Tricia and Marc had a lovely ceremony this past Friday night at the Joclyn Castle in Omaha.
What a beautiful place to hold a ceremony and reception.  They had a harp and trumpet duet during their ceremony, and Tricia’s longtime friend composed and sang an original song in their honor.  The cake, from the Cake Gallery, was delicious - or should I say cakes?  6 cakes, each with a different (and yummy) flavor were served for a wonderful dessert.  Their DJ, T-Roy, did a great job of MC-ing, getting guests out on the dance floor and overall creating a fun atmosphere for the reception.

Tricia and Marc had moved their wedding date from December to July at the end of May.  She realized fairly quickly that that was a difficult thing to do - and that scheduling her wedding for a Friday night made venues, wedding professionals, etc. much more available than trying for a Saturday date.  Sunday afternoon weddings are another nice option when short planning times crop up.  (And, sometimes a bit of a discount will apply on off-dates as well - ask your professionals about that if you’re minding a budget).

Tricia had included her family in every aspect of the wedding - from her son “giving her away” along with her parents, to having siblings and relatives as the members of the wedding party and the other “supporting roles” for the day.  This made for a very special and personal day for all of them.

Really enjoyed ourselves this past Saturday night as Jamie and Zach, together with family and friends, celebrated their marriage.

Their ceremony was lovely. A humorous moment occurred when the moms took the lit tapers and lit the unity candle - we heard the bride and groom saying “what are they doing?” over the wireless mic on the groom’s coat. Her mom blew it out, and the bride and groom went and lit the candle a second time.

Their reception, at the Embassy Suites in downtown Omaha, was really lovely. Their DJ, from Complete Music, did an excellent job keeping the party moving along and fun - and was very tactful about taking requests from the children at the party - but not playing them

Jamie and Zach had requested our “Ultimate Reception Entertainment Package” - a photo montage, love story, and instant edit from their wedding day, projected at their reception. This shared their story with all of the guests at the wedding - growing up, meeting, falling in love, and committing their lives to each other. Most guests at a wedding only know one person in the couple - this is a great way for them to get to know the other person better.

We had the honor this past weekend of capturing Amber and Lada’s wedding.

Their ceremony was held at St. Cecilia’s Cathedral, which is a truly beautiful church.  The stained glass windows, ceiling paintings, and statues all combined for a lovely, majestic setting for their ceremony.  A traditional mass, including beautiful music in their liturgy, really captured the love and happiness of the day.  The priest was friends with the couple, and had traveled to the Czech Republic (Lada’s home) with them, and it really added a lovely, personal touch to their ceremony.

Their reception, at Karen’s Fireside in Papillion, was very nice.  The food was excellent !! not something I have come to expect when a hall does their own catering - so many reception halls don’t give you a catering choice, and thus may not be as motivated to prepare truly excellent food for the “captive audience” - but their catering was really exceptional.  The bride and her family and friends hand-dipped chocolate covered strawberries as table favors at each place, including a note thanking everyone for sharing their special day.  (I confess to eating one of the extras while I was with Amber doing pre-ceremony coverage earlier that day, they are my favorite!)

The first dance for Amber and Lada was really special - Amber’s father is a musician, and wrote a song for their first dance, and performed it at the reception while they danced.  Boy, as a videographer, that makes it tough - show the first dance, show the dad, ??  Since we shoot with 3 cameras, we have great footage of both, but it will be hard to edit - I may need to include it twice

One of the reasons I was so glad that Amber and Lada chose us to help preserve their wedding day memories is that Lada’s family, who live in the Czech Republic, was unable to travel to Omaha for the wedding.  I am really glad that they will be able to take their wedding DVD to show his parents when they visit them this winter.

Amber was on a very well defined budget when she planned her wedding - and I picked up a number of great tips on saving a bit here and there from her - feel free to contact me and I’m happy to pass along any hints that I can to help with your wedding planning!