Song Selection: It Will Make or Break You

Picking the right song plays a huge role in how a wedding film turns out. Often times people immediately assume they need a traditional love song, but this is something we try to stay away from. We want our clients to select their own music, but we are always more than happy to offer suggestions.

We look for songs that express emotion through the feel of the music and not just the lyrics. For our more cinematic edits, we often pick movie soundtracks that have no words at all.

Remember too that we can edit songs, so if you love the sound of a particular song but, say, don't like the words in one verse, we can lower the vocals or cut out that verse alltogether. Here is a good example. We love the sound of this Jason Mraz song, but didn't feel the whole thing fit a wedding film. So, we used just the intro and chorus in a Wedding Trailer and it worked perfectly.

If It Kills Me - Jason Mraz

It hasn't always been easy to share our thoughts with brides because most sites that sell MP3s only allow you to hear a short clip of a song. But now there's a great resource that offers previews of full-length songs. It's www.lala.com.

Here are a couple of songs we're using in wedding films we're editing right now.

Time - Chantal Kreviazuk

Heavenly Day - Patty Griffin

One final tip is to consider the use of covers. Often times there is a classic song that fits the video and the couple perfectly, but it just feels outdated. We thought Centerfield would be perfect for our most recent Trash The Dress, but we wanted something a little more lively. We found a cover of the song, and it was perfect.

Shelby & Greg | Trash The Dress from Sarah Pendergraft on Vimeo.

Learn more about us at PenWeddings.com and PenWeddings.blogspot.com.

PenWeddings- Coming to a Theater Near You

One of our favorite things about doing wedding films is when a couple
decides to go beyond the basic day-of coverage. We have a lot of extras
that are so much fun, and today I'm going to focus on the trailer.

Whether in the theater, or on TV, we've all seen our fair share of movie
trailers. If I asked you what you think the goal of a trailer is, I'm
guessing most people would say, "to get me to go see the movie when it
comes out." Well, sort of. Yes, that is the end result that they hope
for. However, the goal of the trailer itself is to evoke an emotional
response, whether it makes you laugh or makes you cry. The same can be
said for wedding trailers. There you are, still riding the emotional high
from your wedding and honeymoon. What better way to top it off than with
a fabulous recap of your wedding day?

At PenWeddings we put hours upon hours upon hours of work into our wedding
films. The couples who comes to us know this, and it's precisely one of
the reasons they hire us. But if you don't want to wait two months to see
the footage from your wedding day, then a trailer is the answer. Produced
within two weeks of your wedding, the trailer is a mini-highlight reel
that we put on our blog for you to view and share with family and friends.

Whether you want something dramatic and cinematic, or fun and upbeat,
we're game!

See more of our work at www.penweddings.com and penweddings.blogspot.com.

PenWeddings

PenWeddings ~ Be True To Yourself

Be true to yourself. It's one of the first things we tell our brides. Often times, those who want to keep the coverage on their wedding day more classic and timeless take advantage of enhancements like Love Stories and Trash The Dress videos to express their "wild side."

While doing a wedding show in August, we had the chance to talk with a friend who knew we did wedding videos and was very interested in hiring us, but she just hadn't been able to convince her fiance that it was worth it. He had a preconceived notion-- like so many others-- that wedding videos are very mushy and cookie-cutter. He changed his mind when he saw a Trash The Dress video we had done. He saw how the video was tailored to fit that couple's personality.

This particular couple loves to play softball, and in a brief moment before they disappeared back into the crowd of thousands of busy brides (and yes, some grooms too) they said, "we could do a video where we play softball." That was how it started. One simple comment. Two months later we had a full plot in place, and we shot a fabulous Trash The Dress at an abandoned baseball field. That video is still in the works, and I can't wait to share it. Stay tuned!

For more information about PenWeddings please visit our website, blog or Facebook Fan Page!

Thanks for reading

Sarah Pendergraft

PenWeddings ~ An Intro

Hey, I'm Sarah Pendergraft and I own PenWeddings along with my awesome hubby Rick. We specialize in wedding films that combine a cinematic and documentary style. Our biggest goal with our business is to educate couples, not only about the importance of having a wedding video, but also about what a quality wedding video looks like.

Wedding videos have come a long way from the stale shots, silly special effects and cheesy graphics of years past. We truly craft a wedding FILM in which you are the star. Weddings contain so much raw emotion on their own, whether it's a hug, a laugh or a tear... it's stuff that you can't make up. It's so important to us to capture these little stolen moments so we can combine them with our cinematic shooting techniques to craft for you the perfect wedding film.

We've been asked several times why we chose to start doing wedding films. Well, Rick and I have both worked in media for years. I began working in television when I was 18-years-old, and Rick when he was 22. When we got married, like many couples, photography was at the top of our list and videography was one of those, "yeah we want it but it’s not a priority in the budget" items. We had a friend whom each of us had worked with at one point and we knew his production company did weddings. We hired him, not knowing what to expect. We were blown away by our own video, and suddenly it was just as important as photography, if not more... sorry Sarah ;-) We looked at each other and said, "We could do this! And we would love doing this!" And we really do!