Author Archives: Bob

The majority of last week was spent getting ready for the two-day Perfect Wedding Guide Bridal Show at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, and the past few days were spent basically recovering from the show. In the middle of all that showmanship, I was also scheduled to videotape a wedding on Saturday evening, which certainly made for one hectic but fun weekend.

Sara & Alex’s wedding and reception took place at the luxurious Conrad Hotel downtown, which was already abuzz from the Colts playoff game that was happening at the same time. (Needless to say, I had to scalp my ticket.) Rebecca Raymond of Event Fantastic, who referred the couple to me (thanks, Rebecca!), was given what every consultant dreams of – the green light to do whatever she wanted. The result was a fantastic winter wonderland theme involving white petals, street lamps, bare trees, and her signature self-serve (white) candy station. Kevin and Alicia Monahan of Kevin Monahan Photography took the couple to the neighboring Artsgarden after the ceremony for some fun shots, one of which I’ll post below, and they were a joy to work beside the entire night. The reception was turned into a nonstop R&B and disco rave-up courtesy of the band Zannadoo, who have quickly become one of my favorite bands. This was actually the first time that I saw Zanna fronting the band, and boy could she belt!

I’ve never been a big fan of doing bridal shows, largely because of the cost and the pain of transporting my plasma screen to and from the shows. But the new two-day format of this particular show was a stroke of genius on the part of the PWG folks, as it allowed us to mingle with almost twice as many brides as usual, and it divided all the moving hassles over two days. (It was nice to just walk leisurely into the Scottish Rite on Sunday morning and have everything already set up from Saturday.) I had a fun time at the show meeting with current clients who came by to say “hi,” answering questions for prospective clients, and networking with my friends in the vendor community, several of whom were displaying our work at their own booths. This was the first time that I was honestly happy with the presentation of my own booth, as I finally updated my flyers to work together visually and found a layout for our materials and equipment that was appealing yet practical. This was also the first time that I played our video clips off of a PC instead of a DVD, which was great because it allowed me to show off some of our high-definition footage, and it allowed me to easily stop the presentation in order to show certain brides clips from specific venues. My only regret was that I didn’t have more down time to walk around and chat with other vendors there, but I guess that’s the sign of a successful bridal show.

After returning from a wonderful week Wisconsin, our kids were bursting at the seams to open the gifts that “Santa” had left under the Christmas tree while we were gone. I could certainly relate, as I was quite anxious to get back to business. Among the many things to do over the next few days are my month-end website update, year-end accounting wrap-up, and preparations for next weekend’s Perfect Wedding Guide Bridal Show at the Scottish Rite Cathedral.

But the first priority upon my return was to get back in a wedding videography state of mind to cover Adrianne & Elliott’s wedding at the Indiana State House. We all squeezed onto a shuttle bus for some pre-ceremony photos on Monument Circle with photographer Erin Hession and her crew. Erin, who referred the couple to me, and whose own wedding we had covered a few years ago, was a total sweetheart to work with throughout the day, and her fun visual style was a joy to watch. The ceremony was most memorable for the couple’s exit through a sword arch provided by Elliott’s military friends, punctuated by “Welcome to the Navy, Mrs. Hultgren” and a friendly sword tap to the bride’s, uh, “stern.” The reception was my first in over ten years at the Garrison in Ft. Benjamin Harrison. (Interesting note: My wife lived at Ft. Ben briefly as a toddler before her family settled down in Wisconsin.) I enjoyed a delightful chat with my assistant and buddy Rich Johnson over dinner and then did my best to keep up with the evening’s lively pace as DJ Kent Clem of WSL Mobile DJs kept the festivities rolling along. It just happened to be my birthday (which Kent couldn’t resist announcing to the crowd), and so it was truly a gift to be able to share a special day in common with and work for such a nice couple and their families.

Update (1/2/07): Here’s a fun image that Erin Hession passed along to me from Adrianne & Elliott’s wedding. Thanks, Erin!

Lynn & Josh’s Wedding Highlights – 10/21/06

Sandy and John’s huge wedding ceremony at Second Presbyterian Church was followed by a beautiful reception held at the Broadmoor Country Club:

Sandy & John’s Wedding Highlights – 11/4/06

Emily”

And finally, this wonderful letter came from Maureen DeBone after viewing her wedding video from 10/14/06:

“Bob – I just don’t know where to start. I’m certain that every bride and groom love their wedding video because it brings back so many memories, and captures moments that they couldn’t, because they were the bride and groom, experience first hand. I am no different, but I am being very objective when I say the videos you created for us were better than we could have imagined. Thank you for capturing the ceremony as you did. It was understandably the most special part of our celebration. You edited the footage and captured everything we would have wanted; it was like you knew where our focus was during the entire mass. Your work is truly magical to us, and we are most grateful. Besides your talent behind the camera and editing software I must express how easy and pleasant it was to work with you. As a bride, I had to work with many vendors and many personalities. From start to finish you were responsive and professional; two qualities that make wedding planning bearable! In addition, you seemed kind and gentle our entire wedding day. You were non-intrusive – I think we only spoke once or twice – but I felt confident you had our day in mind and you worked hard the entire time. It showed. God bless you and your family. Have a Merry, Merry Christmas. Thank you again for a DVD that will be watched for many years to come.”

Angela & Marty’s Wedding Highlights – 10/14/06

On that same day, I covered Maureen & Don’s wedding at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church and reception at the Ritz Charles. The couple and I ended up staying in neighboring resorts in Kauai two weeks later. I should have shown up at their hotel with my camcorder and said, “You did book our honeymoon coverage, right?”

Maureen & Don’s Wedding Highlights – 10/14/06

The following weekend, Laurie videotaped Jody & Jason’s wedding and reception at the Bridgewater Club. Jason’s reaction to the officiant’s request during the ceremony for a “token” of their marriage was priceless. Laurie was a trouper that weekend, as we generally try to limit her to one wedding per month due to her busy schedule at WISH-TV. Not only did she work two straight weekends for me, but she also coordinated a wedding on 10/7/06!

Jody & Jason’s Wedding Highlights – 10/21/06

I have two additional highlight segments completed, but I’ll give the couples a little more time to enjoy their videos before posting those. In the mean time, I’m preparing to be in the first annual Holiday Bridal Show at Allisonville Nursery right up the street, which will be a good warmup for the Perfect Wedding Guide Bridal Show at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in January. I generally don’t do bridal shows, but it’s nice for the business once in a while to get out there and be seen by brides and other vendors. I hope to see you all at the Holiday Bridal Show this weekend!