Jessica and Jason

My, my, what can we say? What a day! Yesterday we spent the day with Jason and Jessica. The day started at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Wichita where the wedding party prepared for the day. The ladies wore classic black dresses and the men were in tuxes with bright electric blue vests for a splash of color. After applying her make up, Jessica donned her beautiful strapless gown with souffle skirt and intricate beadwork throughout.
A special moment was when her mother and father came into the room with Jessica and gave her a photo of the day she was brought home from the hospital. It was accompanied by the bonnet she wore and a touching poem about the bonnet one day turning into a handkerchief for her wedding day that her mother read aloud. It was at this point Jessica tested the "waterproof" claim to her make up.
The ceremony was not the traditional Catholic wedding but beautiful all the same with rose petals lining the isle on the floor at the ends of the pews. Most all the flowers were made by Jessica and her mother. Jessica also designed her own programs for the day which doubled as hand held fans for a warm June day!
The bride and groom bid farewell to their guests by running through a tunnel of bubbles the guests blew their way and with the help of two "bubble guns"!

They took some photos at the church with photographers Gary and Amanda McCool and then a limo took the entire bridal party to Botanica for more photos as well as the Keeper of the Plains downtown! Everyone was great sports with the temperature rising!
Onward to the reception that was DJ'ed by Ryan Funck of Absolute Sound and an even more special surprise for Jessica during the toasts. Her best friend, Amy, was to be in the bridal party but the US Army had other plans for her and she could not attend. But after the happy couple was toasted to by the Matron of Honor and Best Man, Ryan introduced a special guest toast, via cell phone...Amy. He piped her voice loud and clear through his speakers and I don't believe there was a dry eye in the house.
The couple then shared their first dance and partied on into the night where the bubble guns made another special appearance!
To Jessica and Jason, thank you so much for letting us be a part of your very special day, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We hope you enjoy your honeymoon and have a great time starting your lives together, you rock! Thank you Gary and Amanda for sharing your photos!
Check out the wedding day prequel here!

A Game of Cat and Mouse!!!

Today was fun. We were edit fools in the morning then had a Love Story Shoot this afternoon with Tamaira and Jonathan who will be getting married this September. What a fun couple! We started out at Bradley Fair for some B-roll, made our way to Tamaira's workplace for some shots and ended up at Riverside Park for the interview portion of the story. We set up in the area with the large stones and the sun dial, so we had a really unique backdrop. We had an even more unique subject to film. Although Tamaira was great, her pets stole the show!

Tamaira brought her cat Phoebe and some of her pet mice. Yes, I said mice, like as in M-i-c-k-e-y, why? Because she loves them! They are actually fancy mice and not at all like a "wild" mouse. Yes, they were all outside and well behaved! After the shoot, being the critter lover that I am, I couldn't resist getting to "play" with the cat and mice! (They actually get along!)

So I posted some fun shots before we called it a night. The animals are pretty integral to their story, but you'll have to wait till this Fall to see the completed story! The black and white mouse you see is "Split Decision" and the gold mouse is "Niblit", I'm sure I spelled it wrong, sorry Tamaira!

We still get to hang out with Tamaira and Jonathan again before the wedding to get more needed footage, we'll let you know if anything interesting happens then! And yes, I actually kissed the mouse....

Stay tuned!

Reflections of Greensburg

We've recently finished up the Greensburg Graduation ceremony from last month and it will be shipping to the students at the school any day now after we complete all the packaging. Since posting about our trip there last month, I thought we would share the Intro to the Senior's Class Video. We used text from the programs they distributed and I grabbed soundbites from the featured speakers, including the Class President, Valedictorians, Salutatorian, and the dignitaries present that day as well as a sound bite from President Bush's letter to the graduating class. Congratulations Greensburg High School Class of 2007! May you be blessed in all your future endeavors!

Worth the Wait!

We thought we would take just a minute to share why we do the work we do.

We love helping people relive their memories of special events. We really put our heart and soul into our work. We think it is important to document special days accurately and we owe it to our customers to edit and deliver an exceptional product that reflects the details and the day as beautifully as we can. They will have their video forever.

So we thought we would post a few comments from a few people who were kind enough to take the time to tell us what they thought of their videos.

We recently delivered a wedding to a bride who was married in Hutchinson and now lives out of state in Minnesota. We were humbled to have received the following email after she had waited to see her video for the first time:

"We were very happy with the outcome. Thank you so much for the work you put into this video- it absolutely exceeded our expectations. If you have potential customers looking for a reference, I am more than happy to give one for you." Annette M.

You can view a piece of Annette's wedding below. This is their dance party segment.

Wayne and Angela said:

"I wanted to express gratitude of a groom who was overwhelmed by the professionalism and quality of your work. Angela and I were beyond pleased about how you bent over backwards for my father. Seeing my father get misty-eyed over the wedding video gave me an immense sense of satisfaction of the results. I cannot express enough how pleased we are over your work. Thank you Barry for everything you did in making our wedding very memorable. "

Watch Wayne and Angela's prequel here.

And finally, from Sandi:

"Barry and Stephanie, I just wanted to tell you how thrilled I am with the prequel. You are the best! I hope I don't lock up your website by watching it too many times. It makes me laugh, smile, cry (happy tears). We knew from the beginning we were so excited to have been able to book you for the wedding but you have far exceeded our expectations and that is with just the prequel. I can't wait for the video. Thanks so much for so beautifully capturing my daughter and new son's day!"

To view Sandi's daughter's prequel, click here.

Now accepting 2008 bookings!

If you are planning a 2008 wedding or know someone who is, NOW is the time to lock in your photographer and videographer for your special day. We have started booking into 2008 already and this week have received numerous requests for the popular summer months and are in the process of setting up some consultations. Fat Cat only books one wedding per day, so when the date is closed, it is closed. Don't wait! You can check our availability online. Click here to check your date now!

We are also gearing up for the July Bridal Show at Century II, and dates will definately start to fill up at that time for next year. Give us a call or drop us an email if you have any questions about our services!

Check back in the coming weeks for that "big announcement" we keep promising, too!

Summer of Love

This year we have several of our Love Stories scheduled for brides and grooms. Love Stories are a video biography if you will, documenting how you met, fell in love, who proposed and how and your thoughts on your future life together as husband and wife. These are generally projected on the big screen for your guests at the wedding reception. These have become very popular add-ons in our packages this year.

Many of our brides tell us that they like the stories because it gives them a chance to introduce their spouse to the other side of the family. Many times the bride and groom have not met many of the relatives in their new families. For example, last fall we flew to Little Rock, Arkansas to film the story of Thomas and Jenny for their wedding this past January. They are both very involved in their church in Arkansas and the proposal took place in Arkansas, so it only made sense to go to Arkansas to complete the filming. You can check out thier story in the Gallery under "Upgrades".

In March of this year Kayla and Austin showed their story for guests at their reception. Many friends and family had no idea they met over the Internet, through Yahoo personals to be exact!

Another twist on the Love Stories is for currently married couples to document their life as well. We will be working with Shannon and Joe this summer. Joe and Shannon met us a few years ago after we filmed the wedding and Love Story of Joe's brother. This December, they will show their Story to guests at their 5th wedding anniversary party! We can't wait to post this one later this year, they are a phenominal couple full of life and the most carefree attitude of anyone I know!

So this past Wednesday we spent the day filming with Anastasia and Jason who will be married 7/7/07. We completed the interview portion of the story but the most fun part of the day was getting the casual shots we overlay in the video. We went downtown to the river where Jason proposed and reinacted it, and spent some time around the Hyatt where the two started feeling adventurous and played in the water-wall fountain! A stop at the newly renovated Keeper of Plains was also great! Playing softball was important to their story so we headed east to get some great shots of them pitching to each other, etc.

If you are interested in a Love Story, give us a shout, we'd love to talk to you!

The Wright-Weber Wedding

Say that ten times fast! Yesterday we spent the day with Kyleen and Ben.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day for the first part of June! Kyleen started her day at Botanica getting ready with her 8 bridesmaids. She had 4 hair stylists on site to help the ladies with their up-do's and everyone looked absolutely stunning. They completed their make up and got dressed wearing gorgeous strapless floor-length purple dresses. Kyleen wore a beautiful strapless gown herself with intricate beadwork and a layer of organza that fit her perfectly.
She chose to see Ben before the ceremony and had a portrait session with photographer, Marcia Morrison and her assistants. With not much time to spare the couple then headed to First Baptist Church in downtown Wichita for the ceremony. The church glowed with the altar nearly surrounded in candles. The flower girls were a big hit, walking a few steps and then stopping to throw rose petals. They were adorable in white sleeveless gowns with a bright purple sash. After the ceremony the couple were sent off by their guests through a cloud of bubbles!
The reception was held back at Botanica. The entire reception hall was filled with fresh flower arrangements at every table. The couple took a few minutes for more formal portraits with Marcia and then were introduced into the room. After the bride and groom cut the cake and toast to each other, Kyleen donned a white apron sporting an embroidered "Bride" on the front to 'christen' the chocolate fountain! They fed each other chocolate dipped strawberries- and the biggest strawberries I'd ever seen to date just for your information!
It was a very nice day for Kyleen and Ben, they had a chance to relax at the reception with many family and friends. Kyleen dedicated a song to her parents at the dance for their Anniversary the day before her and Ben's wedding and to thank them for all the work they had done to make their day so special.
Thanks Kyleen and Benjamin for letting us also spend the day with you, we've enjoyed getting to know you both very much!
Thanks to Marcia Morrison for the great photos for our blog post!

Smith- Hodge Wedding

What a day! We just returned from Melissa and Ryan's wedding tonight. The ceremony was held at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in northwest Wichita. The day started for Melissa about 8 am arriving at the church for various tasks, then she was off to lunch and to have her hair and make up done. We arrived shortly before 1 pm getting detail shots of the church, flowers, dress, etc. Melissa returned to the church about 1:30 pm to continue getting ready with her bridesmaids, mother and mother-in-law and four of the most adorable flower girls we have been around to date! Ryan was sequestered to the childrens nursery to get ready with his groomsmen.

Melissa wore a beautiful strapless gown with intricate beadwork on the top of the bodess and along the edge of the hem of the dress and train. It was the first dress she tried on when shopping and she's had it for nearly a year! It looked perfect. She chose to see Ryan before the ceremony for photos and they had a private moment together about 3 pm.

Guests poured into the sanctuary and the ceremony started shortly after 5 pm. Afterwards, the bride and groom released all the guests by row from the sanctuary and had a chance to say hello to many friends and family. The bride and groom left the church through a barrage of bubbles and took an awesome limo to the newly opened Keeper of the Plains on the Arkansas River for some quick photos before heading to the reception at Exploration Place.

Their last dance concluded at 10 pm and they were off to start their new lives together! They drove off in Ryan's pick up which surprisingly escaped shoe polish, streamers and tin cans tied to strings hanging off the hitch!

Ryan and Melissa, thank you so much for choosing us to document your wedding day, we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you both and your wonderful families! Enjoy yourselves in Hawaii and take lots of pictures and video because we want to see it when you get back!