Close-Wilbert Prequel Online ~

Check out Melissa and Jace's Weding Day Prequel NOW ONLINE! Scroll down to find their post and check out what FCP has been up to lately! For now, back to editing with more posts to come soon! Stick around!

PS- Don't forget to vote on KSN.com! Today is the last day to choose the wedding gown, bridesmaids and flower girl gowns for the KSN Throws A Wedding Giveaway! Tomorrow log in to cast your vote for the wedding rings!

Parks-Lane

Yesterday we spent the day with Brandi and Robby. Before we started out filming on the wedding day, I was able to go golfing with the groom and all the guys in the bridal party at Willowbend on Thursday. I didn't actually golf of course, but filmed all the guys having a great time relaxing and enjoying each other, I had my own golf cart to zip around in and catch all the teams. If I remember correctly, there were nearly 20 people playing!

Yesterday Barry met the guys at the Marriott to ride the Unified Party Bus to First Baptist Church. I was already there documenting Brandi getting ready with Christopher Clark, her photographer for the day. The bridesmaids wore floor length chocolate colored gowns and some stunning heels! Brandi's dress was a champagne or cream shade with a small elegeant train, buttons all the way down the back and the bodice was covered in lace with a beautiful ribbon and broche along the waistline pulled to the left. Her matching veil was trimmed with lace as well. The guys looked quite handsome in tuxes and vests of tan and a deepr red/burgundy. Her flowers were equally stunning from Walter's Flowers. Shades of orange, yellow, red and chocolate matched everything perfectly.

Brandi and Robby were able to take most all of the pictures prior to the ceremony, except those of them together, as she wanted Robby to see her in her dress for the first time coming down the aisle. The ceremony started at 5 pm and Robby's smile lit up the whole room when he saw his bride for the first time. The wedding was gorgeous and after Robby and Brandi exchanged vows and lit the unity candle, they finished some family pictures and were wisked away by the Party Bus back to the Marriott for the celebration! I got to ride along to get some fun footage!

Scott Ward from Accent Mobile Music announced the entire bridal party and the newlyweds went straight to the cake. The bridal cake carried the same color themes as the flowers and bridesmaids dresses and the groom's cake was the Scales of Justice balanced equally with blocks on the plates both stating "Not Guilty" signifying his career in the Law field.

A steak or chicken dinner was served to each guest by hotel staff and cake served as dessert. After their first dance as husband and wife, the party started and did not stop all night long. The large dance floor was packed the entire night, with some special surprises throughout. Robby's uncle sang a few songs and there were a couple of Italian songs played that were family traditions as well.

Brandi and Robby, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the wedding (and golf!). Thank you for giving us the priviledge of documenting your wedding day. You are a great couple with wonderful families and we wish you years of happiness together, take tons of pictures in St. Lucia!

eXtreme session kick off!

It's never a dull moment here at Fat Cat! After Vegas, the wedding, and some family issues to tend to, etc. we were featured in The Wichita Eagle with T&J Studios, Inc. for our eXtreme sessions and "trashing the dress" on Thursday the 16th. When we saw it online we realized while reading the comments section that the TTD (Trash the dress) sessions really stir up controversy. But we enjoy it and the brides thus far have enjoyed it. Just yesterday we shot a new session for Stephanie and Cameron who were married in Mexico and came home to Wichita to have a ball with their session. They were game for about anything. We started out easy downtown with some shots under the railroad trusses and progressively got a little wilder into evening when we finished at a private lake for a full dress-dunking. We are not advocates of destroying the dresses or attire and Stephanie's dress was actually alot cleaner than we anticipated it would be! We had to be careful as she will be wearing it once again for a reception here locally.

In the meantime, we are very excited about the newest bookings of eXtreme sessions that have been coming in prior to the article in the Eagle. We are doing a session this fall here in town and again in Kansas City in the snow this winter. We were also very excited for our most recent booking for next summer, an eXtreme session in Denver, Colorado the day after the wedding!

Remember ladies, you can choose to do an eXtreme session with your groom or on your own as more of an eXtreme bridal spotlight video! (Very cool...) Dry cleaning works wonders, and you'll want to clean the dress prior to preservation anyhow :)

The sessions are starting to become more popular as we continue to promote them. Put on your creative thinking caps and think of an eXtreme session that fits your sense of style! (As dirty as you want to get- or not)

check out this link to Tyffany and Jeff's eXtreme session Debut slideshow...

The photos posted here first depict what Barry and I went through to get some of our more creative angles! You can't be afraid of heights to film an eXtreme session! Next is Stephanie's dress on the ground (and in the dirt) under the railroad trusses. The third picture shows Stephanie and Cameron as they escape to the shore after our 'chase boat' idea went awry! Then the last two sort of speak for themselves, it was time to get wet and wild! Stephanie and cameron went running full bore into the lake and proceeded to dunk one another and Stephanie let her hair down for a cool shot!

Check out the video at the end of the post!

Dalrymple and Tautfest Wedding

Well, after a long but educational week in Vegas (read below), we were ready to head home and get some editing done, but before we could do that, we headed to Jenny and Jayton's rehearsal Friday night and then to the wedding on Saturday. Although I had a case of jet-lag going into the day, I made it through and we had a great time!

Jenny started her day at New Dimensions Salon in West Wichita to have her hair done. It looked great, and well it should, it was her fourth stylist she had been to, to get exactly what she wanted for her big day. She got it! Off she went to her home to help family get ready and prepare for the day and grab lunch. We met up again at First Baptist Church in downtown Wichita for a beautiful ceremony. The sanctuary was filled with huge bouquets of white flowers all around the balcony, down both isles, and at the altar.
Jenny did her make up at the church and got dressed when her photographer, Marcia Morrison arrived with her team. Jenny wore a cream colored strapless gown with a lacing back and conservative train with pearl accents and details. The bridesmaids were dressed all in hot pink. She chose to see her groom before the ceremony so they could take pictures in the park and have all the photos taken early to have more time for their party and reception. The bridal party all headed to Nafger Park with rumbles of thunder around them. Marcia was able to snap a few photos prior to the brief downpour that followed! Then we headed back for the wedding. Jenny's grandmother sang and then Jenny entered the sanctuary escorted by her father with music from the organ and string quartet filling the air. The newlyweds exited the church briefly only to return to release all the guests row by row before heading to the Hummer Limo through a barrage of rose petals.

The reception was held at Jenny's parents home in their yard. It definitely was a grand event. It did not rain the rest of the day, but it was not an issue if it had, with a large tent brought in from Kansas City that comfortably held more than 250 guests. Their monogram was illuminated on the tent ceiling and their photomontage played there as well after a steak dinner catered by Jenny's favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse.

Jayton and his new bride danced their first dance on the dock of the pond that was lined with white lights and an awesome pyrotechnics display going up behind them on the opposite side of the landscaped pond. Guests danced all night and enjoyed visiting with friends and family. Another surprise came when it was time for Jayton to auction off his bride for the first dance of the dollar dance, as he is a professional auctioneer! Jayton promised his guests in the middle of the auction the money would be put to good use :) and it raised the laughter- and bids- to a hefty sum. When it was time to bid farewell to the couple, they once again headed to the dock for a dance for the two of them and another fireworks display for their guests. Although the honeymoon to Cancun had to be postponed due to a Category 5 Hurricane, it did not dampen Jenny and Jayton's spirits throughout the day, nor did the local rain shower and it was a great time for everyone.

To Jenny and Jayton, we were honored to be chosen to document your day, we had a wonderful time getting to know you and your family, you were great to work with! Have a great time in Cancun whenever you get there and keep in touch! Bring back lots of photos!

Fat Cat wins big in Vegas!

It's not what you are thinking :)

This past week the blog has been quiet because we were in Las Vegas at our annual WEVA convention from Monday till Friday at Bally's/Paris Hotels. WEVA is the Wedding and Event Videographers Association, we have been members for 4 years. Each year the association sponsors the Creative Excellence Awards (CEA) competition which is international in nature. We have entered for about 3 years and this year we came away with a "Finalist" award in the Love Story category! I hear that we were two tenths of a point away from Bronze, or third place! The Love Story is the sample we have online on the Gallery page and is featured on our newest 2007 Wedding Movie Demo DVD! Check it out!Although we were very excited, we were a bit nervous heading up to the stage as our award was the first award presented for the night! The awards ceremony happened the opening night of the conference and we got to see old friends we had not seen for a year from all across the country and were on our way to meeting new ones! Our video was played with the other winners all week on TV monitors in what we call the "Backlot" where everyone gathers for breakfast and breaks to socialize and hang out.

The conference during the week was very informative as well, as we were busy hitting multiple seminars ranging in topics from marketing and website development to filming and editing techniques and many others. The seminars kept us busy all day from 8 am to 8 pm each night. We are very excited to impliment some new ideas and strategies into our business this year that will go hand in hand with some really big announcements we have coming up (I know we keep promising, but it's only a matter of less than a few weeks now!) The last night we did manage to squeak some time in to go to dinner on the strip with friends and we got to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Hotel! Here are some photos of our great time!

(Photos 1&2: Awards Night being presented our award by one of the Judges, local videographer Judy Handley. We did not know Judy was a judge until awards night when we received our award! Photo by our good friend and mentor, Danny Sayson. Photo 3: "The gang" at a restaurant inside Paris. This was a group of folks who had been to Jeff Wright's seminars of Blue Skies Cinema in California, that's Jeff and his wife Andee behind me. We had a BLAST! Thanks Jeff for putting it all together, I met some great new friends from other workshops! Photo 4: Steph and Judy posing at the Las Vegas Airport ready to head home after a long tiring week, the Weva Diva's! We missed Deanna this year for the photo, she had already made it to Cinabon! Photo 5: Steph and Judy on the way up the escaltor taking their businesses "to the next level"!

Vontress- Knowlton

Yesterday we spent the day with Yolanda and Shawn. The day was absolutely beautiful. The day was coordinated by Jubilations Events.

Yolanda started her day early at DaVinci Salon and Day Spa at around 8 am with a massage, manicure, etc. She had her make up applied and her hair done there as well. It was a very busy place with the many bridesmaids, mothers, flower girls and junior bridesmaids also sharing the morning with her! Two limos from Artistic Limosine were at their disposal throughout the day as they shuttled the entire wedding party to where ever they needed to go. The staff at the spa were phenominal in making all the girls stunningly gorgeous and even cleared out a massage therapy room for Yolanda so she could have room to change into her dress with her mother, two bridesmaids, myself and the photographer!

In the meantime the guys were getting ready at Shawn's place and Barry headed there to document their morning. Both guys and gals were taken by limo to Bradley Fair where Kate Cass from Absolute Expressions had a photo shoot near the fountain and lake and bride and groom got to see each other for the first time. Despite the rising temperatures, everyone was a trooper! Kate and her daughter bought bottled water for everyone on the way, which helped keep everyone hydrated and cool!

After photos, it was time to head to the ceremony at Hillside Christian Church on East Douglas. Yolanda had arranged to have a harpist play prior to and during the wedding, it was beautiful. Flowers were arranged and delivered by Moore flowers and were awesome and filled the church with a great aroma! The couple exchanged vows and were sent on their way by guests by thunderous applause and the church bell ringing!

The reception was held at the Olive Tree and again, was beautifully decorated with her wedding colors, a turquoise blue and white. The table centerpieces were tall and stunning vases with huge flower arrangements at the top, taller than the tallest guest.

The usual traditions followed with cake cutting, dances, bouquet and garter toss, but the highlight was the always-full dance floor and everyone enjoying each others company!

Thank you Yolanda and Shawn for letting us share the day with you, it really was beautiful and we enjoyed getting to know you and your families very much! You will probly be reading this when you return from your cruise, so we hope you thoroughly enjoyed yourselves and were pampered to the fullest! Yolanda, I hope you got a massage on the boat!

It's time to vote!

KSN Throws a Wedding has announced the four runners-up for their October wedding! Congratulations to all four couples, we cannot wait to meet the winner! Go to KSN to vote for your favorite couple! Next week after the winner is announced, the public will be introduced to the couple and voting will begin for the remainder of the planning for the wedding starting with the Invitations! You can vote once a day online at KSN, hurry voting will be closed soon!

Fat Cat's version of "Emergency!"

The last two days have literally been a whirlwind of activity for the Fat Cat Crew. Back in January we filmed the graduation ceremony for the Hutchinson Community College Paramedic Program. With our backgrounds in EMS, and myself being a graduate of Hutch Community College Paramedic Program in '93, we knew many people there and had a good time visiting with friends. We were also asked back then if this August we could film this years class "Field Operations" Day. We were so thrilled to combine two of our loves and jobs, EMS and Videography! Being a student at Field Operations many years ago myself, I knew what to expect- organized chaos, but fun and an incredible learning experience for the students! This is a two-day intensive exercise involving multiple paramedic classes and emergency response agencies working together to create very realistic scenarios for students to learn how to run an EMS call. There were approximately 46 students from 3 area programs and EMS agencies from all over the state assisitng.

Yesterday, the students were dispatched to 88 calls in nearly a 12 hour shift at various locations around the South Campus of the College. They learned to manage a scene and care for one or two patients. Today they were immersed in what we EMS folk call MCI's (Mass Casualty Incidents) that have multiple patients on a single scene to be treated.

Both Barry and I were able to capture the students going to the calls in the ambulance, giving patient care at scenes and transporting them to a simulated ER. Simulated calls included falls, overdoses, heart attacks, subjects not breathing, allergic reactions, assaults, seizures and more. Even a house fire complete with smoke bellowing from the doors and windows- thanks to DJ Cain, whom we have worked with before at the DJ convention earlier this year who is also a Paramedic himself, who provided a very cool smoke machine!

The MCI included a motor vehicle crash and plane crash simulation! The areas two medical helicopters were also involved and came to the scene to airlift out critical patients and allow the students to learn to load a patient while the rotor blades are turning (we call it a "hot load"). One of the highlights of my day filming was due to the hospitality of the Life Team Flight Crew allowing me to get aerial shots of the MCI scenes in flight! Thanks to my friends Greg, Brenda and Mike and also the pilot Ed for a great experience and some cool footage! This was no big deal to Barry as he used to be a flight medic for years, but I'd never flown in a helicopter before! All that practice hand held shooting really came in handy!

If time allows we will post a tiny bit of footage from the day at a later date, but for right now it's back to the wedding edits!

Hey guys, "FIELD OPS ROCKS!"