Moonstruck Productions: August 2010

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!