2009.02.26 08:03:57

jayblake

As you probably know from our website or from previous blogs, Special Memories is a family business led by my wife, Kirsty, and myself. In fact, we not only do most of the filming ourselves, but also have the capability to edit and produce your film entirely in-house which not only enables us to maintain our exacting high levels of quality of production and final film, but also ensures that we can produce an end product that we are happy to provide as a lasting memory of your day.

As we are around weddings for a huge proportion of our working day, it was great to see that our daughters are now eagerly getting involved in the family business. My five year old daughter has now seen so many wedding videos that we are considering employing her as our Quality Control Director as she likes to ‘review’ the final copy of each and every film before it goes out.

My daughter has now seen such a number and variety of weddings that her own wedding has been arranged down to the smallest detail. She knows the type of wedding she wants, what she will wear, what she will eat, what car she will travel in, who will walk her up the aisle etc etc – the only thing missing is the person she is going to marry and, at five years old, it’s good that she’s keeping some of her options open!

However, her favourite wedding video is not one that we’ve actually filmed, but the one my wife and I played the starring role in. My daughter loves nothing more than watching her Mummy and Daddy on a grainy VHS video, having their very own wedding. She has become so addicted that the other day, my wife fulfilled my daughters’ dearest dreams and put on her wedding dress to show the girls. In full dress and ‘whale’ (it took some time, but we then realised she meant veil), my daughter remarked ‘Mummy, you look so beautiful’. My wife was beaming with pride, initially I thought this was at my daughter’s comments, but it turned out to be because, ten years later, she could still get her dress on and do it up.

I thought the girls were going to burst with pride as they immediately rushed off to put on their best outfits, so that they could pretend to be bridesmaids. You can only begin to imagine the scene of my wife and daughters trying to re-enact our wedding in the front room. Though not the original wedding video, it still makes a fantastic piece of home video to be treasured alongside it.

It was on the insistence of our daughters, that Kirsty and I sat down and watched our wedding video with them. It was amazing to see how beautiful my wife looked and to remind us of one of the most amazing days of our lives. But it was also wonderful to see those that shared our day with us that are either no longer with us, or we have simply lost touch with, and introduce those dear people to our own children though, with some, it will never be possible in real life.

The story goes, that you are not meant to cry at your own wedding. And even though my wife cried the whole way up the aisle the first time, Kirsty insists she did not shed one tear while watching the rerun with our daughters – but we’ve had dogs longer than we’ve been married, is it really possible to develop an allergy now, and experience a full recovery after just 30 minutes?

Until next time

Family Business | Wedding DVD | VHS to DVD | Children

2009.02.25 08:14:59

jayblake

People say never work with children and animals. But when it comes to weddings, some of the highlights of the day are created by these very people.

It’s funny how many couples are relived to find out that I have two children under five when they come and visit me, as I suppose they feel comforted that I understand the chaos that children bring to everyday life, let alone to such a key date as a wedding.

I completely understand those couples that decide not to have children at their wedding. It does make for a much calmer and more sophisticated day. Events seem to run more to time, and there are far fewer sound issues during the service if there are no babies that are due a feed or a child that discovers echoes in the church for the first time! However, it has always puzzled me as to what parents are meant to do with their children while they are at the wedding, especially if all their close family and friends are also at the event.

But being a videographer, children also supply some of the most special memories of the day, especially when they are members of the family. And there’s nothing as funny as capturing the cute little page boy trying to have his first kiss with the cute little bridesmaid and getting a smack for his efforts – especially if you then give him a copy for his 18th birthday!

Every bridal magazine and wedding planner has advice on how to ensure that children coming to the wedding will be an asset rather than a hindrance. Ensure that you have special arrangements put in place to entertain the children. Some do go to the extent of hiring children’s entertainers or a ‘travelling crèche’ to the wedding – but with the credit crunch, will that really be the top priority on your budget? I’ve found that, having healthy snacks around so that there are no tired hungry children, and a good variety of colouring books with colouring pencils (remember any felt tip will find it’s way to the top table and the wedding dress) or goody bags with small toys at the table during the wedding breakfast, can make all the difference. At one wedding we covered, the squeaky eggs left on the table for the toddler, not only kept him entertained but also entertained the whole of the raucous table of university friends that would have been far louder without them!

I have no answers as to whether children should be at weddings. As a parent, I will always see children as a bonus to any event, especially something as family oriented as a wedding, but understand that sometimes they can be a gift, sometimes a gift you would rather return, and when the worst comes to the worst, the gift of the cutting room floor comes into play! The memories you would rather forget can always be left behind, while we keep the ones we will always treasure. I would love to hear your thoughts, so drop me a line or catch me at a wedding fair, and you too could be a guest speaker on my blog!

Until next time.

wedding | Children | DVD | sound