next day and this was the first wedding where we worked together, providing both photography and videography. Somehow, the timecode got messed up in this video during the last two shots when Katie is coming down the "aisle", so there's a weird shot of the bridge in this video instead of Matt's expression...oh well, at least it's right on the DVD!