October 2018 Newsletter
Greetings everyone! Reid here with Best Made Videos®. September found us back at one of my favorite wedding venues out in Woodinville, Delille Cellars for the wedding of Andrew and Christina. Andrew had approached me at another wedding we were at (John and Kimi's wedding) only three weeks prior. Having not hired a videographer, he was curious if we were available to come and film for them last minute (as he was afraid that they would regret not booking a videographer). Fortunately for him (and for us) both of the weddings we had previously booked for September 8 had to reschedule, so we were available to come out and share their day with them! I'm so glad this worked out for everyone and that we were able to come and film their wedding last minute. It just goes to show it's never too late to hire a wedding videographer for your big wedding day!
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The next day we headed back to Salty's in West Seattle for the wedding of Mark and Marcy. Marcy was incredibly excited that I was already super comfortable with their wedding venue (Dorothy and I were married there back in 2016) and was happy to book us for their wedding. These two had a great day including a first look on dock next to the venue with the backdrop of downtown Seattle in the background. I was so happy to get to share the day with these two and wish them years of happiness in the future!
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Lauren and Ronnie who got married back in April at the Monte Cristo welcomed their first child into the world earlier this month. It is so exciting for me to get to see all of our wonderful brides and grooms welcome children into the world and it never gets old getting to share their good news. Congrats again Lauren and Ronnie, I hope all is well in your world!!!
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The middle of September found us back up at the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine for the wedding of Brian and Lindsey. You would never guess it from looking at the photo of their wedding ceremony, but it actually rained all morning while the two were getting ready. I was actually really nervous about how we were going to capture their bridal photos if we weren't able to go outside because of the weather. When I told Lindsey about my concerns she simply looked at me, smiled and said, "The rain is going to stop..." and so it did, lol. These two are busy honeymooning in Europe and I wish them lots of love and safe travels!!!
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Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center out in Redmond, Wa is a fantastic non-profit that uses horses and different types of therapy to help children with various physical and mental disabilities. Every year I get to film their auction video, which they use at their gala event each Spring to raise money for their operating expenses. Here is a little bit about their history from their website - "Little Bit was founded in 1976 by a woman named Margaret Dunlap. Margaret had Multiple Sclerosis and found that being on the back of a horse slowed the advance of her disease. From our humble beginnings of one horse and five riders, we have grown to be one of the largest nationally accredited, industry-leading PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) International centers and one of the largest full-time therapeutic horsemanship programs in the United States. We offer Adaptive Riding and Hippotherapy, and serve 230 riders and patients each week with 22 horses and the help of more than 350 volunteers." It is such an honor getting to go out and experience all of the life-changing work that they are doing out there, and I can't wait to keep working on their auction video with them as we work through the Winter.
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As September wound down we headed down to Burien, Wa for the wedding of Andrew and Katie at Cedarbrook Lodge. This nearby wedding venue is a fantastic spot located near Seatac airport, although you would never guess it. Nestled in the trees off of Interurban Ave, this spot really is a little resort in the middle of a big city. With a lawn surrounded by trees for the wedding ceremony, huge getting ready rooms and a great ballroom for the reception, I'm amazed we don't film at this spot more often, it really is perfect for a wedding venue. Andrew and Katie are currently on their honeymoon in London (for the Seahawks game) and I wish them safe travels!!!
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My good friend Meredith McKee (of Meredith McKee Photography) has started a new venture called Om Mama Co. which is a collective of all sorts of businesses (from photography to yoga instruction) for pregnant women or new moms in the Seattle area. A couple of weeks ago they officially launched at a party down in South Lake Union (see the video here). Here is a little bit of background about them from their website - The vision for Om Mama started when my friend, a pre/post-natal yoga instructor, suggested that her services would be a great fit for my “forever clients”. I thought, YES! I would love for my clients to have access to incredible service providers like Jessica, but wasn’t sure how to make that happen. The truth is, it was so much more to me than hoping my clients could experience the benefits of yoga. I have seen clients, friends & family struggle with not only their physical bodies before & after pregnancy, but also with feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety. I wanted to create a space where moms can connect with each other, exercise, learn from industry leaders, and have FUN. Together. I also wanted to create a space for vendors in these industries to connect, and share their expertise with each other. It is important for me to build this community for us, as vendors, too. There is always more we can learn from each other and grow to serve our community even better!
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Speaking of the Seahawks, Dorothy and I found our way down to Centurylink field last week for the game against the LA Rams. Although they lost, it was fun to get to go out and explore the city and to cheer on our hometown team. GO HAWKS!!!
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We also all went out to dinner (my mom, brother, Dorothy and I) for a group birthday party also at Salty's down in West Seattle. With the backdrop of the city in the distance, it was the perfect place for a slightly delayed birthday celebration for the 4 of us!
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The month of September ended with us traveling back up to Bellingham for the wedding of Nina and Aaron at the Hotel Bellwether. Complete with a freaking lighthouse to get ready in, this is an extraordinary wedding venue for any couple and it was the perfect place for Aaron and Nina to tie the knot! The portrait session with these two during cocktail hour was one of my favorite of the season and I was so glad that I could share the day with these two love birds. They are currently wrapping up their Hawaiian honeymoon and got the enjoy watching their wedding highlight video on the beach with a glass of wine!
Genieve and Sterling got married at the Inglewood Golf Club right at the tail end of August. Their highlight video (complete with drone videography add on) was the perfect way to help them remember their wedding day always. Here is a recent review that was just left by the bride - “We absolutely love it!!! So much went over my head that day, and I’m so glad you were there to capture all of the important moments we missed that day! THANK YOU!!! I cannot stress enough how important it is to hire a videographer for your big day!! There is so much that goes over your head that day and to have a video of it to see afterwards is the best gift! All the details we had missed were all captured (and the drone addition was perfection!) We could not have asked for a better videographer! Reid is prompt, efficient, detail-oriented and overall just a nice guy! It was fun to work with him and his assistant. I would highly recommend him and hope to have him capture future festivities! Thanks Reid, you’re the best!!”
Kyrsten and Karsten had a joy-filled wedding ceremony up at Carleton Farms in Lake Stevens. This is another great wedding venue with even has corn fields which are simply perfect for late night couples' portraits as the sun sets in the distance.
Mark and Marcy had the perfect West Seattle wedding day and it was a blast getting to capture all of the fun for them. Here is what Marcy the bride had to say - “REID was awesome, timely, talented, and extremely easy to work with...He captured all the important moments of our big day. HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM AND BEST MADE VIDEOS.”
Nina and Aaron got to enjoy watching their video on their honeymoon in Hawaii. Shortly afterwards Nina messaged me on Instagram thanking me for all our hard work. She told me that with a glass of wine in hand these two cried through the entire video, which is exactly the type of thing I like to hear from all of our awesome wedding clients!
We released a ton of new episodes of our podcast "Get to Know Your Wedding Pro" this month including interviews with Holly Goodman of Sablewood Paper Company, Ben Lucas of NOM Creative, Matthew Pacheco of Pacheco's Weddings and Events, Meredith Mckee Ruth of Meredith Mckee Photography and Rebecca Grant of New Creations Wedding Design and Coordination.
Check out the entire podcast feed on: www.soundcloud.com/bestmadevideos. And please let me know if there is anybody that you would like to hear from in an upcoming wedding vendor interview!
Monthly Videography Tip!
Be bold with your wedding dress shots!
I love finding new places to hang wedding dresses and Nina and Aaron's wedding was no different. Besides find an awesome stone wall, and using the iconic spiral staircase inside their getting ready room, I also had Jeff help me hang the dress on the outside of the lighthouse. Not seen in this photo is Jeff crouched down behind the railing just in case something happened to go wrong!!! lol It's creative things like this that keep my job fun and keep me coming back for more. I hope you enjoy!!!
My job wouldn't be complete without including a nice image of ROSIE! Rosie was hanging out in her bed the other day and I thought I would snap a little iPhone pic! Love that little friend...
Thank you all for checking out our monthly newsletter! October is shaping up to be another exciting month. After I finish writing this newsletter I'm headed over to Bellevue for Donald and Kendall's wedding at the Bellevue Club and next week we are headed up to Dairyland for Ashely and Cole's wedding. As always, thanks again for your support, I'm off to edit some more wedding videos and to update our blog. Have a good one!
- Reid