It’s been a busy June for McNeal Video. Not only have we had four weddings, but Lynette is working her fingers to the bone trying to edit our videos just as fast as she possibly can without losing any quality. We will NOT forfeit quality in order to get the videos out faster. We want our brides who are waiting patiently to get the very best videos possible. And we appreciate everyone’s patience. And really, Lynette is working almost 24/7 to get the videos edited. Amanda is still nesting and it’s getting closer and closer to Baby Nora’s appearance. And Amanda is editing while she nests, too. And me? I’m just working and doing what I can to help out. And everyday we are all so thankful that we have Dawn and Amy of Team McNeal to pitch in because we really need them and appreciate them!
I hope that everyone is having a really great July 4th weekend! I know I’m looking forward to having a three day weekend. What to do what to do what to do……!
Last weekend we ended the month with a great wedding! Katherine and James were married on June 27 at First Presbyterian Church. The ceremony was followed by a reception at Richland Country Club.
Lynette and I were eager to see the church since we had never worked a wedding at First Presbyterian before, and I must say, wow, that is one big church and campus area. Right next door to the church, practically connected, is a big old mansion-type building called the “Cheek House”. We learned at the rehearsal that we would be spending part of the pre- wedding at the Cheek House since that was where Katherine and her bridesmaids were going to be getting dressed. Both the church and the Cheek House were lovely inside.
Okay. I’m going to speak my mind here, but it’s nice when a church has a place where brides can get dressed that doesn’t include yellow baby bunnies on the wall. Or in other words, the nursery. :--) Don’t get me wrong, we love all the churches where we have weddings, but I always felt that since so many brides are getting married in these big beautiful churches, the least that the church could do would be to set aside a nice room for their brides to get dressed in.
Okay, I said it. Just something that I’ve been thinking…..
Everything about this wedding day was lovely. First of all, Katherine and James were absolutely so so so very nice. It is almost effortless to work a wedding where the bride and groom and their families are as nice as Katherine and James. Again, please don’t get me wrong, we love ALL our couples, but Katherine and James put out a sense of warmth toward us that seemed to just invite us into their day not as videographers, but as PEOPLE who just happen to be videoing their wedding. Personally, I know that I felt welcomed from the very moment that Lynette and I met with Katherine and James at the rehearsal, until the moment that Dawn and I left the reception after Katherine and James had driven away from their reception. Such a nice couple!
But since this is June and all, of course Saturday was scorching hot! And we all know that Cheryl does not do well in the heat. And Cheryl does not do well AT ALL in the heat AND HUMIDITY! But I was all powdered up and ready to go when I arrived at the church several hours before the wedding was to start. Since James was going to be arriving at the church already dressed and ahead of his groomsmen, I knew that I wouldn’t be spending a lot of time hanging out with just the guys, but I did want to get some shots of James before he and Katherine saw each other. And luckily I was able to get some great shots of James in the sanctuary of the church before he saw Katherine. His dad was around and they both were really excited about the day. In fact, James’ dad seemed to be just about the happiest Father-of-the-Groom that I’ve had the pleasure of working with! You would have thought it was HIS wedding day! :--) I luvs a happy Father-of-the-Groom!
Since James and Katherine chose to see each other before the ceremony, it was very important to get their first reaction when they saw each other. Or especially, James’ first reaction when he saw Katherine walking down the aisle toward him. Katherine wanted James to see her as she walked down the total length of the aisle, and boy, James sure did seem to enjoy seeing Katherine! As Katherine walked down the aisle toward James, she didn’t have to wait long to see if he liked how she looked. James was very expressive once he saw Katherine! I think he said “wow” a couple of times, and I know he told her that she looked pretty and beautiful. I don’t know the exact words, (but we do have them on film), but I know James said EVERYTHING that a bride wants to hear from her groom when he first sees her. What a great “first reaction”! I love it when grooms say all the right things! :--)
And I must say that Katherine looked absolutely gorgeous. She was classically beautiful. And her dress! Oh my! It was a classically BEAUTIFUL dress. I especially loved her train!
I also loved the colors that Katherine chose for her wedding. Pink! Since I AM a pink girl!
After Katherine and James saw each other and shared a few private moments (with only about five cameras pointed at them! Ha Ha), we all got down to the photo shoot.
This was another great thing about the day. We got to work with our longtime friend and photographer Angie Gambill of Gambill Photography. We have loved working with Angie since that very first time many years ago when we first worked with her at one cold and beautiful winter wedding in Murfreesboro. We ALWAYS enjoy working with Angie! She’s an awesome photographer and a pretty darn nice person too. :--) Our day goes really smoothly when we work with photographers that we respect and enjoy working with, and who work together with us to get the very best of everything of the day FOR THE BRIDE. Because that’s why we’re all here, isn’t it? Angie’s assistant for the day was her husband Trey. Dawn and I really enjoyed visiting and talking with Angie and Trey during our break at the reception. They are “good people”. :--)
Since I spent most of the time before the ceremony covering the photo shoot with Dawn, I got to spend more time than usual around the bride and her bridesmaids. I really enjoyed this! Katherine and James were very kissy kissy and lovey dovey and that was really fun to see. Angie didn’t have to keep telling them to kiss and such for the photos, because they were already doing it on their own! They were clearly enjoying their day. :--)
Most of the photos were taken indoors, but Angie did brave the heat and took the guys outside for some photos, and since it was the guys, I went along while Dawn stayed with Katherine and her bridesmaids.
Gosh! It was HOT!
During the photo shoot Lynette was getting all the cameras set up for the ceremony, as well as sitting up the audio. We did have a few restrictions at the church and we pretty much had to stay in the balcony or behind closed doors in the vestibule. We really wanted to get a shot of Katherine as she walked down the aisle, but since we couldn’t have a manned camera in the front of the church, Lynette came upon the great idea of hiding one of our little teeny cameras in a flower arrangement at the front of the church. Actually, Lynette couldn’t really get the camera inside the flower arrangement so she sat it down at the bottom of the flowers, and to help it blend in, she brought some greenery to set around it. It looked kind of pretty!
I don’t know what happened toward the end of the afternoon as it was getting close to the time to start the ceremony, but it seemed that Lynette and I found ourselves in the church setting our cameras up and getting ready, while Dawn was over at the Cheek house with Katherine and James. I don’t know how we thought Dawn could cover BOTH Katherine and James and all the things going on, but evidently, we thought she could! But I was up in the balcony setting up my camera, getting my tapes ready to change out etc, and I noticed that it’s getting close to wedding time, and there was no Dawn in the balcony with me! Where was Dawn????? I didn’t have to wonder long before here comes a very hot and tired and out-of-breath Dawn running down the balcony steps toward me. She literally had to bend over for a few seconds in order to catch her breath so she could breathe! I think Lynette and I nearly killed Dawn! But being the trouper that Dawn is, she quickly recuperated and was set up and ready to go by the time that the wedding started. Way to go, Dawn!
So Dawn and I were up in the balcony, and Lynette was on the first floor getting Katherine as she was preparing to walk down the aisle.
It was a beautiful ceremony. A huge pipe organ and a trumpet played as everyone from the grandmothers to the mothers and bridesmaid and finally Katherine walked down the aisle. I had the pleasure of standing next to the trumpet as he was playing. Boy! Are those things loud! :--) But pretty!
Katherine and James were obviously very happy, but also very sincere with their vows to one another. It was a very touching ceremony. I just thought that everyone seemed sooooo happy for Katherine and James!
After the ceremony, Lynette went on home and Dawn and I covered the reception. Dawn and I drove together to Richland Country Club. Dawn drove and I rode shotgun, giving her the directions as we went. I like riding with Dawn. Dawn drives like I do!
But even so, Katherine and James and Angie and the wedding party beat us to the reception. Since everyone was getting ready to take some outdoor photos, and since Dawn was driving, I jumped out of the car with my camera to cover the photo shoot until Dawn got a chance to park the car and relieve me. You see, Dawn does so much better in the heat……
It wasn’t long before Dawn came, once again, running down the back steps at Richland, out-of-breath but ready to take my place so I could go indoors, (where it was COOL), and she continued to cover the photo shoot.
I then was able to go inside and get some shots of the beautifully decorated reception room. First, The guest tables were decorated so pretty! They had really lovely flower arrangements that were just the right touch. Not too large but not too small. They were JUST RIGHT. :--)
Then in the middle of the room was a long table that was beautifully decorated with lots of flowers, and I noticed that the name cards on the table were the names of the wedding party, as well as Katherine and James. This was a really pretty table! I really liked the special touch of having individual place cards for the guests at all the tables, and then specially decorated place cards for Katherine and James. Its little touches like that, that I just LOVE. I LOVE THOSE DETAILS! :--)
I also LOVED the wedding cake. It was one of the most beautiful wedding cakes we’ve had so far, in my opinion. It was covered in the most pretty dainty lovely sweet sugar flowers! I mean, literally almost covered! I could have spent an hour just getting shots of that cake. It was that pretty! And then there was also a groom’s cake which paid homage to James’ alma mater.
Katherine and James treated their guests to a lovely sit down dinner, which as I mentioned earlier, gave me and Dawn a rare chance to actually set down and eat somewhat leisurely! And we also had time to visit with Angie and Trey during our break as well, and that’s also a rare treat. Thanks Katherine and James!
After dinner, things got moving along really fast. First, toasts were made, followed by the cake cutting, followed by Katherine and James first dance, followed by other special dances, followed by…….the dance floor opening!
The Blue Tones was the band for the evening, and we have worked many weddings over the years with this band and they always give a solid performance and get the people out on the dance floor. This night was no different. As soon as the dance floor opened, it was pretty much full and stayed that way the entire night. Katherine’s parents were really great dancers! I was impressed! Actually, there were lots of great dancers on the floor all evening. Katherine and James spent time greeting guests, but also found time to get out on the dance floor as well. It was a lot of fun! OH, I must say that I really enjoy the Blue Tones Saxophone player. He can really play that sax, as well as dance while playing it! A few times he was even out on the floor with the guests! And I enjoy their lovely and very talented red-headed chick singer as well……….I guess I need to learn their names! Maybe at the next wedding reception we work with them. :--)
The evening moved really fast. Even though Dawn and I were busy shooting the dance floor, I had a chance to make a run to the wedding cake and grab a couple of pieces for…… ME! NOOOOOO! Just kidding! Actually I grabbed two pieces of cake……one for me and one for Dawn. I felt bad for not getting her a piece of cake at an earlier wedding we did this month. But to my defense, it was under totally different circumstances. I really COULDN’T grab a piece of cake for Dawn at the other wedding because of how the room was set up and we were no where near each other during the dance floor coverage. But at Katherine and James wedding it worked out to where I could get a piece of cake for Dawn too! See? I’m not so bad!
And btw, the cake was YUM YUM Double YUM! Vanilla! My favorite!
Pretty soon it was time for the bouquet toss, garter toss, and the last dance. And Katherine and James made their grand exit to lots and lots of bubbles provided by lots and lots of their friends and family. Then they jumped into a very nice limo. Vintage or Foreign? I don’t know, but it was nice. And off they went!
I thought it was a perfect day and a perfect wedding and a perfect couple. I don’t know how the day could have gone any better.
Thank you sooooo much, Katherine and James, for inviting us to spend this very special day with you and capture it all on video. We got some really great footage of your day that I just know you will both treasure forever! It will be an honor for us to give you the best video of your day that we can possibly do. Thank you both again, and your families. It was a fun day for us and we totally enjoyed ourselves.
Best wishes to you both as you start on this great adventure together known as LIFE. I just know you are going to have a great marriage! Such a nice couple who are so kissy kissy and lovey dovey can only have a great marriage! :--)
WOW. I don’t have to go to work tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next! Lynette is even giving me Saturday night off even though I know she would really like for me to come in and help her with logging and capturing video. I have such a great sister. And she knows that I will be there with her at the studio next weekend working away with her. But gee. It’s late and I don’t have to go to bed! Even thought I’m a sleepy girl, I can stay up late without guilt! Yay! I love 4th of July weekends!
And so…….it’s NOT time for me to go to bed…… And I hear a Pepsi calling my name from the fridge. :--) So it’s time for this girl to go and get her Pepsi! Yum!