January 30th Bridal Show

This Sunday we will be exhibiting at a bridal show in San Jose. This show is reputed to be one of the biggest and nicest shows in the bay area and while we have always had great success from bridal shows, we have never done Modern Bridal before. Please come see us for a really awesome demo and to meet some of our staff (your humble writer included). At this show we will be showcasing a video that was shot and edited and shown at the reception just two weeks ago. This is a new and growing service we are offering and for a limited time the pricing reflects that we are breaking into this area. We hope to see you there!

REPOST: Topic - Delegation

This is a repost from some time ago but as I am confident that my repeat customer list in the wedding area of our business is very low, I imagine some of you may not have scrolled through the archives of this weblog. REPOST BEGINS NOW... Greetings Brides to be. It is my hope to dispense to you not just a whole bunch of information that may be useful to you, but the real gems of information I can give. I think it is my duty to present to you these gems because I attend so many weddings, and invariably when someone follows a few simple guidelines AT the ceremony, all ends up going predominately well. The main part of this advice can be summed up in one word... DELEGATE! OK, perhaps I meant one word and an exclamation point. Look, every bride gets wrapped up in the details. And that is a very very good thing. Speaking from the male perspective (and my wife will totally attest to this) if the bride does not pay attention to the details, no one will. However, there is a time to give the reins to someone else. While that may make every brides heart beat quick and the breath get short for a few seconds, please don't stop reading there. Here is why it is not only important, but actually for the best. I, being the owner of a successful wedding and event videography company, can tackle this aspect from two sides because I get to see all of it from every angle. First, from the bride's angle. Many brides are worried about being perceived as a bridezilla. The control freak who rears her green head up at the first sign of trouble. This in and of itself puts undo stress on the bride and when something goes wrong it may affect how she deals with the problem. If she does ALL the planning... and then leaves all the details on the morning of the wedding to a trusted friend or family member not in the bridal party, they get to deal with making sure everything goes as planned. Also from the bride's angle... what happens if this person who has been left in charge is faced with something she does not know the answer to? Ah... therein lies the beauty of this plan of attack. The bride only has a single person who comes to her asking questions. Why? Because guests quickly realize even without being told who the Go To person is. This person is identified by coordinating the groomsmen, helping the flower girls, whispering secretively to the bride and groom etc... So when something goes wrong guess who they go to... A) The Bride B) The Go To Person If you chose B, you are 98% right... There is always 2 out of every 100, but that is far better than 100 out of 100. From the perspective of the service provider it is a beauty because I do all the planning with the bride and if I have any questions or concerns, I do not have to interrupt the bride or groom while the experience a day that was made for them.

Same Day Wedding Highlight Video

I have just recently added a new package to our wedding video package offerings and it has rapidly become one of my top requested packages. In fact, I am also getting calls from other video companies who are curious just how it is possible for me to create a 10 to 15 minute presentation in such a short time period. Well... Sorry folks... I am not going to tell you. But I'll do it for you :-) Yesterday at the wedding for Julianne and Dave this was (to hear them tell it at the family barbecue today), the highlight of the evenings festivities. The reception was at the San Jose Capital Athletics Club (on 3rd Street) and I was ready shortly into the reception itself (which far and away had the best cooked filet mignon I'd had since the very first time I tasted that yummy stuff). The video started in with a rather traditional photo-montage with a few extra effects thrown in every now and then... the photo-montage faded down and then shots that were taken the previous day at the rehearsal were shown and edited with enormous detail and care to the image, presentation, etc... That was a rousing success as soon as people actually realized it was the rehearsal. But when the video transitioned into a beautiful sequence of the bride and groom getting ready THAT MORNING... no kidding here... there were gasps audible from the crowd. A sound that gave me no small amount of pride and joy. Go See the Video (opens new window). CAUTION! 29 MB Flash Video This video is for high bandwidth only But the real taking of the cake was that shot only two hours before, we were showing video that had been edited to the same level of detail with just as many visual effects and animations as the previous bits, of the ceremony. We even closed out the video with their actual vows, the kiss, and recession. Folks, this was the best response to my work I've ever received and it is all thanks to an attention to detail, and complicated strategy and plan to be able to even offer this type of service... let alone with all of those effects that will normally make videographers shy away from offering this at all. This package is new and as such it has been a learning experience for me but yesterdays event taught me that I did indeed think of everything and it went off without a hitch. Please let me know if having same day wedding video highlights shown at your reception is something you'd be interested in as soon we will have to reassess the pricing on that package.

Operation Bedtime Story

If you are in the military and serving in Iraq or Afghanistan and have children, please contact us. We will shoot and edit you reading (and acting out) your child(ren)s favorite bedtime stories AT NO CHARGE. I have two children, Jim Hatlo (director of coastal areas) has 3 children, and many other members and partners of Simply Interactive llc. have children. I would love to honor you for your commitment to our nation and to my family by helping your family cope with your absence.

Culinary Institute of America Wedding

At this moment I am in the lobby of a posh, stylish hotel in downtown Calistoga CA awaiting the bride and bridesmaids to get dressed so we can go back in and video some glamour shots and some stylized video for the wedding of Erica and John. Without a doubt this has been the best experience ever. I'll add pictures later and even add more detail, but here are two teasers. Culinary Institute of America Mount View Spa and Hotel Those are the two BEST places I've been to with the best service I've ever seen. Andrea, Katie and Rachel are the representatives at the Mount View Hotel and all three should really be commended for service that goes above and beyond what should be expected. They have really made the brides day a better experience. To top it off, my wife gets the bonus because I am so enamored of this place I am going to be scheduling a weekend getaway. The Culinary Institute of America (C.I.A.) is the most visually pleasing,architecturally beautiful, wonderfully landscaped venue for a wedding and reception I have ever seen also. Again, I will expound on these more later (as obviously I will be busy again shortly).

Come See Our Wedding Video Demos at TWO bridal shows this month

This year Simply Interactive will be exhibiting in 7 Bridal shows. Our first one this year is in Monterey and we are there as part of Simply Interactive's new effort to allow coastal residents to find us without having to go to San Jose or San Francisco shows. More info for January 23rd Show The next one is on the 30th and is touted to be the biggest, most glamorous event with the most vendors (and brides) under one roof. It is held at the San Jose Convention Center and will be on 01-30-05. Please come see us at booth 613. More info for January 30th Show