Category: Weddings


We often use the term high school sweethearts to describe couples that have been together for a long time. These are couples that met when they were young, realized they were the one for each other, and stuck together for years until they were married. But what if they met before high school, or even middle school? What if they became friends in the third grade? Elementary school sweethearts doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but for Kelsey and Josh, this was the start of their story. And after many (and when I say many I mean close to 20) years of friendship, that included multiple proms, homecomings, high school graduation, breakups and three and-a-half years of college, they finally were together.

We managed to not get run over while filming this wedding…

When my wife and I finally met them it was, of course, over Mexican food. Hearing their vision for their wedding, it was incredibly apparent that they had a unique style all their own. Watch the film and you’ll see it: the palm fronds, geode wedding cake, Edison bulbs draped over the dance floor like a Willow tree. Kelsey even created a watercolor wedding logo that fit their theme! 

If you’re having a unique wedding too, we would love to film it! Please get in touch. 🙂

Check out their wedding highlight film below:

 

 

I struggled for a while with a title for this film. Oftentimes it is easy to come up with a name once I get to know the couple, but for Richard and Carissa things have been a bit different. Should I reference Richard’s Scottish heritage and smooth accent? Does their meeting in high-school qualify? Or maybe I should speak about their engagement in Australia? They’re such an interesting couple! How am I supposed to distill them, their wedding, and their entire history into a simple title? 

East meets west. Scotland meets Texas. Richard meets Carissa. There, that should be simple and yet complex enough.

“But more about them Matt! Tell me more about them!,” you say. I’ve filmed weddings at a wide assortment of locations around the world. Churches, chapels, open fields, and redwood forests, all beautiful in their own way. Without fail, these venues are all chosen because of a special meaning they share with the bride and groom. So when I was asked to film Richard and Carissa’s wedding film, down a little dirt road, behind the house she grew up in, I knew their wedding would be just about perfect. Perfection was achieved soon-after when they told me that Richard and his groomsmen would be wearing traditional Scottish Kilts.

Seen: An amazing moment. Unseen: Richard's stellar kilt.

Seen: An amazing moment. Unseen: Richard’s stellar kilt.

On the day of the ceremony, under a blue sky with only a hint of clouds, in front of a handmade arbor of luggage, window panes, and burlap, Carissa and Richard were married. An evening of revelry commenced, that saw the fusion of Texas charm, with Scottish heritage. Traditional two-stepping gave way to Scottish stomping, with a fireworks show to cap-off the festivities. 

This wedding was the joining of two cultures, two families, two people, and it was truly a perfect day.

Interested in having my wife and I film your wedding? Please get in touch!

I bonded with Adam back in January 2012, when we spent 13 hours crammed into a Honda Element together on a road trip from Texas to Georgia and back. Along the way, I learned a lot of interesting things about him:

  • Years of driving buses for A&M gave him the ability to drive 13 hours straight without stopping if necessary.
  • He’s such an un-picky eater that he will go into a restaurant and tell the server to order something for him.
  • Unlike normal humans, 3 hours of sleep is plenty for him.

At this point, I realize this blog is starting to sound more like an ad for Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man In The World™, and not a groom from a wedding I filmed. Well strap in, because I haven’t even gotten to how Adam and Christine met.

Christine on the drums!

Christine on the drums!

On a humid week in August at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Houston, Texas, Christine made the decision to attend a talent show. Little did she know, that Adam would be performing a special dance at the show, with an inflatable Killer Whale. No water required, just him, the whale, a stage, and some paper streamers. Christine laughed so hard she cried, and while I would like to think she knew that she had to marry this guy, she says she was more interested in only meeting him.

That meeting eventually happened, time spent together turned into friendship, and friendship culminated in a date together at Trampoline World (with pizza). One year later Adam proposed, and yes, the inflatable whale made an appearance.

When Adam got back in touch with me about filming their wedding, he said they had a few surprises planned for their guests. First, the wedding reception would be Llamma themed. Second, there would be a talent show that mirrored the night they met. Third, they would be leaving in a bright yellow Smart Car the size of a go-kart. 

Adam and his whale!

Adam and his whale!

As promised, after a beautiful ceremony on the University of Houston Campus, the reception began with a surprise Llamma Cake, continued with a sweet drum solo by Christine (barefoot in her wedding dress of course), a classic rendition of Adam’s inflatable whale dance, and ended with a crazy dance party courtesy of DJ Chaney.

Was it a wedding day? Yes. Was it also a talent show? You bet.

Interested in having us film your wedding/talent show? Get in touch!

I met my wife on a warm evening in May of 2010, while we both attended a movies and smoothies party in a second floor apartment of a mutual friend.  I was beard-less, and so was she, but that didn’t keep us from talking and hitting it off. I remember that moment vividly, and I’m sure that if you thought back to when you met your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, or wife, you would recall that moment as well. What they were wearing, possibly the first thing one of you said, your first smile at them, and exactly where you were when it all happened.

For Kelsey and Jacob, they may not recall their first meeting because it happened so long ago. In fact, if you ask their family and friends they would say that Kelsey and Jacob have been dating “forever.” With forever being a long time, I dug a little deeper on my first meeting with the two of them, and learned that forever actually meant the first day of class in the third grade. Do they remember their moment of meeting vividly? Probably not as well as I remember my moment of meeting my wife, but they have known each other three times as long as we have.

Together in the hill country

Together in the hill country…

While they may have met in class, their relationship soon grew outside of the classroom. When I asked what they enjoy doing together, most of their answers began with some form of “We go to Kelsey’s family ranch in Spicewood.” This property, nestled in the hill country, surrounded by tall grasses, prickly pear cacti, lakes, rivers, and cows, is a bit of heaven on earth. And as I asked them about their relationship, I realized the ranch was their connecting point for all of their key moments growing up together. Spending time hunting, fishing, riding horses, and raising animals.

When it came time to propose, sometime during the second half of “forever,” Jacob lured her to the pig barn on the ranch, with a story of an injured animal that needed Kelsey’s help. Instead of a scared rabbit or puppy, she found a fully decorated barn, with moments from their lives together. They set their wedding date for one year later, right next to the same barn where he proposed. 

As we approached filming their day, my wife and I realized we needed to feature this ranch, where Kelsey and Jacob spent so much time together both growing up and falling in love. The hill country with its oak trees, long grass waving in the breeze, cacti, and rolling clouds, was a part of their relationship too.

Interested in having us film your wedding? Please get in touch!

In the years after graduating from Texas A&M, I still found myself returning to College Station every few months to film a wedding, film for the University, or to pass through and see friends (and often film something with them). As time has passed though, that list of friends that call College Station their home has gradually dwindled. That’s the nature of a college town, over half the residents are transitory and will only live their for four or five – or in my case EIGHT years, before moving on to bigger cities.

This doesn’t make my visits back to College Station necessarily lonely, but it does make my time spent with friends that still live there more special. One of the people that has made those visits great has been my friend Josh. For the past few years he has been consistent in not only finding out when I am headed back to College Station, but also what my schedule will be, and when we can hangout while I am there.  This usually results in us staying up incredibly late filming timelapses of various landmarks around the Texas A&M campus while discussing the finer points of light pollution and whether Sony is better than Nikon which is definitely better than Canon.

One of those nights two years ago turned to a discussion about a girl that Josh was pursuing. One that he met at church, was instantly friend-zoned by, and then managed to invite on a date for coffee. He told me she was a girl worth pursuing, and more importantly she pushed him to love Jesus more.

Sunset + Pasture = Gorgeous

Sunset + Pasture = Gorgeous

Fast forward one year and I was back in College Station, filming more timelapses with Josh, but this time he brought the girl, Jennifer. A few months back he had proposed under the Century Tree on campus, and at this point I already knew I would film their wedding, but it was nice to finally put a face with the name of a girl that Josh had spoken of so fondly.

Finally, six months later after all the buildup, I filmed Josh and Jennifer’s wedding on a beautiful day in March. The clouds rolling through in the morning gave way to the piercing sun that cut the ceremony in half diagonally. Afterwards, we all marveled as the sunset cast its rays across the pasture. Throughout the day, I was constantly reminded of their love for each other, and Jesus love for them. Their notes? All about each other and Jesus. Their vows? All about each other and Jesus. The toasts by their friends? All about how they met, fell in love, and cared about each other and Jesus. Between those moments and the amazing weather, 12th man towel waving, and constant whoops throughout the day, I knew their wedding film was going to be fun to create.

Interested in having me film your wedding? Get in touch!