Kristy and Nolan

We met Kristy and Nolan when they also booked T&J Studios for photography when we were in the old studio last year together. Kristy had her heart set on an outdoor spring wedding. She settled on Botanica and we were all very excited to get some great outdoor shots. But the closer that the day approached, the weather looked as if it were going to be Kansas through and through - and not cooperate. Kristy held out hope.

We started out at the Hyatt downtown where both Kristy and Nolan were getting ready with their bridal party. The ladies hung out in the Sunflower Suite with some killer new remodeling, very modern and hip. The ladies hair and make up were awesome with some help from the ladies from the BeeHive Salon! While Kristy was getting her hair done, a special gift from Nolan came in. She was given an Opal ring, a family tradition in the Pauly family to the ladies on the their wedding day. After Kristy dried her tears, she had to laugh at the gift she gave Nolan "Mine wasn't as nearly sentimental!" When asked what it was, she admitted she gave him a gift certificate to drive a race car at the Kansas Motor Speedway! Still, it was a gift we all thought was pretty darn cool.

The men all wore black suits with lime green accents and the ladies wore black dresses of two different styles short and sleeveless, appropriate for spring. The weather was only overcast all afternoon and when Kristy got dressed, it was looking up for the weather to hold for a 7pm ceremony! Her dress was from Davids Bridal and very unique. Classic white, strapless, a very soft lightweight flowing fabric was perfect for an outdoor wedding with the slightest breeze giving it some flow and character. A few lace and ruffle accents adorned a short train.

They chose to see each other before the wedding since it was late in the evening and they wanted time to enjoy their guests. The first meeting was outside the Hyatt just in time for the sun to come out!
Afterwards, the bridal party headed down to a sandbar on the river and ditched the dress shoes and heels for some fun in the sand! Everyone in the bridal party were great sports with the photo and video shoot! As the afternoon went on with shots at Botanica, the sunlight hid behind the clouds and it was slightly overcast, but the set up continued outside in the meadow. At approximately 6 o'clock, Ryan Funck the DJ approached us and the groom worried about the weather, a brewing storm looking as if it were starting to cup around us. As we all dialed up radars on our iphones and blackberry's, then almost immediately everyone scattered like rats to the sound of "oh no!" and the large rain drops started in. Everyone ran for cover in the approaching darkness and took all electronics inside as fast as possible, the DJ's sound board, speakers, our cameras on tripods and mp3 players, etc.

By the time we all reached the overhang on the back patio, the sun was coming back out, the rain had stopped and it looked as if all the bad weather had cleared! Good ole Kansas. So another discussion took place with the groom and his family, consulting iphones and radars again. It looked as if there was a window of opportunity for the time of the wedding and another storm approaching on the back side. We set up again and were off and running about a quarter to 7.

The bridal party entered and lined up in their places, Kristy and her father rounded the corner of some trees for their entrance when the raindrops started in again. Not quite as hard, but guests grabbed umbrellas and used their programs to shield their heads. We leaned over cameras to protect them from water and the DJ spread his coat over the sound board and off Kristy went! I ran to the end of the aisle to get their expressions as they marched in, Nolans mother was very gracious and stepped out lightly to share her umbrella with me! When Kristy's father gave her away, the rain stopped, the sun came out and the rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch! Her father was also the officiant which made it quite personal and they wasted no time with a short scripture reading and went straight to the vows. Before we knew it, in less than 20 minutes they were announced as husband and wife! We took a few fun shots immediately after the wedding, and you guessed it, the thunder rolled and I apologized to Kristy and took off tearing down the rest of our equipment and headed inside to set up for their grand entrance. Just in time, too, the storm had arrived! It was pouring down torrential rain as we ducked under the overhang! Kristy had gotten her perfect outdoor wedding! Everyone was safe and equipment was saved!

The party was great fun with some unique twists, after dinner and the cutting of cake, the couple shared their first dances together and with parents but the bridal party dance was a surpirse with a mix of slow dancing and party pieces to cut loose and have a little fun. The money dance was also a surprise to those guests standing in line, Ryan would play the Jeopardy theme and then the guests were surprised by either a fast party song or a romantic ballad! No one knew what was coming next! It really was a great day and Kristy and Nolan had a wonderful time.

The newlyweds are spending their honeymoon in the Bahamas where I'm sure the weather is much nicer!

Thank you Kristy and Nolan for a great day, you are great sports, even with the rain it never "dampened" your day nor your spirits. We wish you all the best in your new life together, we know you'll do just fine! Take tons of photos in the islands and do share online soon! Thank you for having us, we appreciate it very much- stay in touch!
Now enjoy their wedding day prequel!

RUMOR MILL. . .

Seems the last couple weeks I've been running into folks who have been telling me "So, you aren't doing Fat Cat anymore?" Needless to say I was somewhat shocked, but not surprised. Please let me clear the air for my past, current and future brides, vendors and friends.

Fat Cat is not going away.

Here is how I believe the nasty little rumor started and was contorted to the above statement: This past year and a half we were blessed to have the business doing well and we were very excited about a move into the studio in Valley Center with T&J Studios Photography. It was a great place. Wonderful friends and atmosphere, a killer media room we put together and lots of space to shoot when needed in the back studio. It was great to have the business out of our home where I didn't need to ask my brides and grooms if they were allergic to cats prior to coming for a consultation. During the end of summer of 2008 and well into the fall Fat Cat started feeling the effects the economic situation we hear so much about on the news. Bookings began to slow down for us and in order to keep serving our brides at the capacity we are and turn a great detailed product for them, we decided to move the business back home where it all began. This does not mean we are quitting. Quite the contrary. We are simply moving the location of where I do my work. There are pros and cons to this so bear with me as I readjust again!

Although many of you know Barry and I are both taking our pre-reqs for nursing school, but the business remains full time for me at this time. We are just going through those growing pains of life and business and moving back home was the best choice for us at this point in time. If you need to contact us, we are now moved back home and I can be reached via email or cell phone.
I continue to work to get the edit queue turned around eventually, but in the meantime for our current brides I am taking care on each wedding to assure it is the product you paid for when you booked us and not rush through them. My assitant editor, Allyson, continues to help me keep my head above water with the pile of weddings I have sitting before me :)

We are still booking into summer and fall of this year and are starting to book into 2010. So if you or someone you know are looking for a great wedding video, look no further than Fat Cat. If anything to do with our status changes, our customers, friends and brides will be the first to know. Thank you all for your support of Fat Cat and allowing us to do what we love, spending the day with the best brides and grooms on the planet! Until next time- Steph

Fun behind the scenes. . .

So we shoot this wedding with our photographer friend Kevin Brown a few weeks ago right? Well, being the nice guy that he is, he decides he'll take a few pictures of us at work. It's a luxury we don't get too often and appreciate it when we do get it. T&J Studios has done the same for us too as well as a few other photographers. So we just decided to post a few to show you how we get some of the shots we do. A post just for fun, talk to you all soon! SG

Photo captions: The first shot is Barry getting the wide shot of the groom and groomsmen practicing the "Can't Touch This" choreograpehd dance at the Ludwig-Empson wedding.

The Glidecam rig at the father-daughter dance. I make Barry carry it- it's too heavy!

Kevin catching Steph at precisely the wrong moment :) when I saw the groomsmen "poledancing" on the Party Express Bus- what a riot!

Steph grabs a creative shot of the pole in the foreground of the bride and flower girl sharing a quiet moment together.

Don't ask me what Joey was doing in the next shot, I'm really not sure! I think it was a pole dance gone wrong!

Don't ask me what Barry is doing in the next shot either. I have no idea. I didn't even know he did this at weddings!

Robbin was kind enough to let us grab some cake at the reception and Kevin caught Barry during a moment of hypoglycemia! :)

New Prequel Online!

It's that time again! Robbin and Richard's wedding prequel is now online! Scroll down to Ludwig-Empson to view it. Please leave us your comments and don't forget to subscribe to the blog to your right! It's free and we don't bug you or give out your email! :)

You will receive an automatic reminder when the blog is updated, nothing more, nothing less.

Have fun with it! More to come! Steph

NEW PREQUEL ONLINE!

Hi everyone, while I listen to the sleet hitting my office window, I am trying to think about the beuatiful day we had a few weeks ago with Ryan and Chelsey! Their prequel is now online as well as photos from GP's Photography. Scroll down to check it out. Go to Eckerman/Shackelford. Be sure to let us know what you think on the commnets tab below and forward to your friends with the email link! Have a great day! Spring will be back before we know it! Next prequel due up some time next week! Steph

Ludwig - Empson

This past weekend we had the pleasure of working with another great couple, Robbin and Richard. We first met Robbin about 4 years ago at her brother Rick's wedding, now it was Robbin's turn! Saturday we started the weekend early on Friday- I took time to go see the ladies at Fashion Nails in West Wichita where the bride, her mother, grandmother, bridesmaids and flower girls all received pedicures in preparation for the big day. I then met back up with them on Saturday morning at Eric Fisher Academy for the bridal party to have their hair done. All the girls had a completely different style and all of them looked awesome! They each got a thumbs up as well from Mr. Fisher. Robbin was very pleased. During this time, Barry met the groomsmen and groom at the church while they hung out playing guitar hero and foosball prior to donning the tuxes and taking as many photos as they could prior to the ceremony.

The ladies then arrived at the church, Glenville Baptist, and finished make up and got dressed. I was completely impressed by the spring green bridesmaids and flower girl dresses - ALL handmade by the brides mother. Had she not told me, I would have sworn they were purchased at a bridal store! Patti did an amazing job, plus she also made the brides dress, a very unique and striking design on Robbin. The bodice was covered in floral embelishments with a halter type top around the neck and a sweeping flowing train. So cool.

The couple chose to see each other prior to the ceremony, so after everyone was ready, their photographer, the talented Kevin Brown (http://www.kevinlbrown.com/ ) brought Richard into the sanctuary for the big moment. He faced the alter wearing a classic white tux and his ball cap waiting for Robbin's dad to escort her in. She then approached and tapped him on the shoulder. Big smiles followed and some private prayer time as well prior to getting some of the formal shots out of the way.

The ceremony started right on time at 3:33 pm. You have to understand the group at Glenville to understand the unusual ceremony times there :) We love it. There was also special meaning with the chosen scripture of Jeramiah 33:3. It was a great ceremony with the couple not only sharing vows, but pouring unity sand together, sharing communion together as well as a prayer circle with family and a solo by the brides sister in law.

The couple exited the church to the Party Express Bus through a barrage of bubbles from the guests. It was a crazy ride to Starwoods for the reception! Scott Ward from AMM was master of ceremonies and the DJ for the night. He introduced the bridal party and then the bride and groom, maid of honor and best man broke into a choreographed rendition of "Can't Touch This" to the roar of applause from their guests!

Dinner was catered by close friends Nate and Rochelle from Ohio whom also did the flowers- amazing work Nate, as always! There were toasts and the couple cut the cake after dinner and the events flowed nicely into first dance, parents dances and the party began.

Robbin and Richard had a great time but was a little worried at the end of the night realizing their keys were locked in their car for the getaway! All turned out well though and the couple left Monday for their new life together in New Jersey!

Thanks to our friend Kevin Brown for the use of some of his photos!

To Robbin and Richard, thank you for letting us be a part of your day, we enjoyed ourselves so much! Thank you very much for dinner as well and enjoy yourselves up north! Come home to visit often and give us a shout!

Click the file below to watch the Empson's wedding day prequel! This is a flash file and requires the most recent version of Flash to view.

Enjoy!

Chelsey and Ryan!

We started off shooting this wedding season with a great couple! Chelsey and Ryan. It was great for us because we felt right at home right away. We knew alot of the bride and grooms family and friends already and had a great time all day! I started the day with Chesey at Urban Image Salon in Old Town. Chelsey and her bridesmaids were all getting hair and make up done there. Chelsey chose to style her hair all up with tons of curls. Add the tiara and she was ready to go.

After a quick lunch, we met up again at Olivet Baptist Church where she got ready with all her friends. Barry followed Ryan and his friends as they donned their tuxes and started pictures before the ceremony. The ladies enjoyed sandwhiches and were excited to get dressed.

Chelseys colors were very bright and appropriate for springtime; purple, lime green and bright orange! Love it! Moores Flowers did an exceptional job - as always! All the bridesmaids ditched the purple sweatshirts that Chelsey's Maid of Honor, Lauren gave to them and they donned their strapless purple dresses. They had a white bow around the waist. After they were ready, they helped Chelsey prepare. She chose a strapless gown with a souffle skirt by Maggie Sottero that laced up the back. She has such good taste! Then the ladies headed out to the sanctuary for their pictures with Greg of GP's Photography. Thanks to Greg for the use of his photos in the blog post!

The bride and groom wanted to wait until the ceremony to see each other for the first time. The ceremony started at 4 pm and it was very personal. From the music to handwritten covenants, Chelsey had planned it all beautifully. During the lighting of the Unity candle a song was played that Chelsey had recorded herself to her new husband, and what an outstanding job she did!!!! It was all a surprise to Ryan.

After being announced as husband and wife, the newlyweds hid out and then finished pictures in the sanctuary before heading to the reception in a stretch limo.

The reception was held at the Petroleum Club downtown and Kathy did a phenominal job of holding the large amount of guests that attended. Dinner had to be split onto two different floors of the building to accomodate everyone! Talk about standing room only! It was difficult for Ryan and Chelsey to get to visit with everyone!

They were then introduced by Mark Mazuur of Signature Sound and then cut the multi-level, multi-tiered and multi-colored cake, which covered the entire cake table and the groom even had one of the most awesome grooms caskes we have EVER seen, a Chopper style motorcyle resembling his own bike complete with orange airbrushed flames and a working headlight ! The bridal cake was made by Connie's Cakes and Cookies and the grooms cake was crafted by Cameo Cakes!

They shared their first dance together with Van Halen playing in the background! After the remainder of the traditional events the party went into the night and didn't let up. Everyone had a fabulous time despite the tornado warning looming outside! I always get nervous when the floor there starts bouncing to the beat of the music!

Ryan and Chelsey plan to spend their honeymoon far away from tornadoes in Aruba! We really think they should have had that trip documented on video too, seeing how that is the new big "thing" in wedding video- but no such luck Ryan said! Darn, maybe of our our future brides this year! Any takers?

Thank you SO MUCH Ryan and Chelsey for letting us share the day with you, we had a great time and we hope you did as well. We had a great time getting to know you both and hopefully we can always stay in touch! You guys are tons of fun! Please share those Aruba pictures when you return! Congratulations! Barry and Steph

Click the video file below to see their wedding day prequel!

Thank You!

Spring has sprung! Is it not beautiful out today everyone?! It has definitely put alot of brides in the mood for planning their upcoming weddings and getting their videographer booked early.

I wanted to send a shout out to our most recent brides and grooms who have booked our services for this year or next and say thank you!

Jessica and Chris -Bridget and Ryan - Trish and Daniel - Emily and Luke - Bibi and Wade - We are looking forward to working with all of you. I do not mean to leave out our other fabulous brides who have booked earlier in the year or last year. THANK YOU!

If you or someone you know is getting married, pass the word along about Fat Cat, we still have some great dates for this year available. We are also booking into 2010!

The blog will start rocking again soon, so stay tuned. Robbin and Richard's wedding is this weekend, so we will be excited to get the prequels up and running!

Video Birth Announcement!

Congratulations to Ivan and Ashley Moore on the birth of their first child, Tatum! We were happy to help an anonymous source (wink , wink) help welcome her to the world! This video was a gift from a friend, who asked to remain anonymous (just for fun!). When I arrived at the hospital to get footage of the new little one, I discovered that Ivan had some absolutely AMAZING footage of the moments immediately following his little girls birth. He asked if this could be incorporated into the video and I think I said "YES! I'd LOVE to use that!" before he even finished asking the question! What was awesome was that the footage was HD so it matched ours, thanks to his new Christmas present, used for the first time! :)

The footage Ivan was able to capture was amazing, as well as grandma and a nurse helping out to capture Ivan cutting the cord! We mixed it with footage we took the day after Tatum arrived, and this is what we put together for the happy new parents. Grab the Kleenex! Everyone says they get teary eyed!

If you are interested in a Baby Story, or Video Birth Announcement, please check out our sister site www.announcemychild.com and give Fat Cat a call! They make fabulous keepsakes and very unique birth announcements!

Fun to Share...

Last October we helped T&J Studios when they hosted their second Keep'n it Fresh seminar featuring Corey McNabb. We followed along to capture some of the fun and Corey wanted to spice it up a bit by having all the attendees choreograph a dance together. He chose a song fitting for Halloween approaching and impromptu rehearsals began in between shoots :)
We got so busy with wedding edits, this video was late, but we thought we'd share it with you just for fun and something different other than weddings :)
More to come, enjoy...

Thanks to all who attended Open House!

It was great meeting everyone today at the open house! Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to come and meet us, view our work and check out some of our friends businesses as well! We were flattered at the compliments we received from our guests- thank you so much. (Blush :)

If you missed the open house, you can still call or email for an appointment to meet us, view a completed wedding movie to see our style of work and what is included in the packages. We would love to meet you and give you more information. We love what we do and hopefully that comes across in our work!

Thanks again, have a great week, keep in touch!

SG

Bridal Open House SUNDAY February 8th!

It's not too late to stop by the Bridal Open House Sunday, the 8th!

If you are a bride to be and looking for your venors in videography, planning, DJ, floral and a photographer- look no further than Studio 142 in Valley Center.

Sunday the 8th, from 1-5 pm come by to visit vendors and talk one on one about ideas for your wedding! It's free!
Light refreshments will be served.

Pick up our latest demo DVD and pricing information, watch some of our wedding movies on the big screen in the theater! Check out photography decorating the halls of the studio and head to the shooting area to talk with some of the best DJ's in town and more!

We hope to see you there!

142 S. Meridian, Valley Center.

Whirlwind Start for 2009!

Hello one and all, an update here on all-things-Fat-Cat! I have finally added pictures to the long year end post below if you care to take a gander at a few dog pictures :)

Things have been moving along here at Fat Cat, slowly gaining on some of our delivery times with a slower winter as far as the shooting schedule goes, so if you are waiting on your spring wedding, we are working on those currently. Editing begins when we receive the final payment scheduled. We will be in touch with our brides as soon as their video is up and ready for edit.

The bridal fair was insanely busy. We passed out 400 of our newest Demo DVD's, all hand made, very personal and unique. The calls are starting to come in for the remainder of the 2009 wedding season. We only book one wedding per day, so if you are waiting to contact us don't wait any longer! :) Dates fill on a first come-first serve basis.

Come join us on FACEBOOK! Fat Cat has a new group! FAT CAT ROCKS! We will be posting some info on the business from time to time and you can see what we are up to personally as well in our crazy lives! :) Thanks to our past and current brides who are logged in, we really enjoy seeing what you are up to! Also, a big congratulations to several of our brides on new babies arriving or learning that they are expecting and on the way! Wow! So many! So don't forget about our sister website http://www.announcemychild.com/! A NEW Baby Announcement will also be online this week, so check back!

You can finally see the complete 28-minute Broadcast version of the work we have done for Hutchinson Community College Field Operations at this link from Paramedic TV! The video is getting great playback and increasing a wonderful stir for the college, agencies from as far away as the Bahamas are contacting the college to try to participate this year and see what all the fuss is about! Thanks to our wonderful friend Chy, YOU are the Bomb-Diggity! We can't wait to film this years installment in June!!!!

We mentioned at years end that Barry is pursuing higher education and is finishing pre-reqs for a nursing degree. Well, now I have the bug, and I have also recently enrolled and am finishing my pre-reqs as well! So please be patient with us as we now work school into our evening schedules!

Don't forget our Bridal Open House is quickly going to be upon us Sunday, February the 8th from 1-5pm here at the studio. 142 S. Meridian, Valley Center. So if you've hesitated about why you need a wedding video of one of the single most important days of your life, come see what all the fuss is about. This ain't your Uncle Charlies wedding video! :)

Everyone have a great 2009! More updates are on the way!

SG

OPEN HOUSE!

Open House for brides and grooms who are still looking for their vendors for their 2009 weddings will be held Sunday, February 8th, 2009 from 1pm - 5pm at Studio 142 in Valley Center.

The address is 142 S. Meridian, Valley Center, 67147 for those google maps folks!

We will be having wedding movies playing in the Fat Cat Productions Blu-ray Theater and photography albums will be on display by T&J Studios, we will also have a few other vendors there for you to visit with one on one! Jubilations Events for all your event planning, Accent Mobile Music and Another Dimension DJ will also join us along with the Wild Geranium florist! Meet some previous brides of these vendors so you can ask them questions about how their special day flowed with these vendors!

We will provide snacks and of course, the best part being the admission fee- IT'S FREE! Just bring your smile and your questions for our vendors. There will be plenty of one on one time and all vendors will be available for booking for your event.

Hurry out! It's going to be a fun time! RSVP to openhouse at fatcatrocks.com!

Bridal Show Madness!

We spent the last few days preparing for the Bridal Show that is happening this weekend. Today was day one of two and it was CRAZY busy!
It was awesome. Everyone was having a great time exploring all the vendor booths and striking up some wonderful deals with the vendors! We had a lot of interest for our open dates in '09, so if you haven't made it down yet, please come and see us Sunday, January 11th, 2009 at Century II. We are on the first wall aisle as you enter the building. Doors open at Noon and close at 5pm.

Sign up for prizes and have a great Sunday afternoon planning for your day! We would love to meet you! It's not too late!
SG

New Years Pulse Check!

Hello one and all! HAPPY 2009!
We apologize for the slow blog at the end of 2008 but its been an extremely busy time just as it is for everyone. So we figured we'd better do a pulse check to let everyone know we are still here!

Just to get everyone up to date we'll fill you in briefly on all what's been going on the last month of '08.

After Tia and Tim's wedding in early November, we had no more weddings to shoot the remainder of the year and so are trying to take time to try and unravel the edit queue black hole.

In the meantime, home life has spun crazily out of control it seems with a new puppy arriving mid November from Florida. Rudy the Rottweiler is our newest addition to the canine pack and that made for 11 critters in the house. He was the replacement to the Rottie we lost about a year ago (Bruno) that we blogged about in the fall of '07. Having a new puppy around is always hectic, many nights of interrupted sleep and the usual chewing anything in sight and trying to keep up with NASCAR laps around the couch. Rudy gets to come to the studio with me since we are still potty training and he has gotten to meet many people! Stop in to see him!

Over the last several months, Hannibal, our German Shepherd had taken a turn for the worse with some health issues he had dealt with for some time. It got so bad that on a Friday, we had planned on taking him to the vet the following Monday to say goodbye. He didn't quite make it and we ended up making an unscheduled trip to the emergency vet clinic around midnight that Saturday to let him go. It was just horrible but the right thing to do for my best buddy. He was 11.5 years old and was an amazing animal. He was my first real dog when Barry and I were married and we spent insane amounts of time together training for Search and Rescue missions locally. Those are my fondest memories and I will always be grateful to him teaching me just about everything I know about dogs right now. He was always forgiving and always willing to do ANYTHING I asked of him. Never fearful, always a go getter and noble guy. So we are back down to 10 critters sharing our home.

So as the tears began to dry from losing my boy, the new puppy kept us so busy it seems we didn't hardly have time to grieve and then Clarice, the Australian Shepherd became ill and we spent more time at our vets office. She is slowly on the mend! :) Boy, when it rains it pours.

Then the Holidays arrived and it was time to finish up as many weddings as possible for delivery for the festivities! We had a nice time with our families and got to see my sister and her husband in town from North Carolina! Allyson is my Assistant Editor for weddings as some of you might remember and she's doing a great job. She works remotely for me from her home and it has been wonderful to finally start catching up in the queue a little bit. We are gaining a few months on delivery times this winter if all goes well! More info on her later and we will post some of her edits here (as time allows!)

Barry has been busy taking pre-requisite online courses for his nursing degree and hopes to be into full swing in the nursing Bridge program through Hutchinson Community College and the Kansas Board of EMS by 2010. 1 more year! He's holding an awesome 4.0! YAY! When its all said and done, I just may finish mine as well.

Speaking of Hutchinson Community College, we also finished a television broadcast version of the Field Operations Documentary we did for them in '07 and filmed the Pinning Ceremony of the Class of 2007 at the Kansas Cosmosphere! It was very impressive. The speakers took their places on a replica space shuttle wing high above the guests who were seated in the main lobby underneath the SR-71 fighter jet. Way cool. HCC rocks.

Just as the Holidays were coming to an end, we were busy helping Barry's mother downsize and move to an apartment at a retirement community. That has been an emotional stressor as well as physical, but we are very happy for her and hopefully the remainder of the move will continue to go well.

We are wrapping up time we spent with our college intern, Michelle as she returns for the spring semester. She helped keep our heads above water in the edit queue this fall. We have also updated the website for weddings and corporate work this fall and are also feverishly working on our new demo for the upcoming bridal fair.
It has been such a whirlwind last 2 months, its almost scary to think about! :)
We wish each and every one of you a prosperous, safe and happy 2009! Come see us at the bridal fair January 10th and 11th at Century II!!!

God Bless.

SG

"GO FIND, HANNI!"

Benyshek Prequel Online!

It's a little late in the evening, but the last scheduled prequel of the year is "really" up! I had a last minute corporate job slow me down this afternoon, but we're good to go now! Scroll to the Leach-Benyshek post to find it! I do need to make a slight correction. I stated in the post that Tia had about 5,000 rose petals scattering the aisle of the church as she decorated. And I thought for only a brief moment that it sure looked like alot more but didn't think anything of it (as I'd never counted that many petals before!) until Tia gently reminded me on facebook :) that there were really THIRTY THOUSAND petals scattered about! Wow! staggering, but it looked so pretty!
Enjoy! Be sure to leave us your thoughts on the comments link!!!!!!!!!

New Prequel Coming 11-18-08!

Just a note to let you know the long-awaited Benyshek prequel will be online tomorrow! We'll post as soon as it goes LIVE! Thanks for the patience with all the anticipation! SG

Junior Reading Circle

We had a fun afternoon yesterday. We were asked to host one of the meetings for the Junior Reading Circle from Newton. It's president, Barbara Bunting, is the mother of one of our brides, Molly Claassen. She had asked us a few months ago to speak to her group about how our business may be simialr to the theme they had for the year- Madonna. It was an interesting day, we were able to share some of our work, including Molly's Prequel and talk about how music influences our business and such.

The Junior Reading Circle I learned is a group of women that meet once a month to discuss a variety of topics -and they don't actually read! :) The group is 100 years old and it originally began as a reading group but has evolved through the years. There was an awesome variety of members with very different and unique backgrounds. Topics vary for their group and it is a learning opportunity for them, educational and social in nature. I believe the ladies had a great time, and we know we did :) After our talk Barry gave a brief tour of the studio and the ladies then had business minutes to tend to. One of the hostesses provided a great spread of refreshments- and the pumpkin bread was awesome! Thanks, Christine!

The afternoon really was a lot of fun, thanks to Barbara for having the group at our place! Stop in any time!

Leach - Benyshek

This past weekend we had a wonderful time at the wedding of Tia & Tim! We met Tia early in the year when they booked our most popular package, a Love Story package, and we got to know them pretty well through the planning of that.
I met Tia at Eric Fisher Salon out east on Saturday morning where she was in the best mood! Not a care in the world- so relaxed. Some of her bridesmaids also attended to get their hair styled for the day. Tia chose not to do a complete updo, but rather pulling the sides up and back with a cool twist on the top. The rest of her hair was left long and flowing with lots of curls and just a little it of bling, a classy barrette, no tiara. Afterwards we met back up at the church, University Congregational in east Wichita. Tia was enjoying herself spreading out cream colored rose petals on the front steps and lining the main aisle of the sanctuary with 5,000+ pink, white and cream colored petals!
Tim was sequestered to the basement with the groomsmen while they got dressed and started their formal photos first so that he would not see Tia prior to the ceremony.
Tia waited with her bridesmaids in the bridal parlour getting dressed. She chose a gorgeous white lace-covered strapless dress and comfortable slippers! The ladies wore tan dresses which went great with the floral arrangements of cream and pink. The flower girls were so adorable wearing angel wings as they came down the aisle!!!
Aubrey Rowden from Missouri was the couple's photographer and she took as many photos ahead of time as she could.
The ceremony went off without a hitch and was short and sweet, or as Tia and Tim said "Was it really over that fast!?" After the couple exchanged vows and lit their unity candle, the guests seated at the inner aisle's found small sachets of rose petals to toss at the couple as they exited the church. They left the church in a black stretch limo but returned to finish photos as the guests left for Andover and the reception at Terradyne Country Club.
When the bride and groom arrived, they were introduced by John Graves of Totally Legal Sound and Lighting, who also did a fabujous job of adding some great ambiance to the reception. There was pink uplighting along the walls which added so much depth and character to the room and the couple had a monogram made to project onto the dance floor. There were so many special touches through the day and into the reception, Tia and Tim had thought of everything.
The cake was huge and had several long ribbons proturuding from it. After the cutting of the cake, the bridesmaids each pulled on a ribbon which pulled a pendant from inside the cake stating different fortunes for them.
A candy "bar" loaded with sugary treats kept everyone on a sugar high all night (including the videographer), the room of guests were split in half and each side had to sing for their dinner. Tim and Tia also had crossword puzzles about themselves at each place setting and baskets full of flip flops for the guests to take home.
Another special treat was the Montage and Love Story that was played that Tim and Tia kept as a well guarded secret up until the reception, which also led right into their first dance, which was a choreographed ballroom dance! Tia also had a choreographed dance with her father and a bridesmaid sung the song live. Tim danced a traditional dance with his mother.
The party soon followed and culminated with a send off with the biggest sparklers I'd ever seen! 4-minute sparklers which had to be a good two feet long ignited the night as the couple ran through the tunnel of sparks to their awaiting car.
Tim and Tia- What a fabulous day. We really had a wonderful time getting to know you, please stay in touch- it's so great when work doesn't feel like work! We are proud to call you friends and hope you have a fabulous time on your honeymoon.

Next Prequel Online Now!

It's been a prequel day...Scroll down to find not only the Tierson prequel but the Kiesling's prequel as well! Lauren asked for their first dance song in the prequel, we rather like it! :)

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New Prequel Online!

The Austin-Tierson prequel is finally online now! Check it out at their post below. A fun prequel for a fun couple. Be sure to leave us your comments! Stay tuned for one more prequel due up today!!!

New FCP Website Goes Live Now!

As promised, the new website for Fat Cat is now finally online! (Sorry it's about a week late as posted previously! We were very busy assisting at a photography workshop here all week!) Several weeks ago you may have noticed our web page taking a slight turn to corporate work, which we do also, and wedding information was a little tough to find- but rest assured we haven't forgotten about our brides! Quite the contrary~ the new web site, which you will need the latest version of Flash to view, can be found at http://www.fatcatrocks.com/ . Your browser will load a splash page allowing you to choose one of four options- wedding, our blog, announce my child or corporate.

The majority of our readers enter through the wedding site. Our corporate site, FCMG, will now be directed to http://www.fatcatmediagroup.com/ and linked through the main splash page. AMC resides on the splash page as well as http://www.announcemychild.com/ !

There are a few minor tweaks that will be taking care of in the coming days, and of course it will always be a work in progress! So go grab a cup of hot cocoa, curl up with a warm blanket and your favorite furry critter and check it out- we even have some new samples in the gallery! (Ya, for real!)

Palmer-Kiesling Wedding!

Apologizing once again for a late post! This past weekend we had the amazing experience of spending the day with a whole group of wonderful people for the wedding of Lauren and Brad. Lauren lives in Washington DC and called us nearly a year ago to inquire about wedding videography and was referred to us by our friends, Eric and Neal, of Lemon-Lime Photography out of Kansas-City. We met tham last year at a wedding we did in Missouri and were excited to have the opportunity to work with them again! Lauren and Brad were an absolute DELIGHT to work with all day and Eric, Neal, Barry and I came away with some great pictures and fun footage. There were absolutely no worries all day and Lauren was one of the most relaxed brides I've seen. Even a hole in the veil, her something "borrowed" didn't dampen her spirits!

We met everyone at the Cathedral downtown and documented the bride and grooms preparations. Everyone looked beautiful! Flowers were provided by Stems and added that perfect touch. Lauren wore a fitted dress with a wrapped/pleated bodice that was quite elegant. She kept jewelry to a minimum but was given a surprise by her husband to be, gorgeous diamond earrings.

They chose not to see each other prior to the ceremony and took as many photos as they could in the courtyard and then headed inside about 2 pm for the ceremony. A close friend, Fr. John Koziol, from Washington DC came to celebrate the marriage ceremony. This made it very personal and special for the couple. Afterwards they made their way through a stream of bubbles to a waiting porsche which Brad zipped them away in!

After zipping around the block, they returned to the sanctuary for some group shots and the Unified Party Bus awaited them for a crazy downtown urban shoot in Oldtown! I went along for the fun. Eric and Neal had some great poses and candid shots they captured and I was amazed at some of the killer lighting techniques they used which seems to be one of their trademarks. After the bridal party stopped in to Heroes Sports Bar for a quick Brew, it was time to board the bus and head East to Tallgrass Country Club for the reception. The couple had hired The Mikey Needleman Band from Kansas City and they were a phenominal three man show all night long! A beautiful choreographed ballroom dance to "The Luckiest" was the couples first dance and all the traditions followed. Laurens sorority and Brads fraternity serenaded Lauren during the night and you felt as if you were at a concert choir, it was really something. It was such a great time, we didn't really want to leave!

Thanks so much to Lauren and Brad for trusting us with their special day, you are an awesome couple perfect for one another and we were so thrilled to spend the day with you. Thank you so so much.

Click below to see the Kiesling's wedding day prequel!! We'll try to swipe some photos from Lemon-Lime as well!

New Prequel Online!

The newest prequel is up for your viewing pleasure! The Newby-Dugan Prequel is now online! Scroll down to their blog post to check it out! Congratulations Sarah and Brent! Coming soon, the Austin-Tierson prequel! Stick around!