It's a Boy! Welcome Baby Caden!

Congratulations to Chris and Tinley Innes on the birth of their second child, Caden Traist. Tinley is a local wedding coordinator (and fabulous we might add!) who owns Jubilations Events! We have worked with Tinley at a wedding recently and noted though even 7-8 months pregnant, Tinley remained on her feet all day and kept everything running smoothly! At that time we told her about our new video birth announcements and asked if she was interested when her baby arrived, she not only agreed but jumped at the chance!

Yesterday morning, we received the call that Tinley was in the hospital and baby was on the way! I called to confirm it was OK to come and grab some footage of the happy occasion, packed a camera bag and was out the door. I arrived when baby was only less than 2 hours old! How cool is that!? I was able to capture her son Chase's reaction to his new little brother and the first time he held him. He did a great job. Just as things at Tinley's weddings go...the birth we are told was smooth and trouble free and Caden arrived healthy and handsome, just the way it should be!

Tinley will be including the video on mini-DVD's in her birth announcements this week!

A Baby Story~ It's a girl!

Congratulations to our great friends, Paul and Megan Misasi, on the birth of their first baby! Sara Michelle arrived on the afternoon of the 9th healthy and beautiful!
We have been working on their Baby Story for several weeks now and we are proud to announce this new service from FCP! The Baby Story is similar to the engaged couple's Love Story we already offer but centers around the excitement of the couple's pregnancy and then the happiness and joy on the arrival of the baby.

As our luck would have it, along with the unpredictablility of arrival of babies, we were unable to get some footage we had hoped for when Megan first arrived at the hospital due to our trip to Little Rock that you can read about on down in the blog- thanks a bunch Sara! (Just kidding) But we were still able to get some great shots of baby at the hospital the next day though and of Sara at home.

We will also be offering simpler Birth Announcements on video as well and we will post Sara Michelle's later tonight or tomorrow, so check back then.

In the meantime, you can see Paul and Megan's Baby Story by clicking here.

Call FCP today for more information on this investment and additional details. What a great way to document the arrival of your child for future generations! Sara Michelle will someday really enjoy seeing her Daddy glowing over the nursery tour!

More new and exciting services to be announced this winter and spring so be a blogger-head and check back often!

Click below to watch the baby story.



Click below to watch the birth announcement.

Alabama boy meets Kansas Girl - Hunter / Maddox Wedding

We just returned from today's wedding. We thank Lori and Michael for letting us be part of their day, everything was absolutely perfect! The wedding was held at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Derby, Ks.

We started at the Bride's house as she prepared with her bridesmaids. After everyone was ready, the bridesmaids took a limo together to the church, and the Bride was then escorted by her father to the church via their own private limosine shortly after. After the ceremony, there was a quick photo session with their photographers who flew in from Alabama to capture the day. It was neat for us to compare notes with them about how things differ in that part of the country!

A beautiful mass followed and flowed right into the reception held at the Petroleum Club- what a great view of the city at night!

The party was Dj'ed by Ron Brown of Another Dimension DJ which kept everyone out on the dance floor much of the night! Shots of 'Crown' all around and heartfelt toasts wrapped up the night.

Mother of the Bride, Marilyn, a frequent blog-reader to our site, had this to say in anticipation of her daughters prequel:

"Don't need any turkey, don't need any pie.

Don't need any cranberries, I'll tell you why.

The best thing I'll get (all things being equal),

Is to turn on the computer and see our wedding prequel!"

Lights! (and they were cool!) Camera! ACTION!

Yesterday was a busy day for the Fat Cat Crew, not just on a personal level, but a business level as well.
Jenny and Thomas are a great couple who hired us to film their wedding this coming January and wanted their Love Story documented as well. They are another destination wedding for FCP, getting married here in Wichita, but currently residing in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The day began about 7 am when we arrived at a local airport to board a Cessna 172 and have our good friend fly us to Little Rock to shoot for the day. One thing we had never thought about was traveling light with mounds of camera equipment. Luckily for us, Thomas is way-connected in the video business in Little Rock and was able to pre-light our interview set before we arrived! This saved us a great deal of weight for the flight (and set up time on the ground). It was by far the best lighting we could have ever asked for- thanks Steve!

We took off for a gorgeous, perfect flight shortly after 8 am and landed in Little Rock right about noon. None too soon for me! It sure spoils you flying commercial with bathrooms on board! :)

Jenny's back yard was the backdrop for some lively interviews as well as our rendition of the newleywed game! And we were treated to a great lunch from Firehouse Subs! Then there was no time to spare and it was off to their proposal site on a wooded hilltop overlooking the river in a convertible BMW for some more b-roll. We can't spoil the surprise, so you'll have to wait to see how Thomas proposed until the final story is complete!

As nightfall came we headed back to the airport for the long flight back home. It sure is a different experience flying at night when your GPS goes out! Thank goodness we could see the ground and Barry has had experience flying with our pilot from previous employment and some aeronautical sense about him as he navigated and acted as co-pilot! Way to go Webby!

A safe landing followed at almost midnight and then the long drive home again. It was a long day for sure, but we had a lot of fun lauging and "hanging out" with Thomas and Jenny. They will be wonderful to work with in January, so watch for their prequel then!

Thomas and Jenny- thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for the prayers for Grizwald before we left.

Steph

In Memory of Grizwald

Many of you may have met Grizwald at one time or another over the last seveal years as Fat Cat Productions has grown, others have only heard of him because the business was named after him (his nickname actually).

It is with great sadness that we post today that Grizwald passed away this morning.

He had been ill recently and sparing the details, we ultimately lost him to cancer. He was humanely euthanized just shy of 11 years old. As I promise all of the creatures God has entrusted to my care, I stayed with him, holding him and hugging him and telling him how wonderful he was and how much we loved him. Such the stoic guy that he always was, he remained purring till the last. He now resides with other loved animals we have lost, waiting for us someday at Rainbow Bridge.

This is not the blog entry I planned on posting today unfortunately, the blog I wanted to post I will get to later about our fun day in Little Rock, Arkansas yesterday!

It will be different around FCP for a while as we still have 2 beautiful cats that remain healthy here at home, and make our guests and clients feel welcome, but none will replace our Grizzy.

A Smashing Good Time!

This past Tuesday, the Fat Cat Crew met with Tyff and Jeff of T&J Studios in Valley Center for my official alarm clock smashing! We enjoyed Jeff's clock smashing so much when he went full time in their business, we just had to do it, too! At that time, Jeff was presented with a gold painted sledge hammer from Tyff.

For me, the only sledge hammer at our place was approx. 2-3 pounds and dinky, just not macho enough to do the job justice I thought. It was more of a glorified hammer than a sledge hammer! So a stop at the hardware store was in order where Barry purchased a brand new, whopping 8-pound sledge hammer! (He needed a new one anyways!)

This was appropriately christened shortly thereafter. (I actually got to use a tool first!) We hooked everything up, prepared to hear the alarm just one last time - and then let 'er rip!

With one good whack, the alarm I have awoke to the last 12 years of my previous employment was immediately silenced forever! (Faster than an atrial kick for you medical folk out there!) But I couldn't just stop there, I had to give it a few more good beatings for good measure (then slam it to the ground by hand which was the final collapse!)

One piece of "something" was saved to frame and mount in my office.. now I get to awake to a brand new alarm clock Barry purchased just days before the final smashing. :)

A short video clip edited by Barry to be posted this week! Check back soon!

Steph

Celebrating Family! ~ Akin / Larcom Wedding

Last night, Stephanie spent her first day as a Full Time employee of FCP shooting the wedding of Kevin and Angela at the Airport Hilton. Everything was elegant from the all-black bridesmaids dresses and black tuxes to the wonderful meal of steak and salmon and a candle lit first dance. Kevin and Angela made sure this was a family affair by including Angela's son Brydan. He acted as Ring Bearer carrying in a stuffed Teddy Bear with the rings attached by ribbons! An exchange of gifts between the three followed the vows and the ceremony was officiated by the Bride's father!

Look for their wedding movie prequel to be posted here after the 5th of November. Congratulations Kevin and Angela!

FCP goes FT!

FCP is so exicted to announce that as of Saturday October 28th, Stephanie is going Full time in the business! This has been something we have been working towards for the last year, growing our business slowly and steadily to this point. Stephanie's last day of her employment at her "other job" will be on Friday, the 27th. But there's no rest for the Fat Cat Crew, as we will be filming a wedding this Saturday! So watch for the prequel here in our blog.

Being able to go Full Time in our business will not only allow us to catch up in the current edit cue (which is pretty full!) and hopefully decrease our turn around time for our patiently waiting customers, but also give us more time to devote to business-only endeavors allowing FCP to grow bigger and better.

There will also be lots of new things to announce from Fat Cat in the coming weeks we are currently working on, so y'all come back now y'hear?

Wayne & Angela "Fall in Love"

Yesterday we spent our Sunday with Wayne and Angela at the Wichita Scottish Rite. The bride and groom are from Virginia and this made for one of our many destination weddings here in Wichita. It was an intimate and personal wedding and they spent their day wtih their closest friends and family from all over the country. They did not let the rain and drizzle dampen their spirits! The celebration of love and friendship was apparent.

The theme of Fall was incorporated several different ways from the invitations, to the programs, floral arrangements and guest favors; boxes of fall colored leaves made of pineapple and jasmine scented soap, wrapped in ribbon and labeled "Fall in Love"! (Not to mention the October Kansas weather!)

The newlyweds will get to see some awesome fall colors while in Scotland for their honeymoon!

The Sherbet and Weaver Wedding

Yesterday we were able to spend our day with Stephanie and Thomas! After months of planning, everything came together seamlessly at the Airpoirt Hilton where the Ballroom was transformed from the "usual" ballroom into a fragrant, beautiful Botanical Garden! Multicolored orchids were flown in direct from Thailand! The remainder of roses, lilies and greenery that adorned handmade topiaries were transported to Wichita from Ohio by the Bride's Aunt, an incredible florist!
Stephanie wound her way through the garden of guests with an escort of five honorary fathers. The Bridal Party follwed in a similar fashion. The ceremony was complete with songs and readings in both Spanish and English and concluded with a covenant of salt before the reception, dinner and dance.
Thanks to the Sherbet's and Weaver families for letting us be a part of your very special day!

Congratulations to the Bordegons!

Several times a year we get the priviledge to film weddings for people that don't feel much like work! Last night we were blessed with just such a couple, Neely and Kevin!
Neely's mother hired us to film the wedding as yet another destination wedding in Wichita! The couple lives in Oregon and family and friends joined them here in the heartland from all over the United States including; Missouri, Virginia, Washington, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, Ohio, Arizona, New York, Texas and Hawaii!! Talk about diversity!
It was the perfect day- perfect weather, perfect ceremony, and a perfect party! The ceremony was held at West Side Christian Church and the party was rolling at the Hotel at Old Town after a smashing good time in the H1 Hummer Limo! Thanks to Neely and Kevin and their families for being so hospitable to us and letting us take part in your very special day!

Do you have an Ipod video or use Itunes? Download Neely and Kevins prequel for Ipod here.

Nate and Angie Tie the Knot!

Last night Fat Cat Productions spent the day in Olathe, Ks with Nate and Angie. We felt especially priviledged to film Nate's wedding after meeting his family two years ago while filming his brother Danny's wedding.
She is from Sioux City, Iowa and he from Wichita. They met near Kansas City and have been inseparable since. After proposing on a mountaintop in Colorado, Nate and Angie decided to get married where they were first brought together. This was another destination wedding with much of Nate and Angie's family and friends being from out of town. Prior to the ceremony at Olathe Bible Church, the bride and groom met each other for the first time that day at the beautiful Kaufman Gardens in Kansas City and the bridal party joined them for a fun and gorgeous photo session in and around the KC Plaza! Nate and Angie were naturals when it came to posing for photographs which made the photographers job easy, and ours as well!

A wonderful dinner and reception followed the ceremony with wedding cake and homemade chocolate covered pretzel sticks for desert!

After thanking family and friends, the bride and groom made their getaway in a unique way!

Congratulations Nathan and Angela!

Gideon- Egan Ceremony

This past weekend we had the opportunity to spend our day with Ron and Ragen (No pun intended) for their wedding ceremony at Riverlawn Christian Church in Wichita. Ragen looked wonderful in her strapless embroidered gown and Ron doesn't hardly look old enough to have a daughter much less a granddaughter! After a short and personal ceremony, in lieu of the Kansas City Chiefs game the couple took a limo ride to the Knights of Columbus Hall for a fun-filled reception and dance! Catering from Italian Gardens was a big hit. Personalized and individually gift wrapped candy bars proved to be great party favors.

Congratulations Ragen and Ron!

"Vegas Baby, Yeah!"

The blog has been quiet recently due to the fact that we have just returned from a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada for the 16th International WEVA Expo at Mandalay Bay. WEVA is the Wedding and Event Videographers Association, we have been members since our business began just shy of 4 years ago. We have learned immense amounts about the wedding video industry and made many new friends by attending this conference. One of our newest friends and mentors is one of the featured speakers, Danny Sayson (pictured left) of Sayson Video Productions from Canada.

After an opening night party on Monday, classes began early Tuesday, running through the late evening and continued on through Thursday afternoon. The information we have learned in the past and this year has helped us deliver a better product to our customers and we are excited about the opportunities the conference gave us this year!

With the schedule of events, this left very little time to cruise The Strip before heading home today! But we are glad to be back and be in the editing suite to complete our current weddings and get started on filming the fall season! We didn't have much time for photos, but here are just a few for you to enjoy!

The Fat Cats ready to board the tram outside the Luxor hotel, where we were staying, prior to a relaxing and beautiful evening and dinner on the strip in Vegas. The bright light in the sky behind us is coming from the top of the Luxor Pyramid, the only man-made light that can be seen from space.

Barry and Stephanie take a moment for a quick pic inside the Luxor hotel lobby before calling it a night and heading home to the editing that awaits! (Yes, those are real live palm trees inside behind us!)

Here all the Wichita Weva Divas are getting ready to board their flight home to Wichita at the Las Vegas Airport! Pictured are Deanna Summers, Judy Handley and Stephanie Guinn striking a pose.

Liggett/Gruetter Destination Wedding

Last night we were able to share in the wedding of Sarah and Kevin! Who would have thought Wichita would be a destination wedding? Sarah and Kevin don't live in Wichita, but Sarah was raised in Greensburg and worked in Wichita after college. Most all of their guests traveled afar from Ohio, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Minnesota and more! Sarah likes to do things a little differently, starting with planning her Wichita wedding while living in New Jersey with help from her Maid of Honor (from Wichita). After a praise filled ceremony at Ascension Lutheran Church, the party continued at the Airport Hilton where guests were treated to a wonderful meal of Apple Almond Chicken and of course a cheesecake bar for dessert! (Yum!) The party continued with the Kissing Trivia game and a non-traditional giving away of the Bride's bouquet to the longest married couple in attendance of 50 years! Sarah and Kevin were wonderful to work with and we wish them a long happy marriage. Hey Kevin- Hope it's not too sappy! :)

Share YOUR Prequel!

If you are a recent Bride of FCP and your prequel video has been posted in the blog, you can send the link to family and friends who weren't able to attend or who are just as excited as you are to see a sneak peak prior to completion of your video! To do this, click on the small white envelope with the black arrow on it just to the bottom right side of the post entry. This is where you will be able to fill out a short form and send it to your friends. The link provided will only open the blog entry in which you clicked on the envelope. It will not open our entire blog. So have fun and thanks for letting FCP share your wedding day with you!

Blasi / Markham Wedding~

Currently in the edit que is the Blasi/Markham wedding taking place at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. The wedding will be fully edited in a few weeks, but until then, you can check out their Prequel here.
Nick and Ashley were great to work with (as have been all of our brides!). What a great looking couple and a beautiful setting in which to start their new lives together (not to mention a totally cool getaway car!) They have a quiet, gentle nature about them, but still want to have a great time with friends and family that they cherish. We think this edit brings out both with very different pacing from the "usual" wedding video. Enjoy!

411 for viewing videos on our site!

Our new website utilizes Flash video for all of our online samples. You will need to have at least Flash 8 Player installed to view any of them. You can get the update free at the link below. The new samples are also larger both in screen dimension and file size. Most of the videos range from 20mb to 60mb depending on the length of the clip. Please be patient when downloading them if you aren't on a high speed connection. You may need to press the pause button and allow the clip to fully download before watching. The larger size videos look great, but they are a bit slower to download. Enjoy.

Email Notice!!!

This morning we discovered that our email service on the Contact Us page of this site is not functioning properly (Oh, the joys of a new web site!). So if you tried to reach us via the Connections Page between last weeks Bridal Show and today using the "Submit" button, we never received your email and are NOT ignoring you!
Please use the address below for the direct email to FCP. We WILL reply as quickly as possible to answer your questions pertaining to our services. In the meantime, enjoy some wedding clips in the gallery or call us at 316.943.9923 to receive a free demo DVD. Thank you for your patience.

UPDATE:
The Contact Us page should now be working properly. Thanks to Webmaster Jeff for fixing this so promptly when the problem was discovered! We still encourage those who have written us since the Bridal Fair to please resubmit your request either on the Contact Us page or via direct email. We will get back with you as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Look for more Prequel videos in the next 24 hours!

Burk / Koch eXtreme wedding

Yesterday, we were busy filming Brian and Amber's wedding day! This truly is a couple who wanted to have fun on their wedding day! After a very nice ceremony, the party started in The Ville of the church of St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church in Andover. After a grand entrance by our couple into the Ville, resembling a quaint Italian-like village, the guests were treated to a photomontage on 2 giant screens as well as the extreme session we filmed with T&J Studios in May! They chose the Exclusive Package that we offer and the eXtreme session was added. They are a very upbeat couple and this Modern Edit Style reflects this.

Duling/Peter Wedding- New York Meets Kansas

We just finished filming the Duling/Peter wedding at Saint Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Schulte, Kansas. We couldn't have asked for nicer families to work with! Nick and Jennifer are a great match and it's obvious they're truly in love. They were fun and laid back, which makes our job even easier. Thanks to all who attended for allowing us to capture some great video! Hey New Yorkers- you guys know how to party!

eXtreme session launches!

Brian and Amber's eXtreme session is now completed!
Here is what Brian and Amber had to say about their eXtreme session:

"What can we say about the extreme session? AMAZING!!! We had an absolutely phenomenal time. You guys are a blast to work with and the end product is outstanding!
I was a little worried about the dress, but to my amazement after being taken to the cleaners it looks like new. Thank you for this amazing opportunity and wonderful memories we will have for years to come. "
- Amber and Brian

So, as promised, you can now click the video link below to view their personal video! Thanks again to T&J Studios and also to Brian and Amber for being such great sports!!

Click Here ~VIEW THE VIDEO NOW!!!

FCP and T&J are now accepting bookings for the eXtreme session - Call us today!!

New Demos and Bridal Show Coming Soon!

We hope everyone had a safe and happy fourth of july! There are currently multiple projects in the edit cue, those being: 2 complete weddings, our new 2006/2007 Fall and Winter demo DVD, a whole new website redesign, Brian and Amber's eXtreme session video, and a promo video for a national competition for our local videography association.
We're tired! Please bear with us and we get through this very busy month!

Please take some time to come and visit us at the July Bridal Fair at Century II on Saturday and Sunday, July 29th and 30th! Come say hello, pick up a new demo DVD, and pick up a new price list. We will be happy to answer any questions you might have- don't forget to register for all the great prizes!

eXtreme session online now!

The promotional video for the Extreme Photo Session is now online at www.extremesessions.com. Visit the website and click on the promo video link to view the video.
FCP and T&J are now accepting bookings for the Extreme Sessions. Contact either FCP or T&J for more information on pricing and what is included in your package!
The customers who were featured in the video have their own personal extreme session video that is currently in edit and we will post it here when editing is complete!
We would love to hear your comments and feedback on this very unique session! Book yours today!
(P.S. T&J say after grease, dirt, candy, and a thorough soaking, the Bride's dress was cleaned after this session and looked as it did when it was first purchased! Don't be afraid ladies!)

eXtreme photo session

On May 24th, our friends Tyffany and Jeff of T&J Studios in Valley Center, KS met up with Brian and Amber, a future Bride and Groom we all will be working with this August, for an Extreme Photo Session! FCP tagged along to document the day. A 90 degree day with high humidity in Kansas was no match for Amber and Brian in full wedding attire for nearly 10 hours straight! (Neither one whined or complained one time all day- they were awesome sports! We couldn't have asked for a better couple!)
The concept: get some great photos of the happy couple without worrying about the dress (or tux) -literally- and capture all the fun and shenanigans on video!

We've posted a few pictures from T & J here just to give you a taste of the fun we had! Video footage is currently in edit and we will post the results in a few weeks here or on our main website. Check back soon for info on the progress of the project.
The day started at noon at the T & J Studios in the hair, make up, wardrobe, and of course props department :) Then on to Joyland and Oldtown! (With many other stops along the way!)

The evening eventually cooled off for Amber and Brian as you can see here and we all sat down to dinner at Old Chicago about 10 o'clock, serenaded by the claps and cheers of restaurants guests when Amber entered in a completely drenched wedding gown. (The LOOKS we got from folks during this shoot! ~ CLASSIC!)

The night wrapped up around Midnight back at the T&J Studios. Thanks to Tyff and Jeff for the photos! And thanks to Brian and Amber for being such great models allowing us all to get great photos and video!