Davi & Jonathan's Trailer

Davi and Jonathan recently got married at Elmwood Gardens and we wanted to post this little trailer for their video. Davi was a giddy happy bride and even the heat that made her sick couldn't keep her down! And Jonathan and his groomsmen looked dapper in their gray suits and Chuck Taylors. Check out all the cuteness and fun:

Davi & Jonathan: A Sneak Peek from Vanessa McKellar Productions.com on Vimeo.

Location: Elmwood Gardens

Photographer: Alex M Photography (check out his pics of the event here.)

DJ: CMB Music Productions

Michelle & Kyle: A Love Story

When Michelle asked me to create a Love Story video for her and her fiance Kyle, I was thrilled. And even more so when she asked me to come to College Station and film at Kyle Field. This iconic location has very special signifiance for the two of them, as you'll see in the video. And of course, the century tree had to make an appearance too!

These two have known each other for a long time now and I was honored to be able to tell their story through video. Michelle was a little worried that Kyle, who is a pilot for the military, would be shy in front of the camera. But as you can see he was able to express himself beautifully and I know it means a lot to Michelle. She told me she cries every time she watches it!

Michelle & Kyle: A Love Story from Vanessa McKellar Productions.com on Vimeo.

Our Wedding: The Colors

Previously in this series- Our Wedding: The Chapel

After we decided on our locations, it was time to figure out how we wanted out wedding to look. I read an article on The Knot that really helped guide me in the process. It said that you needed to decide on three elements for your wedding: colors, motif, and buzzwords. In this post I'll talk about how we picked out colors, and I'll address the other two elements soon.

I think color can set the tone for the day more than anything else perhaps. For our wedding, I really wanted to use coral (the pinkish/orange tone, not the reddish color of real coral) as our main color, simply because I love it so much. But we ended up using it as the secondary color because we felt that if the bridesmaids dresses were that color, it would blend in too much with the pink granite where we were doing a portion of our photos. I also really love green, but we couldn't do that either because it would blend too much with the green grass and trees that were everywhere in our pictures. Can you tell I was going for contrast? Yellow wouldn't work because it's not a flattering color on everyone. So by the process of elimination we came to our primary color: blue! (Peacock blue, to be specific.) And by default coral became our secondary color. And since I'm not so much of a silver person, gold became our metal and our tertiary color.

(photo by Casey)

Once I had decided on my colors I went to the home improvement store and picked out paint swatches that were the perfect shade of coral and blue. From then on those little samples informed all my color decisions. Our color scheme translated into blue bridesmaid dresses and ties and tablecloths, and coral flowers. (Actually the flowers were more pink and orange mixed together. Apparently coral is a really tricky color to find in nature.) Gold was found in our cake stand and cross decoration, the bridesmaids bouquet wraps, and our jewelry, among other places. Our beautiful invitations had all three colors, plus some. In the photo below you can see how well the blue contrasts with the green grass and the pink granite.

Here's a good article with tips on how to create and execute a "winning" color palette.

In my next post I'll talk about buzzwords and motif!

Megan & Mark's Trailer

Check out this teaser for Megan and Mark's upcoming video. They had a lovely bash last Saturday and we can't wait to edit the footage. The wedding had a subtle vintage theme, and there was fabulous lighting, a great band, lavish flowers, and lots of fun dancing.

Megan & Mark Sneak Peek from Vanessa McKellar Productions.com on Vimeo.

Ceremony: Trinity Episcopal Church

Reception: Pinecrest Country Club

Coordinator: Pam Gosschalk, Passionflower Design, (903) 237-9673

Photographer: Sam Smead

Band: The Project Band

Photo Booth: boothBooth

Jessica & Adrian

Our brides sometimes wonder what their video might look like, since they usually only see highlights posted here on the blog. So today I thought I'd give you all a special treat and show you an entire wedding day through a short-form edit. Short-form videos seem to be taking the wedding videography industry by storm, and not only are they fun to watch, they're fun to edit!

So what is a short-form? It's essentially a "fast-forward free" version of your video that runs about 20 to 30 minutes. The ceremony, first dances, toasts, etc. are all condensed, and the full-length uncut version of each is also included as a separate chapter on your DVD. So when you have your friends over to watch your video, they'll be thoroughly entertained the whole time. This is something that we offer as an upgrade so feel free to ask about it.

Jessica and Adrian had a very beautiful wedding in Houston with a swanky downtown reception. Even if you don't watch the whole video, be sure to watch through to the "first look"- it's a very touching moment. And look closely at the bouquet toss and see if you recognize who caught it!

Jessica & Adrian from Vanessa McKellar Productions.com on Vimeo.

Ceremony: West University Methodist Church, Houston
Reception: Artista, Houston
Photographer: Lauren Clark, Lubbock

Nic & Cam: My Behind-the-Scenes Video!

Previously in this series- Nic & Cam: The Photos Part III

Oh boy folks I'm so excited about this post! Today I unveil to you the video I made of Nicole and Cameron's wedding weekend. Since I was a matron of honor and therefore unable to be the official videographer, I ended up just carrying my little 5D around and taking informal photos and videos of the events. At times it was a bit distracting for me, but I felt that it would be worth it and I think I was right. What we have here is a simple documentary edit (no slow-mo or effects or anything) that I think gives a really authentic look into the weekend.

In it you'll see:

The Bachelorette Party: Beware because there is much silliness here. Nicole and her best friend Krista (aka Berta- they both call each other Roberta for some unknown reason) like to be pretty extreme with the silliness. I love it! You'll also hear the phrase, "Repeat! This is not how I normally act!" To find out where this came from, check this out. (Sorry Nicole, I just had to.)

The Ladies Brunch: Our lovely grandma and cousin put together a yummy brunch for us, and this is where you'll see Nicole give us our hand-woven bridesmaid gifts. We're so glad to have some great video and pictures of us with our grandmas.

The Rehearsal: Only one shot of this. I was too busy catching up!

The Wedding Day: I basically follow Nicole around from the first thing in the morning all the way to boogying on the dance floor. Nicole was such a great subject- oozing excitement and inviting me in to parake of all her emotions. No ceremony footage here because both Brent and I wanted to really enter into the solemnity of the occasion.

Nicole's Wedding Weekend: Behind the Scenes from Vanessa McKellar Productions.com on Vimeo.

A few shots in there are Brent's. We like this pic Casey took of us enjoying Nicole's crazy antics.

I wish we could do it all over again, it was so much fun!

Design Your Own Fabric at Spoonflower

I just came across this web site and knew I had to share it with you all. Since Brent and I just purchased our first home, I'm always looking for new, unique, affordable ways to decorate. When I saw Spoonflower I got so excited! It's a web site where you can design your own fabric and then have it printed! How cool is that?

My kitchen and living room have a sort of vintage/bird/woodland theme, and I think it would be so neat to design a pattern with those elements and then make pillows, a piano seat cover, etc. from the fabric. I'm also going to be making a headboard for our master bedroom and the possibilities for that are endless!

These are a few designs from the site:






There is no set-up fee and no minimum, and a yard of quilting-weight fabric costs $18. Not super cheap but if you're doing a smallish project I think it's totally worth it. And do I even need to mention all the myriad applications this web site has for your wedding?

Here's what I could have done for ours: taken the flower image from my custom invitation, scanned it, made a fabric out of it, and used it as table runners for the reception. I also would have covered my guest book with it, and made a kneeling pillow out of it for communion. I would have created another complementary but more masculine upholstery weight fabric and had the groomsmen ties made out of it (I actually did this with a store-bought fabric.) Oooh, I really wish this had been around two years ago!!

Any other ideas for how to use a custom-designed fabric?

Nic and Cam: The Photos Part llI

Here's the final installment of Nicole and Cameron' pictures. As you can see the dance floor was packed all night, and since there were some gymnasts in the crowd (Cameron included) we had some pretty exciting entertainment (pommel horse anyone?) I especially love the last shot of the two of them in front of the Houston skyline. That was at the end of the night, even though they still had a lot to look forward to!



So if this handful of photos has whet your appetite for more, you must head over to Casey's blog and watch the slideshow he made using these photos plus more. Thanks again Casey for a wonderful job!


And if all these photos whetted your appetite for some video, you're in for a treat! Coming soon is a behind-the-scenes video I made for Nicole that documents the whole wedding weekend. And still to come after that, I have another special video starring two other members of my family. Stay tuned folks!

Nic and Cam: The Photos Part ll

Here are some pics from Nicole and Cameron's ceremony by Casey. Look how happy they are! And look how emotional Nicole is as she's walking down the aisle. (It was indeed a very sweet moment and of course I will be blogging about it all.)

Coming up: the reception!

Nic and Cam: The Photos Part I

Previously in this series- Nic & Cam: Hair and Make-up

Check out these beautiful photos from my sister's wedding. Casey Benson did a great job. Aren't they awesome?


These are from the first part of the day. Shortly I will be posting the ceremony and then the reception pics for your enjoyment. Then I'll tell you how you can see even more amazing photos from the big day.