Studio 272 | Chicago Wedding Videography

Erica & Mark

admin — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:58:45 +0000

Growing up Erika always dreamed of being married in her backyard. Things don’t always turn out exactly how you envision, but I’d say Erika came pretty close to getting her wish. The end result of countless hours of work, starting with her mother and continuing to their coordinator and staff, was an amazing, gorgeous, fill-in-the-blank-with-your-favorite-word-of-exlamation, reception in her parents’ back yard, in a 10,000 square foot tent that was designed down to the smallest detail. With tree branches creeping in overhead, it felt like a fairytale.

Enjoy!

Cailie & Jeff // Home

admin — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:55:38 +0000

Cailie and Jeff grew up down the street from each other. On the morning of their wedding day they each got ready in the houses they grew up in, which can’t be more than a few hundred feet apart. When you meet them you can sense immediately the comfortable love they share, one rooted in and strengthened by their deep history. It really is a pleasure to witness. So on that morning, despite being physically apart, it was impossible not to feel the presence of the other. Part of this was because cards and presents were quickly run back and forth from house to house; part of this was because each home contained small reminders of their love; and part of it was because you could sense the emotional connection between Cailie and Jeff. More than most, and no matter the distance, they felt like a pair.

That’s the first thing.

The second thing is also awesome.

As their ceremony was winding down, and at the point where, if this were a movie, the officiant would ask if anyone had any objections to please speak now or forever hold their peace, from the back of the church rose a voice over the din of the guests. There, slowly working his way down the aisle, came the priest who had wed Cailie’s parents many years ago. He was to be part of the ceremony but had mistakenly noted the wrong start time. Instead of being 90 minutes early he was 60 minutes late. Never before, never again. As he’s walking down the aisle he delivers a beautiful, heart-felt sermon on love and forgiveness. However bad he felt – and he apologizes profusely – this is a moment no one in attendance will ever forget. It was amazing. So it had to be part of their film.

Familiar love + unexpected treats. Cailie + Jeff. Enjoy!

Roksy & Jon // All Those Pretty Lights

admin — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 03:08:32 +0000

Roksy and Jonathan met in college in Chicago. They were married on their old campus. They got ready in the same hotel, just a few floors apart, both in rooms overlooking the Chicago River. Both were surrounded by their best friends, each of whom they acknowledged with a wonderfully thoughtful gift. They both wrote each other letters. When reading them, they both cried.

At the end of their day they stood together outside on one of the balconies at the Trump Hotel, where just hours before they had been getting ready apart. As fireworks exploded outside, they laughed and kissed. Everything was as it should be.

DJ & Travis // To Get Back To You

admin — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:20:14 +0000

Sometimes you see two people together and you know they’re a match. DJ and Travis are two such people. They are both fiercely intelligent and wonderfully joyful, two qualities that don’t often find a happy balance in the same person, and they compliment one another beautifully. DJ is more gregarious, Travis more reserved. As much as any couple I’ve met, they are in balance. So it’s fitting that when it came time for their vows, DJ began by talking about freed slaves and Travis broke down in tears/laughter while talking about student loans. The fruits of education on the one hand, the costs on the other. Harmony.

Atsuko & Karl // Always and Forever Be

admin — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:10:05 +0000

There were any number of moments when I knew that I was totally in the bag for Atsuko and Karl, but the one that sprang to mind most often while I was working on their film was the period right before their ceremony. Atsuko and Karl had thrown together a music mix to play as their gusts were socializing and taking their seats, and that’s when I heard Riceboy Sleeps come on. I knew Atsuko would be walking down the aisle to Sigur Ros, but I did not know their love for beautiful music extended to obscure side-projects of beautiful-music-makers.

That’s when I kept thinking, “Yes. 100x yes.”

Which is the same thought I have when I think about Atsuko and Karl together. Enjoy their film.

Reena & Vineet // An Ivy Room Wedding Video

admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:33:40 +0000

Reena and Vin were married during a morning ceremony and so their day began at sunrise. There is a tranquility at dawn, a stillness, felt no more immediately than in a city like Chicago, where moments of silence are rare, let alone extended periods when all you hear is the sound of the wind and crickets. Without a doubt Reena’s prep was the quietest bride prep I’ve ever experienced. It was peaceful, as was the venue prep at the Ivy Room. This was the aura of their wedding, at least as I experienced it, and it stuck with me throughout the day.

So when I sat down with their footage and began charting their film, this is what I kept coming back to. A quiet feeling of love and joy. After a while I found a song that spoke perfectly to that feeling as well, and then came the decision about the audio. Normally I try to find a piece from the ceremony or the reception to use as the backbone of the film, and that certainly was an option here (even though most of the ceremony was in another language there were parts in English and the entire reception was in English as well). But every piece of spoken audio I inserted felt out of place, almost to the point of distraction. The thing about Hindu and Sikh ceremonies is that the bride and groom say almost nothing audible, and putting in words from someone else kept pulling me away from the feeling I had on their day. So I began to strip their film down, removing everything that didn’t convey that feeling, until I finally realized that all I wanted was the ambient sound of their day to come through.

This is a film that I hope conveys the feeling not only of Reena and Vin, but of the day they were married. Enjoy.

Jessica & Coe // A Gallery 1028 Wedding Video

admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:23:58 +0000

Jessica and Coe are two of the sweetest, most gentle people I’ve had the pleasure to work with. Though they’re both from Illinois it was in Colorado where they first met while in college, and though they did return to the area while Coe was in graduate school, they’ve since moved on to Nebraska. Which is unfortunate because it’s always a bummer when really nice people move away. Illinois’ loss is Nebraska’s gain, though.

One other quick note: Jessica wore her mother’s wedding dress (slightly altered, of course) and Coe wore a really awesome blue shirt/black vest combo. I’m generally not much of a fashion person but goodness gracious did I love how they looked. Going into a wedding I never know what’s going to resonate with me about a couple, but in Jessica and Coe’s case it was definitely the clothing. What they wore was perfectly aligned with who they are.

I hope you enjoy their film.

Photography: Melissa Hayes Photography | Venue: Gallery 1028 | Flowers and Design: Kehoe Designs

Jaime & John-Mark // A Blue Harbor Resort Wedding Video

admin — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 01:47:59 +0000

When I meet with couples I always try to keep things as laid back as possible. No one enjoys business meetings, myself included, and so my consultations tend to happen over drinks somewhere comfortable. An anti-business meeting as it were.

But that’s not the primary reason I like to keep my consultations low key. The primary reason is this:

You really don’t get to know someone all that well if you meet them in an artificial environment. A traditional consultation is basically a two-sided interview, which is about as artificial as it gets. (When is the last time you just happened into an interview?) Since my work centers on each couple’s personality, on their story, on what makes them unique, it’s important we meet somewhere they feel at ease. I don’t even like to think of it as a meeting. I approach it as if I’m just hanging out with a couple of friends. This is why my consultations tend to last a long time. And the reining champs for Longest Consultation Ever are Jaime and John-Mark.

When we got together earlier this year we started around 7pm. We had a few beers to break the ice, then ordered a few burgers because we were hungry, then had a few more beers because why not, and by that point time was flying. We finally called it quits just before midnight. If it weren’t a school night (Jaime is a teacher) we may have carried on even longer.

What’s the point of telling you all this? I’m not sure. But I will say this: Jaime and John-Mark are a lot of fun and really make me love what I do. It’s wonderful to do something that results in becoming good friends with new people you might not otherwise meet. Here is their film.

Cheryl & Ed // A Chicago Same Day Edit

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:34:37 +0000

On the Friday morning before their wedding Cheryl sent me a spreadsheet detailing the events of her wedding day. This is not unusual; I usually receive some sort of schedule from my couples as it’s always helpful for everyone to know what’s happening when. What was different about this schedule is that it was for upwards of 60 people, began at 6am, ended past midnight, and was broken down to the quarter hour in most places.

Cheryl has a type A personality.

Ed has a type B personality.

The only way for Ed to be more laid back than he is naturally is for him to be asleep. Which is exactly what he was fifteen minutes prior to when the schedule had him waking up. Of course ten minutes prior to when the schedule had him waking up one of Cheryl’s bridesmaids went up to his room to wake him up anyway, because in the land of detailed spreadsheets ten minutes early is really on time.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this except to provide a little context for maybe my favorite moment of their day. Here it is:

When Cheryl wrote her card to Ed she cried. Crying wasn’t on the schedule. She had to run downstairs to have the makeup artist touch up her makeup maybe 20 minutes after she had just finished it. That wasn’t on the schedule either. So when she read Ed’s card to her it was really touch and go there for a few moments before she decided that there wasn’t any more time for crying (I still caught a few tears in her eyes though).

Here is their SDE:

Lindsay & Jay // A Green Bay Wedding Video

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:16:08 +0000

Lindsay and Jay were together even before they knew one another. Their respective mothers were pregnant with them at the same time, in the same hospital. Pretty wild. Green Bay, Wisconsin, isn’t the largest city but it does have ~~the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers~~ more than one high school and as we all know the prospect of dating someone from a rival school is pretty outrageous when you’re a teenager. So despite the best efforts from their families Lindsay and Jay never connected until an internship after their first year in college. Together from birth but they don’t meet until they go away to school. The fact that they ended up married is testament either to fate or the matchmaking savvy of Jay’s grandfather. I like to think it’s the later.

Details: Photography: Mark Hawkins Photography // Venue: The Weidner Center // DJ: Dreaming DJ //