On March 28, our close personal friends John + Karen were married at Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, AR. It was an event we had been awaiting for a long time! Because we were so involved in the day, we were very limited in the amount of coverage we could provide outside of the ceremony. I was the best man and officiant — yes, I’m an ordained minister! (I am a former youth pastor, which is where I first learned to shoot and edit video!) Our 5-year old, Isaiah, was the ring-bearer. And Annette shot the entire video solo! She did a great job, even using our brand new HD cameras for the very first time.

It was an incredible day! The weather didn’t turn out as spring-like as we had hoped, but nonetheless, the day was perfect. This video is a short wedding film produced in high definition. If you’re at all interested in the idea of an HD wedding film, or even just intrigued a little bit — even though this is our first practice run with our new equipment, with only one camera operator, and though this online video doesn’t do the HD footage justice – you’ll want to check this out!

A couple “inside” things to know as you watch:

• the songs in the video were used in the actual wedding itself (well, one didn’t make it in because the sound person got it messed up!)
• in place of the unity candle, the couple wrote letters to each other, which they locked up in a box, and will open and read on their 25th anniversary (you may wonder what John is carrying when we enter, or what they’re doing with the envelopes during the ceremony)
• we surprised Karen during the ceremony with John’s vows to receive her daughter, Abbi (her flower girl). I’m sure you can imagine the significance of this moment! (wow, did I read through this part like a crazy man or what?)
• if you wonder why people are looking off to the right during one scene, it’s because two deer walked right by the glass chapel! I was too preoccupied to notice, but the “distraction” did serve as an incredible reminder of the beauty of God and His creation that the couple desired when they planned a wedding “outside” in the middle of nature!
• this was my first time performing a wedding! Please don’t judge our filmmaking skills based on my speaking skills! ;) It was a very personal thing to be asked to marry them, though, and I really enjoyed having the privilege of being the one to speak to them on that day.

If you experience any stuttering during the first minute of the video, you may want to press pause to allow the video (9:38) to fully load before viewing.