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Crayke Manor, York

Dina & Joe

In 2009 I was lucky enough to have my own Romantic Italian Wedding at the stunning Villa San Crispolto Italy. Since then I have been lucky enough to returned many times to film other couples celebrating their wedding day.

The villa sits in a prime position over looking the stunning Lake Trasimeno. The rolling hills and beautiful scenery, make for the the perfect place to get married. Marco and his team at Romantic Italian Weddings oversea every aspect of the day, making sure everything runs like clockwork.

When choosing your own Romantic Italian Wedding, you need to look at many things. The main thing is “Location, Location, Location” The Villa needs to be close to at least one major airport. Have good local amenities and a View! At the end of the day that’s why your getting married in Italy, Right?

The views in Italy are some of the best in the world and positioned on top of the hill over looking the Lake. Villa San Crisopoto really does take some beating.

The Villa.

Finding a villa that can easily accommodate all your Wedding guests can sometimes be a challenge. Luckily Villa San Crispolto sleeps up to 32 guests. 13 bedrooms all with views of the lakes. It has 8 equipped kitchens and a large swimming pool. Also with great views of the lake.

This Villa really has everything and does not disappoint.

It is a 5 minute drive from the local town of Passignano Sul Trasimeno. With its local cafes, bars and restaurants. It also has easy access to Perugia airport which is a 25 min drive away.

The Villa really does have everything for your Romantic Italian Wedding.

If you are planning your own destination wedding, anywhere in the world. Please contact me. I would love to film your amazing day.

Calling myself An Italian wedding videographer, is a big statement especially as I am from the uk. But that is what I feel I am.

In 2009 myself and my partner Jenny got married in the historic Italian town of Cortona. From that day on I have become truly in love with, not only Cortona but Italy itself.

Luckily in 2010 I was given the opportunity by a fantastic wedding planner in Tuscany, to film my first Italian wedding. https://www.romanticitalianweddings.com. Fast forward 10 years and I have filmed over 40 weddings in Italy. You can’t help but love everything about Italy. The people, the weather , the food, the light, I could go on and on. When you put all this together, its the perfect place to get married.

Wedding planners like Marco at Romantic Italian weddings are great at taking all the stress out of organising a wedding abroad. When trying to bring together all the elements of a wedding. It is essential you have someone with good local knowledge and expertise. This is the same when it comes to choosing your photographer and videographer. The first ever wedding I did in Italy was probably the most nerve racking of my life.

Even though the area was familiar to me, I was still apprehensive.

It wasn’t that I was worried about how I would film the wedding. It was more about how the travel would go. Would my flight be on time would my car hire be ok? Would I get LOST!!

Luckily everything was fine, but my lack of experience when it came to destination weddings made it very stressful. After completing over 40 Italian weddings. I can only now consider myself a well established Italian wedding Videographer.

Please contact me, if you are planning your own Italian Wedding.

This blog is going to be full of the most obvious wedding ideas ever! Especially to wedding photographers and videographers, but this isn’t aimed at them. This is a guide for brides & Grooms to help them to help us achieve jaw dropping footage and photos.

Wedding ideas Tip 1.

When choosing your make up artist for the day, ask if she/he uses a ring light. Why? because natural light is what we want. I am no MUA and I don’t profess to be so. What I am is Film maker and for me natural light is the dogs danglies! It always surprises me why MUA’s use ring lights. You won’t spend all your wedding day under an artificial light, this isn’t a true representation of how you look. You will however spend the day bathed in natural light. So why don’t they use it? So my tip is pick someone who uses natural light, position your chair in a beautiful window and everyone benefits.

Wedding ideas Tip2.

Readings! I have already written a blog about this so I won’t go into too much detail. If you’re planning to have readings in the ceremony, think outside the box. Don’t just hit the internet and use the top 10 wedding readings. I can guarantee 80% of the people in the ceremony have heard it a thousand times and more importantly it isn’t personal to you. Try use lyrics from your favourite song, poem or even better write something yourself.

Wedding ideas Tip 3.

Vows. Along the same lines as the readings. I know its so much easier to just run with the generic vows and that you feel a little embarrassed about saying all those lovey dovey things to your partner in front of everyone. Believe me afterwards you will regret it.

Its one of the best days of your lives, why just be like everyone else. You are stood in front of the person you love and you are spending the rest of your lives together. Tell them how much they mean to you and how much you love them. Tell your family, your friends , hell tell the world!! It’s 2 mins that will mean everything to the both of you and a memory you will treasure for ever.

Wedding ideas Tip 4.

Confetti. A silly one I know, but highly over looked. I can’t tell you how many weddings I have been to where the couple have scrimped on the confetti. It looks terrible for video and photos . The more the better !

Wedding ideas Tip 5.

First Dance. Now, I know there are thousands of Ed Sheeran fans out there and I am not here to criticise him. What I am here to say is “For the love of god, please don’t pick his songs for your first dance”. Its been done to death! Not just Ed. Things like Cristina perry’s “Thousand years” or John Legends “All of me”. They have been played countless times at weddings over the country/ world. I am sure between the two of you, you have a special band or artist you love. Look at their back catalogue and listen to all their songs and choose something different.

The common theme in all the tips I have given is “Be different.” Been different isn’t hard it just takes a little thought and the results and overall outcome of your day will be perfect.

Contact us now to help you create your perfect day.

So you have made the decision. You have looked at hundreds of destination weddings. This is what you want.

How do you go about choosing someone to film your day? Do you go with the venues in house supplier? Do you hit google and see who has filmed there before, or even choose a random videographer you like and choose them?

Last year 50% of my bookings were destination weddings. The year before 60%. I consider myself to be a seasoned destination wedding videographer. Why should you choose someone like me and not the guy who’s desperate to shoot that holly grail (the destination Wedding) for cost. It boils down to experience. Shooting destination weddings are not easy. Take last year for instance I shot a wedding on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Its stunning but it’s also a bloody nightmare to get around. Especially when the Bridal preps were in one location then the ceremony was in another. Finally to top it all off, the reception was at the other end of town. This has happened to me countless times and I’m now use to it. When Approaching every wedding I make the best plan I can. I research the venue, the church, the route too and from each location. I make sure there is parking if I have a hire car. If I can’t I make sure I have alternative transport in place before I arrive. Its all these things I have learnt over the years that makes choosing someone like me the best option.

My First Destination Wedding.

So what about the first destination wedding I ever did. Was I that guy who was ready to discount to get that dream destination wedding? The answer to that, I can honestly say is no. Why? because I filmed at the same place I got married myself. It was in Italy and I already knew the area. Which airport was best to fly into, car hire, hotels, even the whole wedding day, I had experience in it all. Sure I was still nervous but I had taken all the stress of the unknowns out of the equation. I wasn’t prepared to discount either. Fellow film makers always say to me. “I’ve had an enquiry for a destination wedding The day was a dream and that was it, I was on the start of my destination wedding journey.

Filming A lake District Wedding is One of the things I love most about been a Wedding Videographer. It truly is a beautiful part of the country. The Lake District is one of my favourite places to film. The stunning scenery, beautiful venues and crazy weather! Standing at the shore of Ullswater Lake looking at the sun glisten on the surface. This truly is a magical place. I have to pinch myself that I’m a professional and I get to video weddings in this breathtaking region.

Alex & Sian.

Alex and Sian had met me 2 years earlier at Alex’s brothers wedding. (Also in the lake district) They knew my style and how I approach weddings.

I drove up and stayed the night before just so I could check out St Lawrences Church in Appleby. This is where Alex & Sian were having their ceremony. It also gave me the chance to film some of the surrounding countryside.The following day I arrived at Sians family home for the bridal preparations. The whole atmosphere was very relaxed and I had the pleasure of meeting & working alongside Dom & Zoe from Dominic Wright Photography. When we arrived at the church, it seemed like the whole of Appleby had turned out to see Sian & Alex. The local community really did give them a warm reception. Every Lake District Wedding I have done, the support for the couples are lovely to see.

After the ceremony it was on to the most idilic location for a wedding. The Marquee, supplied by Bakerwood Marquees, looked sublime in its surroundings. The Lake District is not known for its hot weather, but today it didn’t disappoint. The sun beat down allowing all the guests to enjoy their prosecco on the lawn and enjoy the delicious Hors d’oeuvres.

The sunset was magical alowing us to go down to the lake to capture some silhouette shots and capture that amazing backdrop.

If you are planning your wedding in the Lakes please contact me I would love to hear from you.

You have everything planned. The dress is perfect. The venue looks beautiful and the speeches are all written. The only thing left to do is pick the readings for the ceremony. You want them to be heart felt but not too cheesy. What is the first thing you do? Head to Google and type in “The top 10 wedding readings” Now you may have never heard of the top 10 and you pick one and think “yes! that’s the one for me.” I want you to just stop for a minute and think outside the box. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Extract from Captain Correlli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières or Bob Marley On Love. I can guarantee your guests will have too. Why?, because I guaranteed that’s what 99% of all brides and grooms do!

If your looking for wedding readings don’t follow the crowd. (Maybe try song lyrics)

Choose Wedding Readings that are special to you.

Here is my advice. Find something personal to you. It could be the lyrics to your favourite song. It could be a paragraph from your favourite book or even better write something yourself. If you do want to search for wedding readings or poems, try going old school and visit the library or book store they are a wealth of information. You never know you may find that little gem you were looking for.

This is an example of something that does not follow the normal wedding vibe.

By Nadine Stair

“If I had my life to live over, I’d dare to make more mistakes next time. I’d relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I’d have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I’m one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I’ve had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I’d have more of them. In fact, I’d try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I’ve been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.

I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.”

Contact me if you’re planning your perfect wedding.

A Wedding in the Lake District.

As Chloe’s dad read out his speech, he said he felt like a plumed peacock as he walked his daughter down the aisle. So he should. Chloe looked absolutely stunning in her designer, laced wedding dress.

The Location.

I have had the privilege of working in the Lake District for some years now. The scenery and atmospheric beauty of the place never seizes to blow me away. It truly is a stunning part of the world.

The Lake district is the perfect place to get Married.  The weather in The Lakes can be a little unpredictable,  but boy does the scenery still looks amazing even when it rains, which it does, a lot!

I’m lucky, I  have filmed many weddings now in the Lakes and the wether has been perfect. When you combine the two, perfect weather and truly jaw dropping scenery it truly is a wedding videographers dream location.

The Ceremony.

Chloe & Sams ceremony was held at the historic  local church of St Andrews in Greystoke. The perfect location to listen to one of the most eloquently read poems I have ever heard.One of Chloe’s younger relatives well and truly blew me away. After the ceremony, it was on to the stunning Greystoke Castle for the Prosecco reception. The catering and venue was supplied by the very professional Bakerwood Marquees. This is the second time I’ve had the pleasure of working with them. The attention to detail and organisation on the day was truly amazing.

The Party.

Into the evening the guests partied the night away. This is my favourite time of the day. Everyone is totally relaxed and this is where the fun begins. Ties on heads, break dancing and all out shenanigans, I have seen it all.

Chloe & Sam’s whole day was perfect from start to finish and I wish them both all the happiness for the future.

If you are planning your wedding in the Lakes, I would love to hear from you.

Don’t over look the Wedding video

I get lots of enquires from Wedding clients wanting a Wedding video. All asking what the costs are and that their budget is limited.

As most good filmmakers (because that’s what we are) will tell you, the biggest hurdle we face is the battle of the cost. Most people appreciate that to get a good photographer, you will pay a premium. Although when it comes to the video a lot of people truly undervalue it. Take for instance my latest Wedding video. The highlights alone have taken over 56hrs of work and that’s for a 5min film. (See link below) Why? because I put my heart and soul into every clip . Making sure the cuts are just right, that the colour is matched perfectly and that the music is timed to perfection. I want every video to be right. I want to love it just as much as my couple will.

Even though a lot of people think it’s just about filming a load of clips, stitching them together, and banging a romantic song over it. It’s not! It’s about telling the story, it’s about pulling you in, to make you feel like you are reliving the best day of your life over and over again.

I work hard at what I do and if I could offer couples any advice it would be this. Please don’t overlook the video guy . It’s the best investment you will ever make (even more than the Wedding Photographer) a bold statement I know. Just ask any of my couples, I’m sure they will agree. Just remember long after the Wedding cake has been eaten and flowers have died, your Wedding video will still be there for a life time.