White-Brocato

We first heard from the bride, Bridget, after the January Bridal Fair and viewing our demo. She lives in Kansas City and first contacted us via phone and email asking about what we had to offer for her day. She was going to be getting married in her hometown of Salina. We talked quite a bit and finalized everything by phone, or online or in the mail. We had hoped to meet her a few weeks prior to the wedding, as we really enjoy meeting our brides and grooms prior to the day; it just helps everyone be more relaxed on the wedding day. Well, Bridget and I could never get our schedules to synch up and we officially got to meet the moment she strolled through the door at the salon on the wedding day! No worries though, Bridget is the type of person who you just feel like you've known for a long time. She was so realxed on her day even though the excitement was building. She and her bridesmaids met at Hair Affair in Salina for hair and make up. Bridget had chosen to put her hair all up in curls and in the back placed a unique hair clip adorned with gold and jewels that was simply gorgeous. She found it at a KC bridal shop. She waited until it was time for photos to put on her veil.

The groom had started getting ready at the Ramada with his groomsmen, both his brothers, prior to seeing his bride for the first time. Barry grabbed a few shots there prior to the big moment!

The bride snuck into her suite at the hotel as well to get dressed herself, adorning a gorgeous gown she also found in KC. Light weight material blew in the breeze and covered with a layer of champagne colored lace and a very elegant sweeping train. A strand of pearls from her new in-laws-to-be completed her look!

The photogaphers, Gary and Amanda McCool (also from Wichita), set up the first meeting near a fountain in the commons area of the hotel. One of the couples nephews, a candlelighter covered Ryan's eyes until it was time to see his bride for the first time. From my vantage point, Bridget sure had a huge grin across her face! They exchanged cards for one another and posed for a few photos before grabbing a quick bite to eat and off to the park for more photos.

Then the bridal party headed to the church, Sacred Heart Cathedral in downtown Salina. It was a very uniquely designed church. Concrete walls were engraved with the stations of the cross and huge stained glass windown towered to the ceilings. The ceremony started at about 2:30 pm and the newlyweds took part in the full Catholic Mass sharing communion together. After they were announced as husband and wife, they were congratulated by their guests who were outside lining the steps blowing bubbles as they headed to the limo to take them to the reception. Artisitc limousine came from Wichita to help the newlyweds celebrate in style!

The reception was back at the Ramada hotel so it was convenient for guests who had come from Kansas City and other parts of the country. Bridget had the entire hall decorated beautifully in brown, black, white and pink. DJ Rick Raynes introduced them to the room where they had a receiving line to personally say thank you to all the guests!

After dinner, the couple cut the cake, had their first toast and guests dove into dessert- wedding cake and the biggest assortment of cookies I had ever seen in my life. It spanned two 8-foot banquet tables and a large round banquet table. As I snuck a few to indulge in, I asked one of the guests if they knew anything about the cookies, were they homemeade or storebought? I was surprised to hear that a few people in the family made every last one. She stated it took about 35 pounds of flour to get the feat accomplished! All varieties except for two I believe were all Italian in tradition, from the groom's side of the family! They even had pink take home bags for you to fill up with goodies and enjoy for later!

Once everyone got plenty to eat for dinner and dessert, the couple shared their first dance and the party had begun! The DJ had plenty of fun planned for the evening and kept everyone on the dance floor and entertained, even a great dance contest!

The newlyweds are excited to head to SanFrancisco for their honeymoon this week and we wish them well in their future lives together.

Bridget and Ryan, thank you again for your hospitality throughout the day, we appreciate it very much- you had a wonderful day and we enjoyed ourselves! You are a wonderful couple with great families, please keep in touch! Good luck to you- have a blast in California!

Stay tuned for the wedding day prequel in the coming weeks! SG

Mercader Wedding

This past weekend, we were able to spend the day with Trinh and Jun Mercader. We were pretty excited as we got to learn more about other cultures. Trinh is Vietnamese and Jun is Phillipino. What a great couple! We knew we liked them and the day would be a lot of fun when we first met. It was a bit surprising when they were ready to sign the contract when Trinh mentioned, "I should probably tell you we are already married"! The day was an official celebration of their past 5 years together! They were making it official with a big celebration with both their families.

On Saturday I was able to film Trinh's Tea Ceremony at her parents home. This was a great learning experience for me. Trinh was great making me feel comfortable and making me aware of what was to happen next as everything was in Vietnamese.

On Sunday, we started the day at Wichita Country Club for preparations with the bride, groom, and bridal party. Trinh chose a beautiful strapless dress made of the lightest material that blew beautifully in the wind for photos, lightly adorned with beads on the bodice. Spring colors in the bouquets were gorgeous with the bridesmaids spring green strapless dresses. Hair and make up artists help make all the ladies look stunning! Not that they needed much help!!!

Trinh chose to see Jun prior to the ceremony to get as many photos out of the way as possible. We had a fabulous day working with some new friends, Ryan and Paul of Versluis Photography out of Kansas City. We set up the first meeting outside under a large shade tree near the golf course. It was great to see ear to ear smiles from the couple! Photos followed and then it was time to set up for the ceremony that started shortly after 3 o'clock. An area judge acted as the officiant. He gave some words of advice for many more additional years of marriage and congratulations for the previous five as they renewed their vows in front of approximately 100 family and friends who traveled from far away as California, Hawaii and the Phillipines.

We were able to steal away the couple with the photographers for a few minutes on the way to the reception to get photos at Bradley Fair.

The reception was held at the Olive Tree Banquet Hall. It was very nicely decorated with bright spring greens and white and festive balloons. A cocktail hour allowed the couple to visit with each of their guests as they arrived prior to starting the festivities. Dinner was a fabulous family style 5 course meal consisting of a variety of great food, steak, salmon, chicken and more. Dessert of course was the fabulous wedding cake and lime sherbet. The maid of honor and best man toasted the bride and groom early on and later during the meal the bridal party accompanied the couple to each table thanking them for attending and in tradition, guests toasted the couple and presented them with gifts and cards.

Later the spotlight was again on the couple during their first dance before they cut loose to dance party music provided by the DJ. It took a bit to get the dance floor warmed up, but the guests had a great time once they were out!

Thank you to Trinh and Jun for letting us share in your special day. Congratulations on five wonderful years together, we wish you many, many more! Enjoy your trip later this year, what an incredible experience! Take tons of pictures! Check back in the coming weeks for the Mercader Wedding Day prequel!

This weddings vendors:

Ceremony and Reception Venues: Wichita Country Club and Olive Tree Bistro

Photography: Paul Versluis Photography, Kansas City

Catering: Olive Tree Bistro

Cake: Eleanor Belen

Floral: The Flower Factory

DJ: DJ Miko

RIFFEL-BEECH PREQUEL NOW ONLINE!

After a long anticipated wait, the Beech prequel is finally online! Please scroll down to the "Lifes A Beech!" entry to find it! A perfect song chosen by the bride we think you'll enjoy it. We think it really shows this couple fun loving relaxed personalities! Be sure to leave your comments and let us know what you think! Enjoy! SG

SIZZLING SUMMER DEAL!

Let's face it, the economy isn't what it used to be today as it was last year. More and more brides and grooms are being forced to cut wanted and needed items out of their budgets when planning a wedding. Fat Cat strongly believes that preserving your memories on video, no matter how much you spend on the wedding, or not, shouldn't be one of the items to be ousted immediately from the budget. It's still an immensely important day that should be well preserved for the future. That said Fat Cat knows brides need a wedding video and we'd like to help.

So if you or someone you know is looking to book Fat Cat as their wedding videographer, please contact us for our new special running now through the end of June! Take a gander at our samples in the gallery and pick up the phone and give us a call. We'd be happy to help!
SG

Pauly Prequel Online Now!

The Prequel of Kristy and Nolan is now online, scroll down to "Kristy & Nolan" wedding entry to view it. Kristy gave us a sampling of songs she liked and to our surprise, I found a new artist that's soon to be one of my favorites! Take a listen, we think you'll like the flowing springtime romantic sound! Congrats to Kristy and Nolan, be sure to leave your comments! SG

John Deere "Green"

Many years ago one of our first weddings was for a great couple Paige and Jared Estes. They always held a special place with us as they were the "first" to book the new guy in town at the time for their wedding day. We delivered the video (in now record time by todays busy standards) and they loved it. We were completely shocked and saddened to say the least when we heard Paige was killed in a drunk driving accident about 6 months after the wedding. We then got to know the family a little bit more from some private things we had done for them during this horrific time. Then last year we ran into Mr. Estes, Jareds father at Greensburg when we filmed the graduation with President Bush as the featured guest. They were celebrating the one year turning point after the tornado. Mike expressed to us he would like to have us film some things for the family pertaining to the rebuilding 'green' of his dealership that was destroyed in the tornado, BTI Greensburg John Deere. We were proud and honored to -and promised! Greensburg also holds an important place for us as well as I searched with my dog as part of the rescue efforts immediately following the tornado then again filming the graduation ceremonies when the school had been destroyed.

Well time passed and we hadn't heard alot about the project, until I received a call from one of the planners of the Grand Reopening, just a few weeks prior to the Beech-Riffel wedding. They had a date and it was on the wedding day. I scrambled to find a second shooter for each of the events so I could fulfill promises made to both parties! Our friend Deanna helped me at the wedding and our friend Alan was able to help with the corporate shoot with Barry. The bride was very gracious and understanding about my dilemma! (Thanks Jessica) and soon Barry and Alan were headed to Greensburg.

It was a big event during a whole weekend of celebrations and reopenings for many places in Greensburg trying to put their town "back" on the map. A celebration with ribbon cutting, tours of the "green" building itself, musical entertainment, prize drawings, and brief statements of congratulations from area and state dignitaries. We were there with Discovery Channel and other media outlets, but our focus of the story in the edit will be the celebration for the family, as a documentary heirloom piece. We are very excited to have the opportunity! We will also be going back to Greensburg in the coming weeks to finish up shooting for this project.

We were also able to get footage recently in Greensburg of the new Eco-Silo home for a building company out of state. Very interesting and exciting what they are doing in Greensburg.

What a weekend it was! Thanks to everyone from the Estes family for inviting us as well as our bride and groom (see below) for being flexible with us in order to help everyone! Not only are we told "Fat Cat Rocks" but we only rock because our friends, our brides and grooms and our other clients ROCK. Thank you.

Life's a BEECH! (AKA: The Riffel-Beech Wedding)

Not exactly the kind with beautiful white sand, gorgeous sunshine or fruity drinks with miniature umbrellas- but the kind with two of some of the best folks in the world tying the knot last weekend! Last Saturday Fat Cat was pretty busy. We first met Jessica and Chris after Jessica saw our Baby Announcement on Facebook we did for a friend. They came to meet us and booked a wedding movie package that included a Love Story. It was great fun getting to know Chris and Jessica during the Love Story. We shot it at Jessica's fathers hangar in front of his awesome blue and gold biplane. Then we were able to get some great b roll shots the following week (after a snow/rain delay!) at Prairie Pines Tree Farm. We pieced the story together just in time for the wedding day!

Jessica chose to get ready at home where she was most comfortable, with her family and friends with her. Jessica was really calm and just ready to finally be down the aisle! No worries even when printing last minute programs. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. Jessica did hair and make up at the house then headed to the church (East Point Church of Christ), dress in tow to finish up there and meet Chris prior to the ceremony for all the pictures. The bridesmaids were dressed in black and carried an assortment of brightly colored bouquets that showed off a great contrast with the dresses for spring time. Jessica chose a Maggie Sattero strapless with souffle skirt (one of my favorites!) with accompanying tiara and veil.

In the meantime, the guys were being guys hanging out at the Alley and enjoying some friendly competition on the go-cart track! Our friend Deanna pitched in as second shooter at this wedding and got right in the middle of the action riding a go-cart herself to pull off some fun shots! (Thank you Deanna!) After letting off some steam the guys headed back to the church to get into their tuxes. Chris's son Kyler was ring bearer and just about upstaged the groom in his perfectly fitted tux!

Chris was admittedly nervous before seeing Jessica for the first time, but a big sigh of relief and relaxing smile covered his face when she finally came in to tap him on the shoulder!

Pictures followed, as many as possible dodging a quick rainshower and then the ceremony took flight at 6 pm. One of the neatest things about this ceremony I thought was the music. Chris is in a barber shop quartet and he rocks! He sang to his bride during the ceremony and had incredible back up! They didn't waste any time though, the ceremony lasted about 30 minutes and they were off with bubbles and cheers to the purple K-State bus and on to Exploration Place for the reception after being announced as husband and wife!

There we got to get some fun shots at the Keeper of the Plains prior to the grand entrance of the couple. The couple was able to sit down for a few minutes for dinner while guests watched the Love Story. There were plenty of laughs, but more hilariously gasps as the crowd reacted to the story when Chris dropped the bomb that they had already eloped in Vegas! You could see relieved looks on their faces shortly after when Chris then followed it up with a "just kidding!". They had completely punk'd their guests!

The couple then cut the cake and received toasts from the Maid of Honor, and Chris's Best Man, his brother, who stole the show with one line punches and stand up comedy!

The first dance quickly followed and special dances with parents prior to the party. The big hit of the party was the Flip Flop Bucket provided by Tinley with brightly colored flip flops so the ladies could ditch the high heels and cut loose! The newlyweds completely enjoyed their time with friends and family and at last Facebook check were thoroughly enjoying themselves in Hawaii!

To Chris and Jessica, thank you so much for having Fat Cat as a part of your day and being so flexible with crew changes for part of the day! We are very happy for you and your families, it was great to get to know them as well! We hope the long awaited trip to Hawaii was worth it and please do tell us all about it when you return! Hope you were able to partake in many fruity drinks with mini umbrellas! Keep in touch, we must do OC again when you are able to make it back to town. Chris, good luck with the remainder of school, you'll do awesome, must come see you for an adjustment when you are all done! :) Congratulations!
Come back to the blog in the coming weeks for the Beech Prequel!

This weddings vendors:

Venues- East Point Church of Christ and Exploration Place

Photographer- Milly Rose Photography

Floral- Stems

Catering- Corporate Caterers

Planning- Tinley Innes, Jubilations Events

Cake- Artistic Cakes

DJ- Scott Ward, Accent Mobile Music

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