I’m back! Took a short break, but I’m back now! And I’m amazed that it’s already JUNE! You know what that means? It means that in just three short months it will be my favorite time of the year again! Yay! Let’s hear it for Autumn! But until autumn rolls around, I hear that there are plenty of people who love summer, and June in particular. And “McNeal Brides” are no exception to that rule. We love our June brides!
This past weekend our first June wedding took place. Amina and Hassan were married at a beautiful ceremony at the Delta Pavilion at Opryland Hotel. And their ceremony was followed by a lively reception at the Magnolia Ballroom, also located at Opryland Hotel.
What a beautiful day everyone had!
But let me tell you a bit about our handsome couple. They flew all the way in from New York City to get married. And boy, were their arms tired! Badaboom! No seriously, Amina and Hassan do live in New York, but Amina grew up in Tennessee and her parents live here, so Nashville was the lucky city to host their wedding. Not only did Amina and Hassan come from afar to get married in Nashville, but they had guests fly in from all over the world. Literally! It made for a fun bunch of people who were enjoying our city as well as enjoying Amina and Hassan’s wedding day.
Okay. Now back to the wedding. Or pre-wedding. Amanda is big time nesting and waiting on the arrival of her baby girl, so it was me and Lynette, and Laura and Dawn of Team McNeal who covered the day. And it was a BIG DAY. Having a wedding at such a huge hotel in itself is a large undertaking in that we all have to spread out and shoot at different locations throughout the day, and it’s not uncommon for us to barely see each other all day long. Unlike a wedding that takes place at a church or another smaller venue where we are sometimes tripping over each other. But I must say that Team McNeal did a great job. Great job Laura and Dawn! Great job me and Lynette! :--)
But I must say that I barely saw Laura or Dawn until after the wedding ceremony. That’s because as usual I was covering the guys, and Lynette and Laura and Dawn were with Amina. Or thereabouts. Lynette was incredibly busy getting our audio set up for the wedding and reception, plus shooting wedding party interviews, that she literally was running all over the place.
But back to me. I must say that I had a blast shooting the pre-ceremony prep with Hassan and his groomsmen. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer groom and a nicer bunch of guys. When I arrived at the room where Hassan and the guys were getting ready, I was met first in the hallway by the sound of singing. The sound of a bunch of guys singing. The sound of a bunch of guys singing in French. Turns out the groomsmen were practicing a song that they were going to sing for Amina at the reception. I thought that was pretty cool. How great is it for groomsmen to take the time to actually practice singing a song for the bride? They were having a really great time before the wedding hanging out with Hassan. As for Hassan, he seemed very calm, cool, and relaxed. Since Amina and Hassan chose to not see each other before the ceremony, the guys were hanging out in the hotel room while Amina and her bridesmaids were having photographs taken. The guys had a party atmosphere going on, and I must say that I think I got some pretty good shots of Hassan and the guys pre-ceremony. Thanks guys for all of your cooperation and for being so darn nice!
Of course I didn’t see Amina before the ceremony, but I’m sure that Team McNeal had quite the pre-ceremony time with her as well! And of course Amina was a beautiful bride! I knew she would be though because she looked gorgeous the night before at her wedding rehearsal, so of course she had to be even MORE gorgeous on her wedding day. And she was! Amina’s wedding dress was soooooo beautiful too. Amina looked like an exotic princess. Only MORE pretty than that! I think Hassan was very happy when he saw her walking down the aisle.
The ceremony itself was different than any we had ever covered before. First, there was a traditional Muslim ceremony which was followed by a spiritual ceremony. I know I really enjoyed experiencing the cultural mix of the ceremonies. This is what is SO GREAT about what we do! We get to attend the coolest weddings! Plus record them forever for the bride and groom and their families. How GREAT is that???!!!!!
I also enjoyed the end of the ceremony where as Amina and Hassan walked back down the aisle as Husband and Wife, the guests showered the couple with streamers that were in each guest’s seat. It’s hard to describe, but it was so cool! And pretty!
I must pause here for a second to mention the wedding planner who helped pull off this beautiful day. We had never worked with Angela Proffit (Elegant Weddings by Angela) before, but we were familiar with her work in the industry and knew that she had a great reputation. And her reputation was accurate! All day long Angela seemed to be in a dozen of different places at once. Seemed that if any of us had a question, we didn’t have to look far to find the answer because there was Angela! Having a great wedding planner makes our day run so much more smoothly than weddings without planners. We have a few more weddings coming up this year that we share with Angela and we are really looking forward to working with her and her team again!
Now back to the wedding!
After the ceremony, guests were treated to a beautiful pre-dinner cocktail hour at the pool. While guests were enjoying the atmosphere, Amina and Hassan posed for more photographs. And while Amina and Hassan were posing for pictures, Lynette was conducting more guest interviews, only this time was set aside for the parent interviews. In our experience it seems that not many couples request us to video guest messages and well-wishes, but this can be a treasured part of a video where the couple can forever HEAR and SEE their family and friends on their wedding day, and relive their happy wishes that they had for them on that forever happy day.
While Lynette and Dawn and Laura were busy elsewhere, I made my way to the reception room to video the decorations before the guests entered. And I’m so glad I did! The room was gorgeous! The decorations were tastefully elegant. Candles were burning on the tables, and the tables were set for a delicious dinner. Amina and Hassan had their own table set at the front of the room.
And of course…………there was THE CAKE! First I must say that it was gorgeous. And then I must say that it was HUGE! And it looked delicious. I say “looked” because the reception was so busy that I didn’t have a chance to eat a piece. :--( Oh well. I survived! ..… But really, I didn’t have time to miss eating a piece of the cake because the reception was FULL of exciting things going on!
In fact, the reception was so full of entertainment, that even though Dawn and I covered most of the reception by ourselves, Lynette and Laura stayed awhile as well, in order to capture everything!
Soon the guests entered the reception area, and I have to say that I was wowed over by how beautifully dressed the guests were. These guests win the “Best-Dressed-Wedding-Guests” Award! I think the fact that everyone was from all over the world had something to do with it. 
Anyway. The evening began with the introduction of the wedding party and then Amina and Hassan. But before Amina and Hassan made their entrance, a lovely belly dancer entered before them wearing a head-dress of BURNING CANDLES! WOW! Of course we knew that a belly dancer was going to be at the reception, but I didn’t know she would have candles on her head! I am so glad we were there to capture this on video! After the belly dancer did a lovely dance, Amina and Hassan entered to a cheering room of guests as the belly dancer danced around them in a circle before making her exit. Then Amina and Hassan shared their first dance together and I must say that it was a lovely dance. Again, very elegant. It was very beautiful to watch. And their guests loved it!
Everyone seemed to be having a really great time at the reception. Guests were laughing and clapping and enjoying the evening with Amina and Hassan. And one guest in particular stood out somewhat. Maybe that was because this guest was famous. Maybe it was because this guest was Forrest Gump! Yep! THE Forrest Gump from the movie of the same name. Seems that Amina and Hassan invited Mr. Gump to attend their reception. He seemed to be enjoying himself too! He even danced a bit with the belly dancer and gave a toast to Amina and Hassan. I think he even passed out chocolates…. !
Another really touching and fun moment of the reception was when Hassan sang a song for Amina. Again, it was really a great moment and everyone, especially Amina, thoroughly enjoyed it. Then came the toasts, along with a hilarious slide show produced by Hassan’s friends. What a night! And there was still more to come!
The belly dancer (I wish I knew her name!), danced again for Amina and Hassan and their guests, and then the dance floor was opened. The DJ played some great songs that got everyone dancing. Then before I knew it, I was seeing Amina and Hassan sitting in chairs……chairs held high over their dancing guest’s heads, that is! Whew! What a night! Then of course the groomsmen sang their song for Amina. So much fun!!!!!!
Before Dawn and I knew it, it was midnight and time for the party to end. The FIRST party that is. As Dawn and I were getting ready to leave for the day, Amina and Hassan and their guests were making their way into FUSE, which I hear is a hot club located at the hotel. Well, it IS a club located at the hotel. But I HEAR that it is hot. :--)
Anyway, what a great day! What a great wedding! And what a great couple!
Thank you so much, Amina and Hassan, for inviting us to spend this memorable day with you and capture it all on video. Best of everything to the both of you in your new lives together!
And so ends another day as I sit at my computer, with Jimmy Kimmel talking in my living room. And if Jimmy is talking in my living room, it means it’s time for this girl to go to bed!
NOTE FROM LYNETTE: Check our Screening Room. I've posted some clips in the "Sometimes Only Video Will Do" gallery.