March.21.2011
Technical issues
We’re currently having technical issues with the video player and you may not be able to see the video screen. We’re working on this and it should be fixed soon!
Thank you
Matt
January.31.2011
2011 HIGHLIGHTS REEL
Here it is! After another amazing year of weddings, I’ve completed the new highlights reel. ENJOY!!
October.19.2010
Caroline + Ricky Highlights
I met Caroline and Ricky about 9 months ago and right away I knew that they were going to be a fun couple to work with. From the Save the Date video we shot through the entire wedding day, they had a blast and it really shows. It was great getting to know them and to be able to work with yet another amazing couple. The wedding day was perfect and everything they hoped it would be! Here are the highlights and I’ve re-posted their Save the Date video below.
:: Highlights ::
:: Save the Date ::
September.16.2010
Katie + Daniel Highlights
When we say that we offer unlimited coverage for your wedding day, we mean just that. With a bit of travel and a long day planned, we had an 18 hour wedding day with Katie & Daniel. New record! Katie was so excited the whole day just to finally be getting married. They had one of the most amazing receptions that I’ve ever seen and it was a long, but amazing day!
Here are the highlights!
September.15.2010
Rachel + Jason Trailer
Well it has been a crazy summer but it’s been filled with one amazing wedding after another. Rachel and Jason had a great day with perfect weather and a beautiful ceremony at Rivermont Collegiate. They were extremely fun and easy to work with and didn’t let the stress of they get to them at all.
Here is the trailer!
July.15.2010
Katy + Bill Highlights
Katy and Bill had a beautiful wedding day on June 26th. It was a bit on the hot side but everyone managed to get through it and still have a fun time! They were both all smiles, all day and everything went perfectly.
Here’s a quick preview of their video!
June.24.2010
Kat + Justin Mexico Trailer
Justin and Kat were married in Mexico at the beginning of June and I was fortunate enough to be able to capture their special day. They had a beautiful wedding on the beach at the resort and although it was pretty hot and humid, it was a perfect day to get married. I had my share of technical issues dealing with the humidity, sand, wind, etc., but I was able to get some amazing footage. I spent some time focusing on the details and aspects of the location that we obviously don’t have anywhere around here and here’s a quick sneak peek of what I got.
June.22.2010
Becky + Chris Highlights
Becky and Chris had a beautiful wedding on May 29th and got lucky enough to have one of the only sunny days we’ve seen in awhile. Becky has been a long time follower of the blog and has been anxiously awaiting the highlights from their wedding. The ceremony was in East Moline and then we all headed to the Wild Rose Casino in Clinton. I know you’ve been on the edge of your seat so here are the highlights from the wedding!
June.17.2010
WEVA 2010 Featured Speaker!
Today I was notified that I was selected to be a featured speaker at the 2010 WEVA convention. WEVA (International Wedding and Event Videographers Association) is the biggest event / convention/ trade show in the wedding film industry so it is a huge honor to be chosen. I’m extremely excited to be able to share and teach people from all over the world. This year is also a landmark event for WEVA because it’s their 20th anniversary. The event is being held for a week at the Dolphin Disney World Resort in Orlando, so I’ll definitely have to check out a few parks while I’m there.
May.18.2010
Andrea + A.J. Highlights
Andrea & A.J. were married on May 8th which had to be one of the windiest days I can remember and certainly the windiest wedding day I’ve ever had to deal with. Luckily there wasn’t much outside but a few photos. They were an awesome couple to work with and were so excited but very laid back at the same time. The entire day took place at the Radisson in downtown Davenport and here are the highlights from their day!
May.11.2010
Jennifer + Matt Highlights
On the first day of May, I headed down to Burlington where Jennifer and Matt were getting married. The entire event was held at the Pzazz Fun City and Catfish Bend casino. It was a great place to have the wedding and there was no shortage of things to do. Here are the highlights from their fun and eventful day!
April.9.2010
Voted best wedding video for 2009!
We’ve just had the honor of being voted for the best wedding video of 2009 on the knot’s Real Wedding contest. Awhile back, Jessica and Klint submitted their wedding highlights to the Knot and their video received the highest number of votes. The winners area can be viewed here: http://www.theknot.com/My-Real-Wedding/winners
To see their highlights in full quality, check just below.
March.25.2010
Caroline + Ricky Save the Date
I met Caroline and Ricky at the Jaycees bridal expo this year and we immediately started talking about what we could do for their wedding. They became quite excited about the opportunity to do something a little different with their Save the Date. After going through quite a few options and concepts, we decided to shoot a very loose and raw video that brought out their humor and personalities. We had a fun time shooting this and I left it completely unscripted and just let them be themselves.
They’ll be sending these out as their Save the Date announcements and it should be a big hit!
February.11.2010
Jessica + Klint Highlights
- Voted Best Wedding Video of 2009 on the Knot.com’s annual Real Wedding Contest! -
http://www.theknot.com/My-Real-Wedding/winners
Jessica & Klint were married on New Years eve in Iowa City. It was a great way to kick off a new year and a new chapter in their lives with a celebration that they’ll never forget.
Yet another great couple to end another great season of weddings. Here are the highlights from their day!
February.1.2010
2010 Cinematography Highlights Reel
33 weddings in 2009….
over 270 hours of footage….
thousands of clips….
35 hours to produce….
1 2010 highlights reel
January.5.2010
Abby + Nick Highlights
A few weeks back, we got to spend the entire day in Clinton with Abby and Nick. It was a great day and they were so much fun to work with. Their dog, Onyx, was just as much a part of the day as everyone else and even made it down the aisle for the ceremony.
Another highlight of the day was the live band at the reception. I love working with live bands and they create such highly energetic atmosphere the entire night. Their wedding was no different and it was a blast!
Here are the highlights from the wedding!
November.24.2009
Kevin + Ann Highlights
Kevin & Ann’s wedding was extremely fun, yet very emotional. I didn’t even realize how much of that I had captured until I started going through the footage. This clip alone really captures the feeling that everyone had that day, but I can’t take all the credit. Just watching Ann’s face throughout the day captured her true happiness and you can see how much she loves Kevin just by the way she looks at him.
Here are the highlights from the wedding!
November.23.2009
Laura + Corey Trailer
Laura & Corey were so easy to work with because they were laid back and very go-with-the-flow on their wedding day. It was definitely a bit colder that day but they braved the weather and it made for some good video time. They also had custom made shoes that they wore for the reception. Definitely a nice touch and I’m sure it was a lot more comfortable wearing those the rest of the night.
Here is a little preview from their wedding!
November.16.2009
Rachel + Jason Trailer
A few weeks ago, we headed to Dubuque for Rachel & Jason’s wedding. They are an amazing couple and it was pleasure getting to spend the day with them. It was fun, yet very calm and emotional.
I don’t typically use much black and white but it seemed to fit the piece quite well and helped in keeping it subtle and emotional. The pace and music of this trailer really portrays the overall feeling of the day and it was also their first dance song. Enjoy!
Brian + Kelly Movie Poster
Here is another poster I finished awhile back for Brian & Kelly. The photo came from their trash the dress shoot that we did with them.
November.5.2009
Rachel + Jason Highlights
Rachel and Jason were an amazing couple to work with and I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know them a bit over the last year. Rachel is one of our blog addicts er, followers 
She always keeps me on my toes if I start to let too much time pass before I post another video. She’s been waiting for this day for a long time now so here it is!
Updates!
Well it’s been an amazing and crazy year. We still have quite a few weddings in the next 2 months, and a New years eve wedding that should be a great way to finish the year! The blog has been slow but it’s about to blow up with many new trailers and videos, so stay tuned!
We had the pleasure heading out to San Francisco a few weeks ago to shoot some material for Holly & Dave who will be getting married in Des Moines next summer. It was an amazing trip and great change of scenery. I’ll have a sneak peek of their love story and engagement shoot on the blog soon.
We received 3 more awards this year for our cinematography work. I have a blast putting these together but have to thank all of our couples for the inspiration and creativity that I get from them as well. You are the subjects and the ones who create all of the joy and emotion of the day. I’m simply there to capture those emotions and retell your story. You make that possible!
In January, I’ve been asked to be a featured speaker at the Illinois videographers association in Chicago. I was happy to be invited to speak on certain aspects of our cinematography and the industry. It should be a fun experience that I’m very much looking forward to.
Matt
August.14.2009
Instructions for the care of your wedding dress – Kelly + Brian Trash the Dress
Right after their wedding, Kelly and Brian decided to go along with us and do a trash the dress shoot. They were awesome to work with and very excited about this so it turned out to be a great time. As far as I know, the dress is still in good shape
We’re always trying to come up with new ideas and concepts that would give some of these shoots a purpose rather than just throwing together a bunch of footage. I decided that since we were treating this as a trash the dress shoot, we should go completely opposite with our concept for it. Every tag or warning for a wedding dress states the complete opposite for what we wanted to do to her dress. This was the perfect layout for this shoot. All of the instructions or warnings that I included were real things that we found posted online for precautions and ways to keep your wedding dress in perfect condition. Some of them were legit, but there were some pretty interesting ones as well.
July.14.2009
Kelly + Brian Highlights
We had one of our longer days working with Kelly & Brian but I loved it. We were able to spend a lot of time with each of them during the day and we’ll really be able to retell and show their story in their wedding film. They were so easy to work with and capturing the emotions as they just went about their day wasn’t hard at all! The dog stole the show a few times but we made sure that everyone got equal camera time so all ended well
We don’t get too many couples that choreograph their first dance, but Kelly and Brian had it all planned out! It makes for a more interesting first dance, but also a much more powerful moment in our films. We’re able to really be part of the dance with them more so than a simple slow dance in one spot. I really wanted to highlight the dancing a bit as you will notice in the later part of the clip.
Thanks for a great day! Enjoy!
July.5.2009
Krista + Alan Trailer
Krista and Alan were just awesome to work with and I’m happy that we got the chance to meet and spend some time with them. It was a very warm and jam packed day but we pulled it all off and had a great time.
As they say, if at first you don’t succeed, try try again……and again and again. This is the 3rd attempt at a trailer for Krista and Alan’s wedding. Many times I’ll start with an idea, get half way or all the way done, and then throw it out. I wasn’t happy with the first two attempts at doing this for them because it just wasn’t capturing their personality and vibe of the day. I wanted something faster and also wanted to try a little with stop motion video. This is typically found and reserved for photos being put into order in which they appear to show motion, but why not try it in reverse with video!? I pulled singles frames from the video to create the same effect and I think it was a good touch with the music and style of their trailer.
Enjoy!
Prior to the wedding we were able to spend some time filming the Story of Us for them. We played this at the reception with an amazing response so I decided to post it up here as well. It came together very well and really shows their fun and crazy personalities! (runtime – 13 minutes)
June.11.2009
Jenae + Jake Highlights
After a morning of non stop rain last Saturday, nobody expected the sun to come out and the day to turn out so well. They say rain on your wedding is good luck so I guess they got the best of both ends with the rain and the sun. Jenae and Jake were very laid back and go with the flow so we had a great time spending all day with them and capturing everything.
Here are the highlights from their day……and now displayed in a larger size!
May.26.2009
Kelsi + Jeremy Highlights
Kelsi & Jeremy were amazing and surrounded by so much love. I don’t have much to say about this piece…I’ll let it speak for itself.
May.22.2009
Emily + Kevin Highlights
Last weekend we had the pleasure of filming Emily and Kevin’s wedding. I was a bit worried as we were headed there because it was sooo windy and the ceremony and reception were set to be outside. Being outside in itself can present us with some obstacles, but the wind is a whole new set of issues. We pulled it off though and I’m very happy with the results.
Having the ceremony and reception at her parent’s house made for a very inviting and laid back day. There was lots to do, of course, but everyone is a little more comfortable with the surroundings rather than being in a large church and banquet hall.
It turned out to be a great fun day with lots of………bobbleheads!!!
Enjoy!
May.12.2009
Virginia + Jon Highlights
Virginia and Jon = FUN! It was mentioned a few times during the day that you can’t help but smile and laugh whenever you’re around Virginia and we got to experience that first hand. It was so much fun to work with them and capture all the laughter and emotion of the day. Even after a very long day, we were having so much fun that we didn’t want to leave the reception. It was definitely a day filled with love… from their huge wedding party to their letters that they wrote to each other for the ceremony. Chalk up two more reasons for why we love doing what we do! Thanks for a great day!
April.28.2009
Jen + Joe Highlights
Saturday we had the pleasure of filming for Jen and Joe’s wedding. It was a blast! Luckily the rain held off and allowed for some great photo time and a lot of fun locations. The photographer was Rick Jennisch and their photos can be seen on his blog. Sometimes we can get a little crazy to get the shots and thankfully I didn’t get run over on the bridge or streets that we were shooting on…..not this week at least :-)
Jen and Joe incorporated a lot of their ethnic backgrounds into the wedding. Joe’s Italian background led them to chose a canolli flavored cake while Jen followed Japanese tradition by having 1000 origami cranes at the reception for a long and prosperous marriage. The cranes were behind the cake, on each table and placed above the dance floor. These can be seen throughout the highlights and were a very neat addition that we had not seen before.
Jen and Joe’s wedding is also going to be featured on a brand new blog of ’Featured Weddings in the Quad Cities’. This blog will be part of qcweddings.com and will give a lot more insight into what all went into the planning and making their wedding day so special. QC Weddings Blog
Here are some highlights from their day!
February.22.2009
Hannah + Jimmie opening segment
We had the opportunity to work with Hannah and Jimmie in January…a bit cold, but it was a wonderful wedding! We were able to capture a lot of the raw emotion of the day and it’s made for a beautiful video and story. Here is the opening segment from their final film.
December.14.2008
New Products
We’ve now completed yet another year of weddings and it definitely went by too fast…but, time flies when you’re having fun! The entire upgrade to HD was quite a task but I’m still blown away by the quality of the video and product that we’re producing now. This year we introduced a lot of unique concepts and ideas for our videos, received more awards for our work, and as always, came up with some new and exciting products. We’re getting a jump start on 2009 and introducing the new products that we’ll initially be offering.
The first will be a Wedding Movie Poster. We will design and produce a full size movie poster with all of the information and pictures from your wedding day. The poster will be 20 in x 30 in and include a full frame. There is an example of one a few posts below.
The second will be the ability to deliver your wedding video on BluRay disc. We upgraded to filming in full high definition in 2008 and we’re now taking that to the next level to give you the absolute highest quality wedding video that you can buy! You’ll still get your DVD copies of the video, but we’ll also include a copy on BluRay.
These are two more products that we’re proud to offer and ones that you can only find with MediaInnovations.
I’m finishing up our last videos for the year and then we’ll be taking a little break to relax and spend time with our daughter. Watch for some new posts to begin in January!
-Matt
December.1.2008
Abigail
I announced awhile ago that we were expecting our first baby….and now she’s here!! Her name is Abigail and she was born on Thanksgiving day! Both her and Melanie are doing very well and we’re so happy and excited! Here are few of the first pictures.
November.4.2008
Laura & Andy Trailer
Saturday we got a chance to work with Laura and Andy! Laura was probably the most organized bride that we’ve worked with! Everything went great and they were actually ahead of schedule all day! I couldn’t have asked for a better day or a more organized wedding to be filming.
We’ll soon be doing a Fashion shoot with Laura and Andy and I’ll plan on posting that once we get that put together. In the meantime, here is a trailer for their wedding! Laura really focused on the details of the day and one thing that stood out to me was the guestbook that you see in the picture below. I knew when I read that phrase, I had to use it as part of the trailer.
October.27.2008
Deanna & Eric Highlights
We spent last Saturday in Clinton with Deanna and Eric. It was a great fall day and a beautiful ceremony in an old church. I love weddings in the fall because the colors are always perfect and it’s not so HOT! The wind got a little crazy but we still managed to get some great shots outside!
I would also like to thank Deanna for insisting that Melanie and I dance together We’re always working so hard and it was really nice for her to demand that we stop filming and have a dance! This was Melanie’s last wedding for awhile as we await the arrival of our baby girl, so getting a dance together was a nice way for her to end the year.
Here are some highlights from their wedding day!
October.21.2008
Katie & Adam Highlights
Saturday we had a great wedding day with Katie and Adam. They were a very fun group to work with and that always makes the long days a lot easier. The weather was perfect and the setting at Augustana’s Ascension Chapel was beautiful allowing for some great footage overall. The reception was at Stoney Creek Inn which is a pretty dark venue for video, but I’m really getting our lighting effects the way I want now and creating a really nice look for the shots….even in very low light. This video opens with those shots!
Also, I think Katie wins for the biggest bouquet that I’ve personally ever seen !! Here are the highlights from their day!
October.11.2008
SDE: Dave + Kelly
On Saturday, we presented a SDE: Same Day Edit for Dave and Kelly. I’ve been looking forward to their wedding for quite awhile and it was a great wedding and a great day. It was also great to be able to share more of the day with all of their guests by showing this video at the reception.
With the SDE, we essentially take everything we’ve taped up to the beginning of the reception and edit together a clip that we’ll then show it at the reception. This was our first SDE and everything went perfectly. Most of the highlights and trailers I put on this blog are put together in about a day and then put online. I’ve spent 6-9 just editing one of these small clips to get everything just right. They wanted to show the video early so by the time I got everything ready to edit, I had about 1.5 hours to put this all together and get it ready to show.
Here is Dave and Kelly’s Same Day Edit video that was shown at their reception!
September.30.2008
Cinematography workshop
I don’t often post on the blog, but I’m so excited that I had to say something.
Matt and I are always looking for ways to improve and trying new ideas and concepts to keep our work fresh and exciting. Matt, especially, keeps up with other videographers, trends, and news in the wedding video industry. One of our favorites and recently voted one of the top 25 in the world, StillMotion (stillmotion.ca) is holding a cinemotography workshop early next year and Matt is getting the opportunity to attend! Come January, Matt heads to Toronto to attend the 3 day workshop. We are both so excited that he gets the chance to work with some of the best in the world! It will be a great learning experience and I know he is so looking forward to it. It will be a great start to a new year which will inevitably lead to some very cool things to come in the future!
-Melanie
September.15.2008
NEW Wedding Movie Posters!
Here’s another unique item that I wanted to try with Anne and John’s wedding (highlights video below). We’re already creating fully customized DVD’s and cases that are very cinematic in style, so why not offer a movie poster to go with it. Here’s an example I threw together for them. These are now available to anyone!
September.12.2008
Anne & John Wedding Highlights
Last Friday we had such a fun time working with Anne and John. They were so relaxed and it was easy to capture the mood and emotion of the day. You can just tell by being around them that they are so happy and in love! Thanks for a great day and here are some highlights from your wedding!
FULL HD VERSION ON VIMEO!
August.26.2008
Cheryl & Kurt Trailer
Last weekend we had the pleasure of being with Cheryl and Kurt all day. Yet another great couple that made for a fun and exciting day! They gave us some great locations, from getting ready at a beautiful house, to the photos and reception down on the Mississippi. Here is their trailer!
- 2008 Aegis Award Winner -
- 2008 DV Award Winner -
FULL HD VERSION ON VIMEO!
August.19.2008
Julia + Travis Highlights Trailer
We traveled to Des Moines this past weekend for Travis and Julia’s wedding! The ceremony and reception were outside at the state historical building just below the state capital and hopefully we get to shoot at this location again someday. It was a great area with capital as the backdrop for the day, some of which you can see toward the end of this segment. It was also great to meet and work with other vendors from all over the state.
Thanks to Julia and Travis for a great day and fun wedding!
August.12.2008
Updates! Updates! Updates!
Well, we’re now into the busiest time of the year! It’s been an awesome year so far and we’ve had nothing but great couples to work with. I’m looking forward to this second half of the year and all the great couples coming up!
Blogging has been a little slower lately as I’ve just been so busy, but I’m planning on having quite a few posts coming up and also some newer additions to the blog that I’ll be starting here soon.
Speaking of new additions, we’re expecting our first baby in December! Everything is going very well and we just found our that we’re having a little baby girl. We’re both very excited and cannot wait to become new parents.
We recieved an award for our 2008 demo awhile back and I said I would keep everyone up to date on the other awards we entered it for. We just received our 2nd award for that demo. It already seems like so long ago that I put that together, and in just about 4 months, I’ll be working on the new 2009 demo. I’m getting excited for this as everything will be HD and we’ve developed so many new styles and techniques in the last year.
Finally, I just want to thank all of our loyal readers and all of our new couples and friends. We started our blog just 1 year ago and have had over 25,000 hits so far! This is far above what I ever expected. We truly appreciate the support, referrals and interest that we receive and we couldn’t do it without you! We work very very hard every single day, but it’s very rewarding and we absolutely love what we do! THANKS!
Matt
July.17.2008
Ann + Kurt Credits
This past week we had the pleasure of working with Ann and Kurt. This was probably the biggest wedding we’ve ever done in terms of guests and it was a blast! With around 650 guests, it was crowded at times, but such a fun and laid back atmosphere that it didn’t matter.
I’ve been posting a lot of highlights but wanted to mix things up and throw in another credits clip that I just finished. I decided to use a little more effect and old film look rather than just using the original video. The small size doesn’t do justice to it, but it’s a different look and feel.
July.1.2008
Danielle + Chad Highlights
I had been looking forward to Danielle and Chad’s wedding for quite a while. It was a long day but I knew they were going to be very fun to work with and we would have lots of time to play! It got very windy on Saturday which makes running the steadicam for the moving shots nearly impossible, but we managed and I’m very happy with the footage we were able to get.
Their day began at the 5 star salon in Davenport with the ceremony at Old St. Annes and the reception at the Clarion. I feel like I’m becoming part of the 5 star salon team! We’ve been there 3 times this year so far and I just found out our next 3 weddings will start there also.
Anyway, here is a highlights I just put together for them. It’s a bit quicker style and fits the couple and the emotion of the day very well. Congrats again to Danielle and Chad!
FULL HD VERSION ON VIMEO!
June.18.2008
Lisa + Sean Highlights
We’re now well into the wedding season and I’m working non stop to keep up and develop new ideas and techniques for what we do. Looks like I may only have a few days off between now and December, but oh well I love what I do !
I was able to put together a small highlights clip from our wedding last weekend. Lisa and Sean we’re both very excited to have us be part of their day and capture everything, and we were welcomed in the same manner by everyone else. It was an interesting day because everything seemed to go very quickly, but at the same time, we worked a 15 hour day….breaking our previous record but it was very fun and Lisa and Sean were just another couple that remind me why I love doing what I do.
FULL HD VERSION ON VIMEO!
June.9.2008
Bridget + Keith Trailer
We had a great time working with Bridget and Keith this past weekend. They were very easy going and fun to be around and the day was perfect. The heat was something else but everyone made it through. Here is a the trailer for their video. Enjoy !
FULL HD VERSION ON VIMEO!
May.19.2008
Whitney + Jon Preparations
It was nice to finally see the weather turn around on Saturday and give Whitney and Jon a great day for their wedding. Yet another amazing couple that we had the pleasure of working with all day.
This is our first wedding film in HD and I’m very happy with how the video is turning out! This clip fades out as you view it here, but will continue and flow directly into the ceremony on the full video.
FULL HD VERSION ON VIMEO!
