“We trust you guys, we just want you guys to come and party with us!”

Those are the words of Carly during our conversation a few days before the wedding.  Words can’t explain how much we appreciate their willingness to let us immerse ourselves into the day, the event and their lives.  We really did create such a special bond with them, and we can’t thank them enough for that.

Every aspect of their day was a perfect representation for who they are, and their admirable love for their friends and family.

Its ridiculous that we get to work with such incredible people!

So without further ado, we give you Ryan + Carly:

Shot with the amazing Jeff Newsom on Photo duty, go to his website and have your mind blown…

Heidi Mayne with Red 25 Events ran the show, and absolutely killed it!  They are some of the best people to work with!

Music Licensed through The Music Bed.

Bottom line… Caitlin and Matt are some of the raddest folks we have had a chance to work with.

Just a few weeks ago we boarded a plane to take a 9 hour journey to an unknown place in Puerto Rico.  Once we landed in San Juan we began another dark 2 hour trek to the other side of the island.  It wasn’t until morning that we discovered we were in the middle of paradise, and that this was going to be an epic adventure.  Jared and Velisa brought their family and closest friends to a place that meant so much to them and reflected who they are.  We were with Jared, Velisa and their peeps for 3 days of activities leading up to the ceremony and insane party that followed.  This event was a perfect fit for us because their focus was not so much on floral arrangements and color schemes (however those things may be important) but it was so much more about creating an active experience, that their guests would NEVER forget.  There is so much more of the experience that we wish we could have fit into the highlight film.  When considering everything that we could include in the film, we decided it was best to stick to the basics.  Jared and Velisa have such an authentic, true and raw love, that we wanted to focus mostly on that aspect of the entire experience.  So sit back relax and enjoy the radness that is Jared and Velisa.

Our greatest thanks to:
The Music Bed – For the best freaking music licensing in the galaxy
Lens Pro To Go – For saving our tooshies and getting us the gear we needed
Robert Miles – For sweating off at least 25 pounds in the three days to help us cover everything! (You should eat at Mc Donalds for at least 6 months, you didnt have 25 pounds to loose.)

Check out a few of the photos from the trip…

-Love STF

At the end of a VERY long and winding road through the forests of Central California, at the base of dwarfing granite slabs, sits a small chapel.  This was the perfect setting for two people that adore each other, to make promises that are as strong as the mountains that surrounded them.  There is so much meaning and story behind Becky and Eric’s unique wedding in the valleys of Yosemite National Park.  Seven years of growing together and serving God side by side, culminated into one day of excitement and emotion.  All the details of the wedding were a direct reflection of who they are, and the experiences they have been through.  It was an honor to witness the vulnerable vows this couple shared; they were completely transparent. We didn’t force them to read their cards from one another (which we never do), everything that we were able to capture was 100% authentic. For Becky and Eric this day wasn’t about the flowers and the dinner menu, it was about them, their love and God.  SO RAD!

We took advantage of the opportunity not afforded very often, of shooting in Yosemite National Park.  We woke up earlier than roosters to head out into the freezing cold, and get morning time lapses and scenery shoots. It was rad to have that opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and capture some of the most amazing creations on the earth.  We knew that this location was so important to Becky and Eric and we wanted to do our best to incorporate its vast beauty into the film that they would treasure for a life time.  You often don’t see a lot of “establishment” shots in our films.  When a wedding is held in a hotel or other venues that don’t have as much meaning to the story, we feel there are better ways to show who the couple really is.  However in this case… the scenery compliments the couples story and who they are perfectly.

There was so much meaning and emotion behind the conversation that happened throughout the day that we picked a sound track from Tim Halperin that would match the emotion and pacing of the days of events.  So not distract in anyway from the dialogue of the day, we used both the instrumental and lyrical track for the song.  Both of these are licensed through The Music Bed.  Using both tracks gave us the ability to use only instrumental during the dialogue heavy parts of the film, and then bring in the lyrics to break it up and fill in where there is not as much dialogue.

The chapel was extremely dark with yellow lighting.  Lets just say that New Blue FX, color fixer plus saved our tushies on this one.  We were able to take extremely under exposed and yellow footage and make it look more natural and radtastic.

We can’t thank Becky and Eric enough for letting us be a small part of their lives…

On the other side of the pond Gary and Lora dreamed of having a California style wedding.  With not much hope of being able to create the same vibe in the UK, they decided to take their closest friends and family to The hills of central Cali to get hitched.  They really wanted to make sure that they had a real American experience, so the entire wedding party and guests camped in tents and fished in the pond all week (since that is what all of us americans do all the time right?).  Also, what better way to have yourself a good old American time than to engage your entire group in a game of rehearsal baseball.  Despite their lack of knowledge in the actual rules and techniques of the game, there was no lack of laughter and action.  Gary and Lora put so much thought and effort in making this a unique and personalized event. They are adventurous, relaxed and loving. They were able to incorporate these elements into the entire experience. As we met with Gary and Lora over skype a few weeks prior to the event, they gave us absolute free reign and all their trust to capture their experience in a way that was unique to them.  Their were no shot lists or rigid expectations, just pure trust.  They will be premiering this film in the UK in November to all of their friends and family that were unable to be there on that day.  What we wouldn’t give to be there and experience that with them!

What luck… that we would get the opportunity to capture a couple so full of love and giving as Gary and Lora.

Enjoy!

Behind every tubular event there has to be a tubular team… We worked with some of the greatest on this one.
Amorology – Insanely unique design and planning

Brandon Kidd Photography – Mind Blowing Imagery

Nicole Deanne - Crafty with all things hair and make-up

Duo Catering - Out of this world grubb… seriously

Gary and Lora’s reaction after viewing the film was so poignant, we wanted to share:

“Ummmm the only words I can think of right now is WOW. Seriously I have no words for how incredible the highlights are. We literally watched them through several times without stopping. We had no idea you guys shot that much film. I cannot believe you captured all of those emotions!

If that is the highlights I know that we will be literally blown away by the full version. We knew when we asked you three to document our wedding that it would be something special, but never dreamed of the depths you went to to secure the most incredible footage.

We will treasure this until the end of our lives, thank you thank you thank you.

Lora and Gary xxx”