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From London to Santa Monica: A Beachside Proposal

Jack first contacted me by email. He was taking his girlfriend, Maddy, to Los Angeles on holiday and wanted to propose. He wanted to make sure it was caught on camera.

Over the course of the following 4 weeks, a lot of planning took place. An 8 girl Acappella group was added to the mix, as well as a plan to incorporate myself, them, and Jack & Maddy, in a way to make this an unforgettable moment in the lives of everyone involved. But especially for Jack and Maddy.

Watch it all unfold, beginning AFTER the point at which Jack and Maddy “randomly” walk by our singing group being filmed by yours truly just off the Bike Path on the Santa Monica boardwalk. The plan started with me pretending to need “real couples” to take part in the music video we were filming.

Maddy thought they were just stopping to take pictures of the beautiful sunset, and when I asked them to participate in the video, her first response was, yeah sure, “if you wouldn’t mind if we took some pics of the sunset first.” I offered up a trade. Sunset pics for their participation. Snapped some pics of them… and then this happened…

Hope you had kleenexes nearby…

Will You Marry Me, on Leap Year!

Happy Leap Year everyone!

It’s kind of crazy isn’t it? Imagine the calendar only naming your birthday once every four years. It’d be great if you only aged once every four years tho right? Ahh yeah, that’s not the case, so what else is there to do on February 29th every four years?

How about propose? I’d say get married, but I don’t think many brides would appreciate an anniversary once every 4 years. However, when it’s your proposal date, it makes it a bit more special. I doubt many people celebrate the dates when the initial proposal occurred, much less remember it. But if it only happened one time every four years, something tells me it might entice a romantic evening.

Even if it’s not entirely planned, a special place will become wherever you are at the moment the question is asked.

I mean, when a baby is born, that date becomes the date you remember forever, and that’s why we have birthdays. But what about that first moment you found out you were going to be a parent? That first day you found out you were pregnant? That was a pretty special day in your life I’d bet. Your proposal day should be no different, so why not make it happen?

It may be too late for 2012, but hey, you’ve got four years to plan for 2016. And if any of you guys out there are debating a proposal, today is as great an excuse as you’ll get for an impromptu proposal as there ever will be.

So think of a romantic setting, a nice restaurant, or a place you know you won’t mind going back to every four years, take your significant other there, and get down on bended knee.

Congrats, you’re ready to take the “LEAP!”

ps- Credit timely pun to Meredith. 😉

Will You Marry me? On Valentines Day…

Well, it’s that time of the year. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and all of the romanticists out there are excited to have a reason to express themselves to the one’s they love, or hope to be loved by.

It’s rather remarkable actually, the marketing behind tomorrow. But I won’t get into all of that. I’ll speak to the purity of what and how is being sold, LOVE.

I’m sure there will be plenty of engagements tomorrow, and I hope to hear from those of you that do agree to spend the rest of your lives together.

Here are just a few observations and tips.

I’ll skip the specific proposal idea today, and just say, if you are convinced that the person you are with is the ONE you want to spend the rest of your life with, then when you propose, just speak from the heart.
Fancy and prepared proposals are great, but so are intimate ones, shared between you and your special someone.
A fireplace.
A walk in the park while it’s snowing or the wind is howling.
On the beach.
At your favorite restaurant.
Wherever it happens, will become special.

Just because a dance mob doesn’t encircle you as you pop the question, doesn’t take away from the beautiful moment it will be remembered as. Just make sure you speak from the heart.

Covering hundreds of weddings over the years, it’s one thing I notice. Genuine love.

It’s a beautiful thing. You can see it without words, but when spoken it’s even sweeter.

I notice patterns and idiosyncrasies with so many couples that I work with, and it always amazes me. The way a couple will often describe their spouse in such a similar way. Sometimes with the same mannerisms, cupping their hands for emphasis.

Every video I film and edit is special to me, but there are certain ones that always inspire me a little bit more than others. Sometimes it’s simply the musical choices, or the location.. but regardless of what I think of each video, it’s always motivating and rewarding, not to mention inspiring, to hear back from couples who have just watched their wedding video for the first time.

I sometimes think that I could return a video with no enhancements, or music, or much editing at all, and couples would still love it. Not because of the work, but because it’s so personal to each individual, and represents something much greater than any videographer or editor could put a spin on, were the content not so captivating as is.

That said, I do take pride in spending countless hours sifting through hours of coverage to find the right moments to accentuate all the best elements of each couple’s wedding day.

It always comes back to love though, which tomorrow is all about.
When love is in the air, anything is possible.
So tomorrow, whether you’re gonna pop the question, ask your secret crush to be your Valentine, take your girlfriend/boyfriend to a romantic dinner, or even surprise your mom or sister with a bouquet to brighten their day, do and speak from the heart, and you can’t go wrong.

Happy Valentines Day everybody!