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Getting married in a mansion in Cleveland

Posted on May 7, 2015

by Kurt Maechner

Did you ever dream of getting married at a castle, a palace, or a mansion?

Well, the Western Reserve Historical Society is pretty darn close.

When I heard we would be filming a wedding there, my first thought was: Isn’t that the place with the car museum?

Indeed it is, but I had no idea that they also had this amazing courtyard perfect for a pristine, intimate, yet royal wedding.

The Western Reserve Historical Society is actually housed in an Italian-renaissance style mansion built in 1911.

For Alex and Sloane’s wedding, the bride and her bridesmaids get themselves ready in the old library, adorned with books, and thick wood-paneled doors. They exited into the former main hallway, past sweeping stairways and a stone fireplace, and then out the double doors, graced with wrought iron gates to reveal the former gardens. There the wedding guests awaited on white wooden chairs while a harpist played.

You don’t need to go to Europe for any of this. It’s right here, near University Circle in Cleveland.

Take a look below to see a short segment of Alex and Sloane’s wedding and the beautiful Western Reserve Historical Society mansion.

Cammock clip from For Real Wedding Films on Vimeo.

For Real Wedding Films gets a mention on The Knot!

Posted on April 30, 2015

by Kurt Maechner

For Real Wedding Films makes its first appearance on The Knot!

Family friends Alex and Sloane had a simply stunning wedding last August and we had the privilege of being their videographers. Their wedding was so stunning that it landed them an article on the ever popular wedding site called The Knot.

Our friends Stephanie and John at Imagine It Photography did an amazing job photographing the wedding and their photos grace the article.

At the bottom of the article the other vendors of the wedding got mentioned too and we are there on the list! No link, but hey, you can’t have everything, right? 🙂

Just wanted to share our little joys with you all!

Need to save money on your wedding? Try a brunch reception!

Posted on April 29, 2015

by Kurt Maechner

So we got married young…at least according to my
in-laws (They were in their 30’s). Kurt and I had just graduated from college and being oh so crazy, got engaged our senior year and married the following winter.

Winter?!

Who gets married a week before Christmas?

We crazy birds did!

(My poor mother who had to take care of all the out of town
company right before a major holiday…and we had no concern of this as we were
blissfully happy away on our honeymoon)

Ignorance can be bliss!

Anywho, one of the best pieces of being married right before
Christmas was that the church was gloriously decorated. We had no
flowers to purchase, no decorations needed. Poinsettas filled the
sanctuary with beauty and regalness.

So, simple.

So beautiful.

So free. 🙂

I just came across a blog that shared how the bride wanted a
wedding brunch (including this cinnamon roll-flavored wedding cake-delish!). I love the idea. Again…

simple.

Beautiful.

A lot cheaper than a 3 course dinner meal.

So, if you’re trying to figure out how to cut costs, check
out this idea as well as a number of ideas off this other fun blog (or this one), all about doing
a wedding on a shoe string budget.

The Flavor of a Wedding

Posted on April 23, 2015

by Kurt Maechner

Each wedding has a flavor.

One wedding that had a unique flavor was the wedding of Russ and Kathleen.

They married in a picturesque small town in Indiana. It was so much fun to wed the feel of this tiny, American railroad town with the sacredness of the church and the detailed beauty of Kathleen’s wedding dress. That, coupled with sweet moment of Russ and Kathleen with their moms, made for such a touching wedding film intro.

Enjoy.

The Flavor of a Wedding from For Real Wedding Films on Vimeo.

Are you planning a wedding? Step away from the ledge

Posted on April 22, 2015

by Kurt Maechner

Fear

Anxiety

Stress

Overwhelmed

Exhaustion

Congratulations! You’re getting married!

Ha! Oddly enough, many brides planning their weddings know the dichotomy of the above list.

Take some advice from a photographer that we know from a wedding vendor forum. She writes:

I spent the last week up
until my last bride’s wedding sending her daily text messages reminding her to
take a deep breath and have a glass of wine.

She was one second away from epic melt down so I played
therapist/wedding planner/best friend/photographer hats the whole time.

I sent her little notes like:

“this is
your daily off-the-ledge text message. You
hired professionals. All you have to do is show up and let us handle it. Now, go
have a glass of wine and pet your dog.”

-Claire Goodfriend from c. goodfriend photography

Good advice. 🙂

Life on a Tuesday: Men, Women, Happiness, & Twinkly Lights

Posted on April 21, 2015

by Kurt Maechner

So last night when my man would rather have been going to
bed, he was tacking in these cute little

white lights that we just
bought.

It was a Pottery Barn splurge.

But seriously, they are so
cute. And why was my man doing this? Because:

1. He loves me

2. He wants to make me happy

And little white, happy twinkly lights in our little sunroom
(my little place of refuge in the early am) are a super delight to me!
They truly make me happy.

They say to me

Come.

Breathe.

Put your feet up.

Relax.

Rest.

Enjoy.

(You didn’t know little cute, twinkly lights could talk, did
you?! )

Such a small, life pleasure. And Kurt knows this.
So, he was willing to put them up for me when he probably wished we were in bed
watching a movie.

Bottom line: Men really want to make us women happy!

Allow yourself to be made happy. Maybe there’s a little, small something that would bring you a lot of joy. Allow your spouse to
do that for you! And then enjoy it!!

The Most Touching Wedding Moment I’ve Ever Witnessed

Posted on April 15, 2015

by Kurt Maechner

In the course of filming weddings I’ve had the honor of witnessing some very precious moments.

But the one that stands out to me more than any other, and one that I gratefully caught on my camera was at the wedding of Marie (Konstan) Hardy.

In this clip you’ll see Marie getting ready at home in the very same room that her mother got ready for her wedding. You’ll see a photo of her mom getting prepared over 20 years ago and then see Marie with her mother in that same room.

Then I got to film when Marie’s father, Rob, saw his oldest daughter in her wedding dress for the first time. The emotion of this scene still touches me each time I watch.

Finally, we had the chance to capture Marie as she came down the stairwell to the joy of her dear friends and bridesmaids.

It was a moment I will not forget.

The Most Touching Wedding Moment I’ve Ever Witnessed from For Real Wedding Films on Vimeo.

You can see the full wedding film here.

THE Best Wedding Planning Tips

Posted on April 15, 2015

by Kurt Maechner

According to The Knot the average wedding costs 20,000-40,000 dollars.

A Wedding Bee survey found that the majority of weddings take 6 months to a year to plan.

All of this is for…one day.

One day.

Now, there’s value in this. Marriage should be made a “big deal.” We honor it that way.

Still, in the midst of spending all that money and time planning a wedding for one day, I’d like to suggest something countercultural:

Plan for the following 60 years.

60 years.

Don’t just plan a wedding. Plan a marriage.

Read marriage books.

Take personality tests.

Get premarital counseling.

Our premarital counseling was required and it was okay, but we decided to do something else. We asked an older couple that we really respected if we could just get together several times to pick their brains about what they had learned about marriage.

Make a list of married couples that have a marriage you would like to have. Try to figure out what you like about them.

Listen to marriage podcasts

Deal with your “stuff.” Do you have some issues to face? We all do. Maybe now’s the time to get some help, read a book, open up, share it with your fiancee or a friend, get some counseling, do some journaling. This is one of the greatest gifts you can give your spouse-to-be.

Pray about your marriage. Maybe you haven’t prayed in a long time. You’re betting a lot on the next 60 years. I’ve come to believe that God is very interested in helping you succeed here.

Laugh and have fun together. Sometimes you’ve got to ditch that wedding plan list and go get ice cream and snuggle on a park bench!

So plan that big day, but 60 years from now consider this: you’ll want to look back and not just see a great wedding, but a legacy that simply started on a beautiful day.

Life on a Tuesday: Entertaining: How to turn a stress into a joy

Posted on April 14, 2015

by Kurt Maechner

I love having people over to our house.

I really
do.

But, I can get stressed out by the all the things that I need to
do in order to have people over…like clean the house, prep the food, manage
the kiddos, set the table, get myself presentable, oh yeah…then simply enjoy
the company.

Well, just the other night we had some people
over…well, like 10 people, so a little bigger crowd. And we had a
blast! But here’s a couple of small things that I did to make the
night more enjoyable and less stressful:

1.  I prepped the chicken fajitas a couple of
weeks earlier when we do our crazy once-a-month shopping & cooking
extravanganza.  So, all I had to do was pull out the chicken in the marinade 2 days before to thaw.  Then I cut up some onions and
peppers a couple hrs before people came and threw that on top of the stove
to cook.  I want to make super yummy food, but keeping it simple is
key!

2. I love the look of an inviting
table. But I’m no Ina Garten, but I do have 5 lovely young ladies

who love to color.  So, we made little table cards for everyone.  Sophia, our budding artist, drew a little something for
everyone and we placed that at the top of each plate for an extra sweet
touch.  It never ceases to amaze me how such little things like that
bless people.  I also cut some mini daffodils that had just bloomed
from the garden and put them in small vases alongside some votive candles.

3.  When people came over, of course, I wasn’t all
ready to go like Martha Stewart says I should.  So, when people asked
if they could help, I took them up on it.  I’ve come to believe that
people really do enjoy helping out or they wouldn’t ask.  So, Joe
& Sarah were in the kitchen cutting up some dill and parsley for the
basmati rice, one of my favorite, and super simple, side dishes from
the Barefoot Contessa.  Bryan helped get all the drinks and a few
others offered to bring things – like the dessert,
guacamole..etc..  I have learned to never turn down anyone when they
offer to help.

So, these are just a few things that have helped me truly enjoy
being more present when we have people over.

It’s all in the details

Posted on April 9, 2015

by Kurt Maechner

It’s All in the Details from For Real Wedding Films on Vimeo.
Weddings are beautiful because marriage is beautiful. But some weddings are above and beyond and Jessica and Mike’s was one of them. Jessica was certainly the most creative bride we’ve ever worked with. She personally designed and made more cute details than most brides can shake a stick at! Her style was elegant country.

This is a little clip of our film of her wedding day. You’ll see some of the fun, well placed signs she made, the farm and barn setting, and the girls switching out their heels for cowboy boots before the reception. Enjoy!

See the full video here.