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.

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

I wanted my readers to get to know me better so I put together this quick video of myself last night. Also, by ‘put together’ I mean I peed on the carpet. Enjoy.

*Several shoes were harmed in the making of this video.

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!

Chad and Rachel have the usual love story. Boy meets girl through a mutual friend at a bar, then boy falls in love with girl when he sees a YouTube video of her tripping and falling while running up a down escalator. Usual stuff.

I knew Chad from high school (my big brother was a groomsmen, see if you can spot him!) and I’m sure that all the girls from Bridgeport High were sad to see him accounted for, but he couldn’t have found a better match in Rachel. She’s warm, down-to-earth and made for a stunning bride.

They had a beautiful wedding in downtown Charlotte that turned awesome as soon as they brought out the sombreros, maracas and glow sticks in honor of Cinco de Mayo. Despite the glow sticks having zero significance to the 5th of May, they made for a fantastic party. Enjoy!

Photography: Jere & Ashley Dotten – Check out the photos of the day from this incredibly talented duo here!

Ceremony/Reception: Charlotte City Club

These two don’t need much of a description because from the video you can automatically tell how great they are. I had only spoken with Stephanie’s lovely mother a month or so before the wedding and I’m so glad I got to meet their family. Jonathan’s four beautiful sisters were Stephanie’s bridesmaids and the wedding was filled with sweet little nieces and nephews who showed everyone up on the dance floor.

I’m told that couples that laugh and cry together, stay together, and after writing their own vows and hearing the poignant words from his sister’s at the reception – it seems like everyone that attended, including myself, did plenty of both.

Photography: Jenni Grace Photography – she’s so incredibly talented and you NEED to check out their preview photos HERE.
Make-up: Pittsburgh Make-up by Julie Marckisotto
DJ/Entertainment: Schiemer Entertainment (Eric is officially one of the greatest guys in Pittsburgh!)
Church: Pittsburgh New Church
Reception Venue: Edgeworth Club

They met while attending undergrad at Carnegie Mellon University and decided to return to the scene of the crime for their wedding, despite not having any family ties in the area. They also maintained a long-distance relationship for several years while Marci was getting her PhD in Boston (congrats, lady!) and “Teo” was working in DC.

The ceremony and reception were held at the Pittsburgh Golf Club and the photography was shot by the talented Randi Voss. Click HERE to check out some great pictures and click below to see what “getting your groove on” really looks like.

p.s. This video is a gift to their parents so shhhh, don’t tell!

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.

 
I’m told that the city of Pittsburgh dominates the season of St. Patrick and this past weekend was proof. The gang at Revive Marketing got together with Bakery Square and the Pittsburgh Irish Festival to throw one big party. See video above.

If you can’t get enough, check out photos from the event from Christina Shields Photography.

Yes, her birthday was actually in October and yes, this assortment of home video footage is going on five months late. Like most left-brainers with nice equipment, I have a tendency to collect video footage that never gets used and takes up space on my SD cards. My poor family is now used to their footage being treated as second-class citizens in the dictatorship that is my hard drive.

However, I’ve decided to give up unfinished projects for Lent. In turn, I’ve got roughly 34 days left to edit all family home movies, favors for friends and 10 straight minutes of trying to get my parent’s dog to roll over. So before wedding season goes full throttle in April, consider this the champagne bottle smashing against the cruise ship bound for productive editing days.

Happy Birthday Autumn!