Not only am I going, but I will be the only wedding videographer there.  I will have a booth set up with materials, but I won’t always be there.  I am also going to be video taping the event.  This is the first of what should be many Green Bridal Shows, and they have asked me to record the event.  This is a great honor to be asked to do this, not just because it’s a bridal show and I will have great exposure, but because it is a great new way of thinking about the environment when it comes to the wedding industry.

For Information and tickets to the show visit www.greenweddingscene.com

And please visit The Green Bride Guide as they are helping put this on.

 If you are on Facebook, please, go to my company page and read what people are saying, and become a fan of Keith Michael Productions  on Facebook.

And to end on a positive note, I want to share what my boss at my other job said in a meeting yesterday.  Many people are preparing for the worst, but it is those that prepare for the best that will succeed when this crisis is over.  Negative thoughts bring negative results, and positive thoughts bring positive results.  Your wedding is one of the best things to ever happen in your life, always think positive about it and plan for the absolute best.

Now, I know it may seem like the video is the easy thing to cut, but I would like to point out other things that you can cut back on that no one will notice.  First of all, flowers.  Yes they look nice and smell pretty, but they only last a couple of days.  And from experience people do comment on your flowers if they are there, but don’t really notice if they are gone or scaled back.  Don’t break the bank on flowers.  Yes, your bridal party needs them, but does every table need a six foot center piece (which just gets in the way anyways)?  So consider cutting back on the flowers.

Transportation is another area where you can either cut back, or get rid of.  Maybe you don’t need two limos, maybe people can car pool.  And if you have the ceremony and reception in the same place, then you don’t even need them at all.

Extra food is something easy to cut out.  I love having choices at weddings, but if times are tough, people won’t complain, or even notice, if you only have a couple of choices.  As long as the food is good quality you will still have a good reception.

Now for a reason why you shouldn’t get rid of the video.  Everything that I have already listed only lasts for that day.  You rent limos for 3 hours, flowers die in a couple of days, and the food is eaten in minutes.  Twenty years from now, none of these things will be around (unless you have preserved your flowers).  The only things that you will have twenty, thirty, sixty years from now are each other, your memories, your photos and your video.  These are the things that will last, that will let you relive your wedding day.  Remember, today is tough for all of us, but thirty years from now you don’t want to look back and think if only we had spent a little more, we could be watching our wedding video right now.  And if you think the prices are too high for you, don’t be afraid to talk with a company like mine.  There are always ways to modify packages and pricing so that you will still have your cake and eat it too.

Speaking of the side bar, if you have been to my site before you will have noticed that it moved from the left side to the right side.  I think this works a little better than how I had it before, but I can easily move it back later if I don’t like it.  But what I really do like is what I added to the top of the side bar.  Before you had to go to the Video Samples page in order to see any samples.  Well, not anymore, now you can view a small version of the video on any page right in the side bar.

Those are all the Site Updates for now, and once this work day is over I can go home and start editing some video!

The other part of this season being over is to start getting ready for the next season.  Being relatively new to the business, I don’t have 2009 booked yet.  In many ways this is the hardest part.  It’s time to get out there and start meeting new couples.  The good part about this year compared to last is that I am not planning my own wedding at the same time, so I will have more time to meet with all of you out there, and to start planning your wedding video.

Enough about my work flow, here are some new videos that I want to share with the world.  First up is a photo montage that is on a couples DVD.  They chose to use photos from their wedding for their montage.  The down side to that was they had to wait to get the photos from the photographer.

This next one is a highlight video from the wedding I recorded the week before my own wedding.  Second camera was Steve Wrinkles.  Two things to note with this video.  The cable for the wireless mic system I use during the ceremony turned out to be a bad cable, and it has since been replaced.  And this is the first wedding where I started using my new light.  You will notice that in the reception that it ads some light to fill shadows without being over powering like some lights you may have seen.

My first experiance with a Photographer that I didn’t like was back in October.  I would gladly tell you the name save the fact that she never told me her name.  She didn’t seem interested in anything else aside from taking her photos.  In fact, through out the reception, she would walk in front of my video camera.  Not to sound like I am more important, but I am taking video, and I can’t stop.  At the beginning of a reception, I have the camera rolling for 25 straight minutes from the introductions, first dance, toast and blessing.  If someone walks in front of me, then my shot is now bad, no second chance.  A good photographer knows this, and will either duck under or go behind someone who is taking video.  This photographer also got upset when wedding guests were snapping photos of shots that she set up.

Photographers that I like to work with communicate well, and we discuss positioning before the ceremony to make sure that we are not in each others way.  This not only makes both of our days easier, but will result in better pictures and video of your wedding day.

Here are a couple of ways to figure out if you have a good match of video and photo.  When you are first looking around and you are their web site, look to see if they have a list of recommended vendors.  For example, I just started a list that you can see on the left to both vendor listings and vendors that I have worked with.  If someone, like myself, lists another vendor then chances are they have worked together and they work well together.  This is a good place to start.  Say you found a great photographer, then look at their list videographers that they have worked with, and pick the one that is right for you.  The other thing is in your first meeting with a vendor.  One of my questions is always who your other vendors are.  I want to know if I have worked with them or not.  I have never turned down a job based on who your other vendors are, but I know that some people do, so these are all things that you should know about ahead of time.

People will tell you that the day goes by faster than you can imagine.  I didn’t always believe that.  After experiencing it, I can tell you that people don’t say it enough.  The day goes by way too fast.  I only danced with my wife once, barely ate dinner because people dragged me on the dance floor, and the only cake I had was the piece that my wife shoved in my face.  Looking at pictures that friends took, there were so many things that I missed.  I can only imagine what the video will hold.  So now this is a new message that I have for people thinking about having a video.  You can’t afford not to have a video.  You won’t remember or even see half the the things that happen on your wedding day.  Take it from me, I was there.