Pictory Productions 2.0

November 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Welcome to the new Pictory Productions! My ideas came to life thanks to the incredibly talented red head, Natasha of paper crowns. I gave her the inspiration board above and she kicked butt! (And I’m pretty sure she also took names.)

Weddings are supposed to be a celebration and I think confetti fits perfectly into the design. It’s always a pet peeve of mine when companies hide behind their website, so I want people to be able to get to know me from the very beginning. When it comes to matrimony, you invest in both the product AND the person.

I hope you love it as much as I do, and I hope you’ll take the time to tour the new pages. If this was a real open house, I’d like to think I’d be serving champagne and fancy mini muffins.

Filed Under: Design, Inspiration, Personal, Video, Weddings Tagged With: , ,

The Cream NYC: A Bridal Event for the Non-Boring

August 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I had the pleasure of attending NYC’s debut of the Cream Event last week. It’s curated by the ladies of Bash, Please and is unlike any “bridal show” you’ve been to. By this I mean, it’s not lousy. It’s actually pretty fantastic.

This isn’t your typical bridal show at a mall food court where you pick up brochures from tables that are decorated to forget and leave with a piece of cake and brochures that you now have to find recycling for.

This was an all-out party with lovely tables filled with goodies, samples and sharply-dressed ladies. You sipped on cocktails while perusing creative table settings and vintage-inspired dresses. You watched wedding reels played on the wall while listening to everything from jazz musicians to steel drummers. The night ended with a dance-off, confetti canons and a swag bag that would rival the Golden Globes (yeah, I know a guy.)

As both a wedding cinematographer and bride-to-be, it was a refreshing breathe of fresh air and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next. Check out the links below and for more event pictures, check out photographer Samm Blake and Smilebooth.

1. Great Smilebooth backdrop
2. Lovely stationary from PostScript Brooklyn
3. Myself and the unbelievably talented McKenzie Miller unable to take a decent picture. She’s a great cinematographer based in NYC whom I’m lucky to call a mentor.
4. ban.do goodies galore. I can’t wait for their new wedding collection!
5. The Flashdance kept everyone rug cutting. Seriously, it was great and if there were rugs, we would have cut them all.
6. Creative table settings from Michelle Edgemont

Filed Under: Inspiration, Personal, Photography, Weddings

Experimenting with Film v. Digital

June 22, 2012 By 1 Comment

A few weeks ago Caryn Azure asked me to model a few shots for a photography workshop she was attending in NYC. She entitled the project ‘Art and the Heart’ and got inspiration from the song ‘The Funeral’ by Band of Horses. Caryn is an incredible wedding photographer and human being in general. It’s safe to say that I’ll agree to anything she’ll ever ask of me.

She used both film and digital and I think the expirement was a huge success. Her talent is unquestionable because of how she’s able to capture light and shoot my weird frown face. Seriously though, I always end up looking like this.

Despite being uncomfortable at first, I’m glad I decided to go in front of the camera for once. Now, I’ll be able to show my grandkids that their Nana used to be quite the minx back in her day (cue cat noise.)

Thanks Caryn!

Filed Under: Inspiration, Personal, Photography, Pittsburgh

DIY Art for Couples that Clash

March 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

DIY Herringbone Art

Not emotionally, but more in the design sense. When you pair up, so does your stuff. And more often than not, your tastes in decor differ. It’s the tale as old as time where shabby chic has to move in with minimalist modern and find a happy medium.

Since moving in with the man friend, I’ve been trying to slowly incorporate color into the former bachelor pad where beige and plaid originally got married. I found this project on Kelly Hicks’s blog and decided to try a full-length version for above the fireplace. I loved it because I got to combine colors we both agreed on AND it involves no real artistic ability whatsoever. See steps below.

1. Paint the canvas in whatever color scheme you like. Experimenting and mistakes welcome.

2. Using painter’s tape, cut rectangular strips and place in a herringbone pattern (think brick sidewalks.) Feel free to leave spots untaped as shown.

3. Using whatever color you’d like, fill in the areas untaped. You can also use spray paint for this part.

4. Once dry, remove tape and BAM! You’re an artist.

Notes: Cutting the strips is the most time-consuming part. Watch the strips to make sure you’re cutting them in straight lines – angled ends may cause a headache for type-A personalities when laying them on the canvas. Also, use painter’s tape rather than masking tape because the white paint will bleed around the edges. <–I learned this the hard way.

Filed Under: Inspiration, Personal Tagged With:

Get Down at the Reception with a Dance Montage

January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This year my friends and I rang in 2012 with a party at my apartment (refer to image below.) Now lets face it, we don’t live in a land where people dance at house parties. This isn’t Clueless, Superbad, Old School or any other movie in my DVD collection that I’m currently staring at to drum up examples. However, in the spirit of putting way too much pressure to have an awesome time every December 31st, I pieced together a party scene video montage that I projected from our wall to get people in the spirit to get down like James Brown.

New Years Wedding Videography

And it worked. Sure, the six empty champagne bottles helped, but it made me realize how fun one of these bad boys would be at a reception! Of course, we want to see your Sears portrait studio pictures when you and your betrothed were wee babes, but when the cake is cut and your drunk uncle won’t stop hitting on the bridesmaids, the guests might need a push in the right direction to Funkytown.

Check out a sample of this dance montage that the Flashdance put together for purchase, it’s kickin and I promise will put you in a good mood for at least 60 seconds. Remember, some of the best moments in any wedding video is watching everyone cut rugs on the dance floor. Don’t let your wedding be the one where the rugs are still in tact.

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: , , ,
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