By Scott Johnson

James Wedding on 7/20/19 at Swiftwater Cellars at Suncadia

Music licensed from -
Song Freedom - songfreedom.com

“Reid helped us with our recent wedding up at Suncadia in Washington. We had a great experience working with them from start to finish. Communication was timely both in responses to our messages and notifying us of any changes in the weeks leading up to the wedding. The final highlight video was absolutely gorgeous and blew us away. They were courteous all day as we moved around from getting ready video to bridal party photo shoot, through first look, and the wedding and beyond. We really felt taken care of and were confident that the result would be spectacular I would highly recommend using Best Made Video for all of your videography needs.”

If you have woken up with frost on your car recently: we feel you. We are only a month into Autumn and we are already below freezing! What is this madness? But the further away from the warmth we get, the more videos we get to share with you from times of warmth and sunshine. Back in July, we got to go once again to one of our favorite venues: Swiftwater Cellars!

Up in the cascades, this breathtaking venue is willing to go to great lengths in order to make your wedding day as special as possible. From the intimate to the grand, there is no end to the amount of weddings you can have here. The James wedding was a little more of the latter, though there was plenty of the former!

Kendrick and Emily’s wedding got off to a rousing start with none other than our favorite: Mario Kart. While the guys munched on some goodies and raged about blue shells, the ladies were getting their makeup done and got to sipping some wine (which there is plenty of at a winery!)

Once enough apparel was thrown on, it was time for some tequila shots and group photos. With a little more poking and prodding to get Emily’s dress exactly right, the bride was finally ready to greet her groom for the first look.

Abundantly adorable, their meeting had us laughing and smiling as much as the soon-to-be-newlyweds were. From cliffside views overlooking the river, to quaint clearings in the trees, we got to feature much of what makes the Cascades (and the Pacific Northwest) so magical. Once the rest of the groomsmen and bridesmaids rolled in, the smiles got even wider. Blue suits and lilac dresses looked particularly lovely amongst the green summer mountains.

Time soon slipped away from us and we had to get back to why we were here in the first place: the wedding! Overlooking the receding hills in the background, the altar is definitely one of our favorites. As was the case with the photo sessions, smiles beamed throughout the entire ceremony. With heartwarming readings from their respective parties, it was a delightful ceremony through and through. Ultimately culminating in the oh-so-precious moment, it was greeted with applause and exuberant happiness.

Back inside, the wine started to flow (and the tequila shots continued) while the newlyweds took care of the paperwork. There was more time for photos and smiles, which we were glad to see featured the same kind of energy from earlier. Transitioning to the more celebratory part of the evening, the cake cutting saw a fun twist: a mini cake perched on top of a tiered shelf, the dozens of cupcakes filling the other tiers. Soon the dancing began to work off the wine (and make room for some more), the summer light started to fade, but when you have YMCA on the playlist, there ain’t anybody going home until that gets played!

Thank you again to Emily and Kendrick for choosing Best Made Videos® to film their wedding day! We hope you have had a wonderful first four months of marriage! Have a question or comment? Leave it below!

Venue - Swiftwater Cellars

Photographer - Arlene Chambers Photography

Videographer - Best Made Videos

Hair and Makeup - Bridal Beauty By Ashley

Desserts - Lush Desserts by Amy

DJ - Pristine Entertainment LLC

Floral - Where Style Blooms

Dress - I Do Bridal

Invitations - Perfect Press Invitations

Chalkboards - Lauren Scott Studios

Emily and Kendrick's story in their own words:

How did you guys meet?

We met freshman year in college at Trinity University through mutual friends. A group of us went to Cowboys, a country western dancehall.

Tell us about the proposal!

The mystery was in the surprise. We both knew we wanted to marry each other, so the big question was how could I surprise her? I knew that it would be a more private affair since neither of us are flashy people and so it felt perfect to do it at the new condo I was purchasing. I told Emily that I would be getting the keys in early September. However, I actually closed on the house at the end of August.

When we got back from Hawaii, the plan was in full go. I had 3 days to get everything ready. I moved in on Thursday so that by Friday morning everything would be in its place. I spent Friday morning putting together the final touches (putting champagne in the fridge, making a dessert, and printing out pictures) and then it was go time! We met at the title company to "pick up my new keys", had dinner at the Melting Pot, and then headed over to finally see my new place. She was so surprised! Not only had I already moved in, but there was one box left for her to unpack. Inside the box were some framed pictures I had printed from some of our past activities (college hangouts, trips to Napa, family activities). The last picture was of ring designs that I had used to custom design her engagement ring! She said yes!

As we were calling friends and family, the second part of the plan was put into motion. After they were called, I had orchestrated for some of our closest friends to come over along with our families. We all got to celebrate together and enjoy the rest of the night and weekend.

Why did you choose your venue?

While we've been up here in Seattle, we've enjoyed wine tasting in Woodinville, so we wanted to do a vineyard or winery. We also are fans of an outdoor concept in the mountains. Swiftwater provided a perfect combination that was close enough to us to make planning easy.

What are you most excited to see in the video?

I'm most excited to see the first look and vow reactions.