Stacey and Seth's Teaser!

Here is the teaser to Stacey and Seth's wedding! Enjoy!

Outtakes

One of my favorite parts of filming weddings are the outtakes. Filming "live" you never know what will happen and a lot of times we get some great stuff on film. If we capture a lot of outtakes I love including a section on the video just for them.

Last year we filmed a wedding in New Rochelle which was Las Vegas themed. Each table had a different casino/hotel as their centerpiece and their cake was a mixture of all things Vegas actually made by no other than the Ace of Cakes himself from the popular TV show.

During the reception, the Bride's uncle deiced to get his Elvis shoes on and do some impersonations for the bride and groom. Singing and dancing to elvis' hits he made his way toward the head table to get behind the bride and groom. Little did he realize that the Bride and Groom were up on a riser and misstepped...

No one was hurt luckily and we ended up with one of the funniest outtakes we've ever shot.

I will post some other great outtakes another time!

Come Original

On Sunday I filmed Bridget and Brian's wedding in Fairfield/New Haven. What an event!

Bridget and Brian are huge music lovers and both extremely original people in their own right, which influenced the entire day.

First off, the guys opted out of the traditional tuxedos for some light colored suits and some cool patterned ties which was nice to see. I like different. I mean don't get me wrong, I love tuxedos and the traditions of a wedding, but when you see the same things week in and week out its nice to see something different!

During the ceremony music was incorporated with not only singing but also instruments. What sounded like an irish style band got people seated and down the isle. From there there was a solo guitarist who sang a song, an elderly woman in a wheelchair who belted out a beautiful song and then one of the flower girls accompanied by an electric guitar, sang "Grow Old With Me" which during the whole song you couldn't help but smile at how cute it was to have someone so young sing such a meaningful song, and do it well! Some people cried, some people smiled, but everyone enjoyed it!

During the reception they had a band play. This was not your typical wedding band - infact I dont think they do weddings. They were a funk band that were just amazing. Before the band even got to start though, Bridget and Brian did their first dance to a performance by two of their guests. The choreogrpahed dance flowed nicely with the music.



Following dinner, the band hit the stage and not too long in, guests were called up to play along with them. Members from the band Deep Banana Blackout hopped on stage and completely amazed the whole crowd. The last hour of the reception was basically a concert! Along with the band, the flower girls hopped on stage and did a little background singing to a few of the songs.

A night fulled of music, fun, dancing and originality, it was a great day!

Congratulations Bridget and Brian!

Alison and Tim

On Saturday I had the pleasure of filming Alison and Tim's wedding.

The day started off on a sour note. Storms ripped through the state late morning/early afternoon and knocked the power out in the hotel where the guys were getting ready. A little perturbed with having no power, Tim didn't really let it bother him. The guys had a blast getting ready and Tim seemed at ease with the whole day.

My assistant Stacey (who also happens to be my girlfriend) was filming the girls getting ready. Alison was calm cool and collected the entire time.

The ceremony went off without a hitch and it was time to head to the beach for some pictures.

The photographer was Lunell Troy from Troy Photography. I have worked with Lunell (and her husband Noel) for years. She is an amazing photographer - she works quick but gets everything you want in such an organized manner the day just runs smooth with her around.

After the beach pictures it was time to head off to the Great River Golf Club for some more pictures and of course the reception.

Alison and Tim arrived to the reception sitting on top of Alison's dad's 1958 (I believe) classic Corvette. It made for an amazing shot and just a great entrance.

After some more pictures it was time for the reception. The DJs were Jason and Jeff of CT Party Pros. I have done a lot of events with these guys, in fact, they are DJing my sisters wedding at the end of this month! They do a great job of mixing up the music and playing to what the crowd wants to hear. They had people up dancing all night long!

Alison and Tim were dancing machines! Almost the entire night was spent on the dance floor.

The day went off with a few minor hitches, none of which bothered the happy couple. It was a great wedding and a great time!

Congratulations Alison and Tim!

Matt...the Actor?

So I have always had an interest in acting, but never really explored it in any form.

About 6-7 years ago a professor at my college set me up with a local casting director who mainly focused on filling extra spots for local shoots but also on occasion had some good spots to fill.

He immediately booked me for 2 seperate gigs, both belonging to the WWE or at the time they were still the WWF I believe.

They were international commercials promoting two different pay per view events.

the first one, if you look closely, you can see me (about 80lbs heavier) getting speared in the middle of the ring by a little person.



The second one you can see my face and my wonderful acting skills - the look of astonishment - still about 40lbs heavier than I am now.



Both of these were fun to do, but on set I was way more interested in their cameras, lights and other various production equipment. Between takes and during breaks I would find myself behind the scenes trying to help out, asking if they needed anything and just learning. I find myself much more comfortable behind a camera than in front of one although I wouldn't mind trying to act in some form in the future!

From this casting director I did get a few more offers, a few main stream movies as an extra (Stepford wives) and one speaking role in a national commercial, but with business being so busy I have had to turn down most things that come my way. Did I have a future as an actor? Probably not...but I had fun being an extra while it lasted!

Dancin'!

Throughout the years I have been filming, I have seen A LOT of dancing. Some good, some bad, some funny and a lot of old school dances like the running man and well I could go on for hours on the kinds of dances I have seen!

Once in awhile I see a really good choreographed first dance from the bride and groom - infact one that I filmed was featured on the Rachel Ray Show a few months ago (one day I will post that!).

Anyways, with all these first dances being choreographed, I never see any dances in the middle of the reception being choreographed, until I met brother and sister Joe and Toni.

Last summer I filmed Joe and his lovely wife Sara's wedding, and with that they referred me to Joe's sister, Toni whom married Brian a few weeks ago.

During Joe and Sara's wedding, Joe and Toni broke out into what I guess is known as the friends dance. It was hysterical! Completely unexpected and just awesome! After seeing how much fun everyone was at Joe and Sara's wedding I was so excited to film Toni and Brian's, and let me tell you it was not a let down!

Rumors started circulating that Joe and Toni may bring the friends dance back which made the excitement grow more! Sure enugh about half way through the reception...


It's great to see such comradery between a brother and sister and I am so lucky to have been able share each of their individual weddings with their families and friends. Congratualtions again Joe and Sara who jut celebrated their one year anniversarry recently and Toni and Brian on their new marriage, and thanks!

Expect the Unexpected

Two weekends ago I filmed Stacey and Seth's wedding. In this business you never really know what to expect. The ring bearer at this wedding was a little ball of personality. From hiding the remote control to my DVD player to slamming ceremony chairs onto the ground while no one was looking, he was on his own agenda. When the ceremony started however he seemed to turn into a little angel until...

If you listen closly after it all, you can hear the ring bearer practically yell "I want to break that camera!"

I was scared that he may have smudged my lens and with no time to clean it before the bride came down the isle I was definitely getting nervous. All came out fine however, and the day went on with out a hitch.

A lot of unpredictable things happen in this line of work but being able to just go with flow seems to keep everything running smooth.