Moonstruck Productions: 2010

Moonstruck Productions presents Rinula and George

During any pre-production meeting, I always ask my brides if they are planning on anything out of the ordinary that I should be aware of. Rinula smiled and replied, "With George and our families, be ready for anything." And was she ever right. There were many impromptu moments of fun and laughter as well as a true passion for life shared among all of the members of their families.

One of my favorite moments was when the heat in the church caused the priest to gently wipe the sweat off of George's forehead, or when Rinula chased George around the reception hall with a rolling pin before dragging him in by his pant leg!

Besides a wonderful family to share the day with, we were also blessed to be shooting with one of Cleveland's best photographers, Rich Pappas.

The wedding and reception were held at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church on W. 14th st in Cleveland with 450 guests attending.

It was truly a wonderful day and here is the highlight film to prove it. Congratulations Rinula and George!

Moonstruck Productions is Cleveland Wedding Cinematography!

Moonstruck Productions presents Chris and Kristie

I believe the secret to a long and happy marriage is laughter. In fact, I think it is the key ingrediant to life itself. And judging by how much fun these two have together, I would guess they are in for a very long and happy life as husband and wife. Chris and Kristie always had a smile on their face and truly enjoyed each others company. I especially loved their interaction together when I handed them my Super 8mm camera and let them shoot each other. Check it out in their highlight film below!

Moonstruck Productions is Cleveland Wedding Cinematography!

Moonstruck Productions presents Sarah and Scott

Sarah and Scott were married at the always beautiful Club Hillbrook. The day was calling for rain and wouldn't you know it, Sarah and Scott had planned an outdoor wedding. But as God would have it, the ceremony went on without a problem even as dark clouds rolled in overhead. And then, literally 5 seconds after being announced "Husband and Wife", the rain came down. All of the guests were given umbrellas and Sarah and Scott made it safe and dry inside. Fifteen minutes later the rain stopped and the guests enjoyed a wonderful evening outside on the patio. It was almost as if God himself decided to stop by and offer his blessings. Here are the highlights from Sarah and Scott's wedding...

Moonstruck Productions presents Rosie and Lance

Rosie's cousins performed a special song for her and Lance at the reception. It was a beautiful performance and it goes well with the highlights from the day...

Moonstruck Productions presents Tye and Eileen's Wedding Highlight Film

Tye and Eileen had a perfect day for a wedding and an all-star cast of wedding professionals working with them. Moonstruck Productions started the day at St. Patrick's church in Ohio City, one of our favorite historic churches in the Cleveland area. We hit the town for pictures with Tom Forrest and ended up at the Old Courthouse.

George Skourtis of Studio Z Floral Design was the mastermind behind the flowers, centerpieces and lighting. I've shot a million weddings at the courthouse, but this was the first time I had seen anyone do such an amazing job with uplighting and table settings. Brenda Kucinski at Catan Fashions helped transform the room from old to extraordinary and kept things running smoothly all day long. A Taste of Excellence provided the catering and David Palmer from Network Sound hooked up the audio and spot lights for the intro's and dances and Bill Bowen from Jerry Bruno played the tunes for the night.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, especially Tye and Eileen. A happy day for a very happy couple. Congratulations Tye and Eileen!

Moonstruck Productions is Cleveland Wedding Cinematography

Moonstruck Productions presents Bindu & Vishal's Wedding Highlight Film

We have completed the finishing touches on Bindu and Vishal's cinematic edit blu-ray disc and the last piece of the puzzle was to upload their highlight film. If you read our earlier blog post about Bindu and Vishal, you will remember how much we loved the colors, traditions and hospitality of the Hindu weddings. After viewing their highlight film you will see why.

All of us here at Moonstruck Productions have loved being a part of Bindu and Vishal's wedding and are happy they chose us to be their cinematographer!

Ryan & Kristen's Highlight Film

This wedding was a lot of fun and full of wonderful moments to capture. I absolutely loved the mix of unique and classic tastes that Kristen and Ryan shared. To start, they chose the Amasa Stone Chapel for the ceremony. If you don't know, it is a beautiful historic chapel in University Circle. During the ceremony, Ryan's brother Rob played the piano during the candle lighting and a string duet played the entire service.

Then we headed to the west side of the flats for some breathtaking pictures taken by Lindsey Beckwith. Kristen and Ryan weren't afraid to take a chance and get a little dirty by taking pictures on the bridge over the river. With the sun starting to set, the light was perfect for some very unique images.

We then drove over to the Van Sweringen Arcade where Kristen and Ryan used their creative talents to hand craft all of the table decorations, the invitations and place settings. And as you watch the video, look for the large vase full of origami cranes. Kristen, being true to Japanese tradition, hand folded 1000 of them before the wedding!

We continued the night as guests danced to the sounds of the Grand Avenue Band and ended the night with Ryan sharing his break-dancing skills.

Without further ado, here is the video...

Copyright 2010 Moonstruck Productions

Super 8mm from Michael and Melissa's wedding

This was shot on Ektachrome 100D. The song was composed by Michael (the groom) and was played live for their first dance that night! I love the song and it fits so nicely with the vintage super 8...

Michael and Melissa

Michael and Melissa are one of those couples brimming with talent and creativity. Michael is an extremely talented musician and he not only hand-picked all of the music for the ceremony but he composed a song just for their first dance. We had a great time sharing the day with them.

Here are a few screen grabs from their wedding day...

Getting started, Scott headed over to the Renaissance in Cleveland with the girls.

Melissa's Dad glued a real sixpence to her shoe for good luck.

Michael and the guys.

The ceremony was held at St. Paul's Shrine and afterwards we headed to the Art Museum with another one of our favorite photographers, Tom Forrest.

Mike road along in the limo to capture some great toasts.

I love Tom Forrest's poses and ability to find the best natural light.

At the end of the day I let Michael and Melissa shoot each other with the Super 8mm camera. Check out my next post when I share some of this vintage footage!

Bobby & Aileen's Wedding

Our coverage began with Carla capturing Aileen and the girls while Mike and I headed over to Bobby and the guys. We were accompanied by one of our favorite photography duo's, Genevieve and James Nisly.

Aileen and Bobby went with the Moonstruck Package which included unlimited all-day coverage and the use of our new HDSLR format. Besides offering stunning images, the SLR format allows us to work faster and lighter and we are able to blend in with the crowd. The funny thing is, since we are using the same cameras the professional photographers use, we are often mistaken for the photographer! Case in point, that morning Carla was with Aileen for 2 hours as she prepared for the day. Later that afternoon, the Bride's brother wanted to know why the videographer never showed up to the house that morning. :)

The ceremony was held at Mt. Carmel in Youngstown and the reception at Mr. Anthony's.

When we walked into the reception hall it was magically transformed into a beautiful dreamscape of candles and flowers thanks to the talented hand of Joe Mineo and his crew from Something New Events.

Joe had candles and flowers on every table and hung votive candles in crystal globes all over the ceiling above the dance floor.

Equally stunning was the cake created by Melissa from Blue Iris Cafe. Simple, elegant and delicious. Just the way I like them. :)

After dinner, the doors opened to a cake and candy room filled with decadent chocolates, cookies and sweets. Just writing this blog and looking at these screen grabs is making me really hungry! :)

The guests danced the night away to music provided by the always entertaining, Jerry Bruno Orchestra. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

*All images are actual screen grabs taken from the final Blu-ray Disc and are the property of Moonstruck Productions, Inc.

Bindu & Vishal's Wedding

You know you are going to have a busy wedding season when you start the year off with a wedding like Bindu and Vishal's. We traveled to Pittsburgh for a 2-day celebration at the Omni William Penn hotel and the beautiful Pennsylvanian. We absolutely loved the wonderful Hindu wedding traditions, the colorful outfits and the extreme kindness and hospitality of the Swamy and Lockre families.

We were also extremely excited to get to use our new HDSLR workflow to capture every moment in stunning quality. Checkout some of our favorite still images captured from the actual wedding film and watch the video clip at the end to witness Bindu and Vishal's first dance!