Videography: Digitalized not Dainty

It’s a rare occasion that I get excited about a client’s desire to have a Videographer at their wedding. When you think of wedding videographer, what comes to mind? For many people, the images of the static tripod camera in a church where you hear the nearest guest more than the sacred vows still come to mind.

I’ll admit, those images sometimes pop into my head too. Until now.

Hold on….THIS AIN’T YO’ MAMA’S VIDEOGRAPHY

I fell in love with the high energy, rock star style of Mercedes Blackheart and Andrea Reese of Digital Princess Productions a few months back. It was completely by accident that I ran across their site searching for something for my hubby, the DigitalPharaoh. These ladies absolutely give you what your wedding video is SUPPOSED to be. Nothing but Fabulous!

With formal education in Art Design and experience in Film and Television, rest assured this is the best of the best when it comes to Videography. Just check out their teaser trailer.

Mercedes and Andrea have just added an East Coast member of their Staff, a real celeb shooter who is man enough to hang with these two ladies. To promote this new facet of their business, Digital Princess has a special offer for all of you Simply Beautiful Readers…

Told you they were Rock Stars!

You can also visit them on Twitter and Facebook.

Why Hire a Professional Photographer?

Simply Beautiful Words has created this blog series, “Why Hire?” to help you understand what to expect from services, highlight their value and give you some pointers to use in your consultations. I’ll touch base on a few on the most questioned vendors/services.

We started of our Why Hire? series, with a look at a wedding professional that is near and dear to our heart…Wedding Planners.

Now we move on to our next wedding professional, Photographers.

Why Hire a Professional Photographer?

MEMORIES

The main reason is quite simple, besides your marriage and new family, your photographs will be the only tangible thing left of your wedding. After all the planning, all the expenses, all the stress and all the details if your photographs do not expertly and accurately capture the day, you will be sorely disappointed.

SBC: I am not advocating for every couple to spend their entire budget on a high end photographer that is out of their price point. However, I certainly support couples who allocate a portion of their budget that is significant to them on photography.

(and seriously, none of this has to do with the fact that my hubby, DigitalPharaoh, is a professional photographer/artist)

PROFESSIONALISM & QUALITY

Yes, I believe you when you say your cousin, uncle, sister are take amazing photos with their high end DLSR. But have they had the most recent training in the digital technique? Do they know how to work around poor indoor lighting? Poor outdoor lighting?

Unless your friend or family member is a professional photographer with professional equipment and the ability to process your photographs, please consider a professional photographer.

SBC: You can find a professional photographer for every budget and every style. A wedding planner will have a number of photographer referrals to meet your needs that is provided with some wedding planning package or as an a la carte service.

Well, what is a professional photographer? Not every Joe Blow with a website and a camera is a professional photographer…or even a decent one. To help you navigate through the process, here is how Simply Beautiful Concepts guides its clients:

1. Research photography styles that you like. Search far and wide through that wonderful thing called the internet. Don’t worry about price or location, find photographs and styles that appeal to you.

2. Research photographers in your area. Match area photographers with the styles you gathered in step one.

3. Create a list of 3-5 Photographers. Contact them and conduct a phone interview of basic questions. You can find some advice here from Blue Orchid Designs.

4. Eliminate 1-2 Photographers. Set up interviews/consultations with the remaining photographers.

5. Book Your Professional Wedding Photographer. If steps 1-4 don’t yield in a successful selection, repeat.

Happy Planning

Next in our “Why Hire?” series:   Your little brother and his friends DJ/have a band and play at parties every weekend.  They seem to have a lot of equipment and music and wouldn’t cost a dime so “Why Hire a DJ/Band/Entertainment?”

First Comes the Wedding…Then Comes the Marriage: Your 1st Anniversary

For all my newly-wives (and wives-to-be), I’ve created this series (original post) for the After Wedding aka Marriage. If you have a fear that once you put your Wedding Planning Binder away, you will feel naked and without a sense of direction, never fear, your to-do list still awaits you.

Traditionally, your First Wedding Anniversary is celebrated with the gift of Paper.

Here are a few simple and traditional suggestions: Books, a framed ketubah (Jewish), Tickets, Money (that’s a plus), a scrapbook, a letter/card (husbands beware if going this route make this ONE of her gifts), stationery, paper fan or parasol.

A more contemporary first anniversary gifts are clocks: wall clocks, cuckoo clocks, watches, pocket watches, alarm clocks or antique clocks.

Traditionally, the some women (or shall I say at least me, in my perfect little world) put a lot of significance on this anniversary. So ladies, if you are expecting a big to-do and your hubby is not known to make a big to-do over anything, help the guy out and give him a clue. Either directly or indirectly through trusted friend or family member.

Are you stumped on exactly HOW to celebrate your first anniversary? Check out these suggestions.

Many bakers now offer their wedding clients a Free 1st Anniversary cake.

On our First Anniversary, the DigitalPharaoh and I spent it at home, I believe (oh that’s so bad). I’m not quite sure what we did all day long. I was a new mother, our first daughter was 7 weeks old. The winter of 2000 was a cold and snowy one. We may have gone out during the day for a quick bite to eat, with the baby. We may have rented some movies…(uh..”Hun, what did we do for our 1st anniversary?” DP: “Uh…”) Hmmm…

Nevertheless…enjoy your first anniversary (and if you don’t do anything spectacular…remember, there will be many more, God willing).

Next up in our series: Awkward Questions, Awesome Answers

Complete Series

Sunday: Kick Off

Monday: Post Wedding-Wrap Up

Tuesday: To Change or Not to Change Your Name & How

Wednesday: Holidays

Thursday: Your 1^st Anniversary

Friday: Awkward Questions, Awesome Answers

Saturday: It’s Different

Be sure to leave a comment letting us know what Post-Wedding topics interest YOU.

First Come the Wedding…Then Comes the Marriage: Holidays

For all my newly-wives (and wives-to-be), I’ve created this series (original post) for the After Wedding aka Marriage. If you have a fear that once you put your Wedding Planning Binder away, you will feel naked and without a sense of direction, never fear, your to-do list still awaits you.

Over the past ten years, DigitalPharaoh and I have always had difficult decisions to make when the holidays came around.

Source

I come from a very large family who ALWAYS spent the holidays (Thanksgiving & Christmas) together. Throughout my childhood, these were some of my fondest memories. Gathered with my grandparenst, aunts, uncles and cousins celebrating family, love and FOOD. Yum! There were always at least 20-30 of us together in my “immediate” family.

DigitalPharaoh, on the other hand, spent his childhood holidays with his nuclear family unit consisting of his father, mother and sister. Occasionally, after celebrating at home, they’d take a ride to an aunt’s house, or a grandparent’s house for a quick visit. But no huge gatherings or celebrations.

Naturally, when we got married, I assumed we’d celebrate with my family because my family assumed we’d be celebrating with them anyway. And since his family didn’t make such a big deal out of the holidays, no problem, right? WRONG.

#1, it is not a good thing to assume anything, and I think we all know why. Secondly, is that really fair? To ask one’s spouse to forgo celebrating the holidays with their family for yours.

The “fun” of my family gatherings began to diminish by the time DP and I were married, so he couldn’t see why I “had” to be there. DP also never really blended well into my family (a post that I will not even post) so he wanted to spend the holidays with his family, especially after we had children.

If each of your families have long standing traditional celebrations, this subject, for some, will take a lot of sensitivity, compromise and standing your ground ALL AT ONCE.

Some couples will opt to spend the holidays with one family over another for practical reasons, such as distance, accomodations, or work schedules. Others will split the major days between the two families, Thanksgiving with his, Christmas with hers. Then reverse the next year.

However, you decide to do it make sure you talk about it ahead of time and come up with a plan. This plan should be based on a merging of both of your desires for the holiday season.

Needless to say, with all these years behind us, it still isn’t really fun to think about the holidays and what we’ll be doing or not doing. We’ve spent holidays with my family, we’ve spent it with his, we’ve spent it with both and we’ve spent it apart, we’ve spent it with neither. I fault this to our not talking about it, communicating it and following through on our desires in the beginning.

So, take some time to communicate about the upcoming holiday celebrations for your newly formed families. And if you need some tips, check out Marriage 101’s or Wedding Bee’s posts.

Want to know a big secret????

I’d like to spend the holidays all inclusive of those that we love and that love us. And to at least spend time with our families equally to let them know how equally important they are to us.

If I can plan a wedding, I should be able to plan the holiday season right? Well, wish me luck.

Ok, ok…maybe I’m not owning up to the fact that it would probably be like Four Christmases coming to movies theatres soon. HA! (I love Vince Vaughn in disfunctional relationships).

And Happy Holidays

Next up in our series: Your 1st Anniversary

Complete Series

Sunday: Kick Off

Monday: Post Wedding-Wrap Up

Tuesday: To Change or Not to Change Your Name & How

Wednesday: Holidays

Thursday: Your 1^st Anniversary

Friday: Awkward Questions, Awesome Answers

Saturday: It’s Different

Be sure to leave a comment letting us know what Post-Wedding topics interest YOU.

First Comes the Wedding…Then Comes the Marriage: Post-Wedding Wrap-Up

For all my newly-wives (and wives-to-be), I’ve created this series (original post) for the After Wedding aka Marriage. If you have a fear that once you put your Wedding Planning Binder away, you will feel naked and without a sense of direction, never fear, your to-do list still awaits you.

After your wedding is over and after the honeymoon, there are some wedding details that need to be closed out. Simply Beautiful Concept offers a Post-Wedding Wrap Up in their Classic and Most Beautiful Planning packages to cover rentals, returns, contracts and invoices. However, you can ensure a smooth close to your wedding by attending to the following areas:

Contracts

First things first, Security Deposits. Review your contracts if you placed a security deposit on any of your wedding related items, such as reception hall, rentals or transportation. You will want to confirm the method and time frame the vendor is to return your deposit.

Certain contracts, such as the Reception or Catering, may have required minimum dollar amounts or your bar may have been on consumption. Be sure to get final bills and figures to ensure you met your minimums, owe any balances or are due any refunds.

If any of your vendors did not provide some of the contracted services or substitutions were necessary, you may also be entitled to a refund of some of your cost.

100 Proof: Photography and Videography

Your photographer and/or videographer was great on your wedding day. You can’t wait to see the pictures/video! But before you start ringing his or her phone of the hook once your return flight hits the tarmac, check your contract. Most photographers/videographers have a specified time frame to present you with your proofs, albums, CD/DVD etc.

You will want to touch base with them soon after the wedding to see if there are any known issues that will delay delivery of your proofs or photographs or video. After that, let them do their thing. Remember, in high wedding season, your photographer/videographer may be booked every weekend, which leaves little time for editing, manipulating and printing. My DigitalPharaoh is a photographer, and I sometimes get impatient for my clients pictures before they do. I’ve come to realize that after hours and hours of adding effects, cropping, correcting etc, his eyes get a little crossed and he needs to take a break so that he can bring fresh eyes to the rest of the photos. You don’t want some really great photos and the rest looking like snapshots from a disposable camera because you had an unreasonable expectation. Ask your photographer during your initial consultation about these time frames. And after the wedding, hold them to it.

Thank You Cards

Etiquette states that Thank you notes for gifts should be sent as soon as possible after the gift is received, if this is prior to the wedding. For those gifts received after the wedding and if you plan to thank each guest for attending, 3 months is the maximum amount of time to complete this task.

Next up in our series: To Change or Not to Change Your Name & How

Complete Series

Sunday: Kick Off

Monday: Post Wedding-Wrap Up

Tuesday: To Change or Not to Change Your Name & How

Wednesday: Holidays

Thursday: Your 1^st Anniversary

Friday: Awkward Questions, Awesome Answers

Saturday: It’s Different

Be sure to leave a comment letting us know what Post-Wedding topics interest YOU.

1113

Our special number.

Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the night I met the DigitalPharaoh face to face, fell hopelessly in love and became engaged!

Yup, you heard it right.  He proposed the very same night…ah hem…morning we met. 

So it’s always a bit of an awkward conversation when someone asks how long we dated.  Uh…we didn’t.  As you can imagine, that brings a confused look.  But I have always matter-of-factly, let it be known that we met on the internet (a Yahoo Group not a dating site), met by unusual circumstances, married 3 ½ months later on my 21st Birthday (another post altogether) and had been together ever since (ok ok..a few hiccups here and there, nobody’s perfect).

10 Years and 3 Kids later…Here we are at this milestone.

So in honor of our Anniversary, I’d like list the Top Ten Reasons I Love DigitalPharaoh:

10.  He has been fixing my coffee for me for the past 10 years so now I can barely make it on my own.  I just don’t know how much sugar and how much milk makes it taste like I like it.

9.  Neither his father nor mother appears to have a balding gene.

8.  My website & branding wouldn’t be possible without him.

7.  We never have to buy those yucky school pictures.

6.  He rarely brings up the fact that I don’t give him enough credit for ________(fill in the blank).

5.  He is the most loving, caring, nurturing Father and the best Mr. Mom when I needed him to be.

4.  He spoils me rotten and pampers me no matter how little or how much we may have at the time.  (Thus the reason Little Miss Diva aka Mini Me is the way she is…trickle down theory.)

3.  Our 3 Beautiful, Brilliant Children

2.  He loves me.

1.  He lets me love him.