Emily + Ben - Wonderful Wisconsin Wedding
How cool are those fireworks! Filming fireworks at a wedding is a first for me but I sure hope it's not the last time I get to. This was a freakishly hot day in September but everyone had such a great time as you can tell! Emily and Ben were so fun to film with and such a great fit for each other, huge congratulations to you both! Thanks for choosing Olsen Media! Music licensed through art-list.io and musicbed.com
Jake + Nikki - Stylish Minneapolis Wedding
Jake and Nikki were such a joy to film on their wedding day! They really enjoy life and each other and have such an amazing story. The Minneapolis skyline was a great backdrop for such a wonderful wedding and couple! Thanks for choosing Olsen Media! Music licensed through art-list.io and musicbed.com
Lexi + Steve - Wonderful City Wedding in St. Paul
What an incredible wedding! Lexi and Steve were so fun to film with and they chose such a unique location which is something I love. Harriet Island Pavilion provided some great city views by day and night and was a great place for a celebration to be remembered. Huge congrats to Lexi and Steve! Thanks for choosing Olsen Media! Music licensed through musicbed.com and art-list.io
Jenna + Cody - Beautiful St. Cloud Wedding
Mallory + Nicholas - Gorgeous Wedding in a Valley
Wow, what can be said about this location! Hidden Meadow Farm in Wisconsin sure knows how to throw a wedding and Mallory and Nick were loving every minute of it. Everything about this wedding was awesome, from the thoughtful and fun decorations to the couple starting the day with a board game! These two are so in love and I had such a great time getting to know them as well as putting together this film. Congratulations to you both and thanks for choosing Olsen Media! Music licensed through art-list.io and musicbed.com
Photography - Angela Kissell Photography
Venue - Hidden Meadow and Barn
Hannah + Brandon - Elegant Wedding in Eden Prairie
Classy and elegant describes this wedding at Bearpath Country Club as well as the couple but what you can also see is their quirky sense of humor and absolute adoration of each other! What a fun couple and hilarious wedding party to film with. Huge congratulations to Hannah and Brandon and thanks for choosing Olsen Media!
Music licensed through art-list.io and musicbed.com
Photography by Electric Lime Photography
Venue - Bearpath Golf and Country Club
Alli + Alex - Awesome Wedding on the North Shore in Minnesota
How incredible is the backdrop for this wedding! Nothing better than a great wedding destination partnered with great people. These guys and their party were an absolute blast to film. Not only were they all fun to be around, they were hysterical! It was all outshone though, by the obvious love that Alli and Alex share with each other. Huge congrats to you guys and thank you for having me film your wedding! Music licensed through musicbed.com and art-list.io
Kayla + Andrew - Wonderful Outdoor Wedding
What a beautiful day to get married outdoors in this idyllic location! Kayla and Andrew were so great to film and it was plain to see how much they cherish each other. Loved the idea of them both reading the same blessing so that we could overlap it in the video. Huge congrats to them and thanks again for choosing Olsen Media! Music licensed through art-list.io and musicbed.com
Leah + Marcus - Incredible Outdoor Wedding at Camrose Hill
Photography - Eric Lundgren Photography
Venue - Camrose Hill Flowers
Kelly + Brian - Gorgeous Outdoor Wedding on Lake Minnetonka
You know those people who smile all the time and you can't help but smile with them? That's Kelly and Brian and all they did all day was smile with each other, friends, family, and their dog. What an incredible day these two had. Might have been the hottest day of the year but nothing could stop all the smiling and celebrating. Huge congratulations to the Urick's and thanks for choosing Olsen Media!
Songs licensed through art-list.io and musicbed.com
Rachel + Zach - Rustic Wedding at Hope Glen Farm, Minnesota
Wow, what can be said about this gorgeous wedding and couple?! Rachel and Zach were fantastic to work with and their relationship is so transparently genuine that it made for incredible film and photos. Thank you to the happy couple!
Music licensed through art-list.io and musicbed.com
Venue - Hope Glen Farm
Photography - Nylon Saddle Photography
Brian + Brianne - Cute Love Story Film in Minneapolis
Amy + John - Beautiful St. Cloud Wedding
What a gorgeous couple, inside and out! These guys had such a fantastic day and couldn't have had more fun. From the weather to the people, everything turned out perfectly. Thank you to Amy and John for having me film your big day!
Music licensed through art-list.io and musicbed.com
7 Great Tips From A Makeup Artist Bride
Olsen-Media reached out to a great makeup artist who we have worked with and she was kind enough to offer writing up a blog for us! Thank you Jacquelyn for your contribution to this series! This is a very good read by someone who has worked with many brides and has been one herself!
JACQUELYN E. BURT
BEAUTY BY JACQUELYN
For all of the cultural noise and opinion surrounding marriage, relationships and weddings, there’s still nothing quite like getting engaged and planning a wedding celebration. Whether you and your partner had a spontaneous engagement in the middle of a music festival with no jewelry (true of two of my best friends!) or an elaborate proposal with props and cinematography and an engagement ring, the moment you say “yes” to spending your life with your partner, everything shifts a little bit.
As a professional makeup artist who has worked many weddings, I have gathered up tips, tricks, and advice from my wedding clients that I not only incorporated into my own wedding, but try to pass on to present and future bridal makeup clients, as well. And for all of the magic and shifting of your life I just mentioned, tip number one is:
"DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY"
TIP I. Don’t take yourself too seriously! It’s just a wedding. This person will be your spouse for the rest of your life, but they are also a perfectly normal human being who will clog the shower drain and forget your dad’s birthday and swear obscenely at slow drivers and bring most of your dishes to their workplace and then forget them there over the weekend, (and yes, those are all things I’ve done to my husband – sorry, babe!). Life is important, but it’s also just life! The same holds true for your wedding.
TIP II. Keep everything in writing! One of the best things we did (and I love when my bridal makeup clients do this, too) was creating a separate wedding email account for communication with our vendors. We also used Google Drive for everything; guest list, itineraries, menus and invitations drafts, our photo lists, everything! This worked well because we were able to each have access to all of the information at all times, and we were also able to share (select) documents with our parents. Which brings me to…
TIP III. Picking your battles. Here’s something my husband and I forgot: while the two of us had clear pictures in our heads of what we wanted our wedding to look like, each of our parents also had pictures in THEIR heads of what our wedding was going to look like. I don’t think they themselves had even realized what they’d been assuming until suddenly a decision was made that went against that assumption! Some of the stuff was small, and some was bigger – pick those battles wisely, and let the small stuff go!
"IDENTIFY 2-4 KEY STAKEHOLDERS"
TIP IV. Early in the planning process, be sure to identify 2-4 other “key stakeholders” (usually parents, but they don’t have to be) who you and your partner decide will have any kind of bearing on your decision-making, and then decide that everyone else is just gravy. This can be harder than it sounds!! It meant that we kept our parents’ opinions in mind with almost all decisions, but had to let go of most of the opinions of siblings, members of our wedding party, random relatives, and everyone else. Obviously, we tried to respect the wishes of as many loved ones as possible – but for major decisions, keep your “influencers” to those 2-4 people. (This is a great way to live life, too!)
TIP V. Have the budget conversation early. It can feel weird to jump into a money talk right away, but depending on how much time you give yourselves to plan, decision-making has to happen pretty quickly! Knowing exactly where you stand in terms of your total budget and who’s paying for what makes those decisions so much easier.
"TAKE TIME TO RESEARCH YOUR VENDORS"
TIP VI. Take time to research your vendors. I was so addicted to checking items off our to-do lists that I didn’t really look at things like past work and client reviews, and man, that came back around to bite us with our photos and video! Read more than two or three reviews, and go through people’s photo galleries. Take advantage of things like free consultations or trials. The wedding industry is full of vendors, and many of them are amazing; find ones that feel like they “fit!”
TIP VII. Hire beauty professionals! I know, I’m biased – but hair and makeup professionals can do SO much for your wedding. It takes all of the stress and responsibility off of you and your wedding party, ensures that everything will last, and is a beautiful way to celebrate. Having a few hours to relax, drink mimosas, and let professionals pamper you and your loved ones as a start to your wedding day is so special – and if there was ever going to be a time to have your hair and makeup professionally styled, your wedding day would be it!
"KEEP YOUR FOCUS ON YOUR PARTNER"
Most importantly, keep your focus on your partner. It’s said repeatedly, but your marriage is so much more important than your wedding! Go with your gut, ask for help when you need it, and remember that this whole shebang is just one day. And hire Olsen Media for your photo and video!!
Thank you for reading and be sure to check out Jacquelyn's website by clicking on the link below!
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5 Tips That Are Worth Remembering When Planning YOUR Day
We are continuing our series in sharing tips from recent brides! These following tips were given by Devin Gertkin. Devin and Nic's day was absolutely beautiful from the outdoor ceremony to the sparkler send off after the evening was through! Devin was kind enough to share a few tips to the engaged couples out there that are planning their big day, in hopes that these tips are helpful to you!
TIP I. "Remember it's YOUR day: Even if your families are chipping in and helping you pay for things, it's okay to remind them that in the end it should be all about you. It's easy for them to start to live out their dream wedding in yours, but once you kindly remind them they (usually) are brought back to reality! Just because "everyone else does it this way", doesn't mean you need to! We didn't do a lot of the "traditional" things like throwing the bouquet, dollar dance, cake, and really tailored our day to us. I couldn't have imagined it any other way!"
"remember... it's your day"
TIP II. "Give yourself time to plan the wedding: We had 14 months to plan our wedding and it was amazing. We didn't feel rushed, we secured the big things right away (ie. place, DJ, food, photograhper/videographer) but then gave ourselves some time to just enjoy being engaged."
TIP III. "Skip out on real flowers: It's a huge budget eater. After pricing out flowers and having a mini heart attack, we went with babies breath and dried hydrangeas. You can buy bulk flowers from somewhere like Sam's Club for cheap cheap. We had a jar full on each table, about 20 else where, made 3 bridesmaids bouquets and had flowers to spare for around $300."
"skip out on real flowers... it's a huge budget eater"
TIP IV. "Spend the money on a photographer/videographer: These will be your only true keepsakes from your wedding besides your memories and it's so worth finding true professionals to capture it. As I look back at our photos, and especially our video, there are so many moments I had forgotten. The day flies by and it's impossible to remember it all. I still cry every time I watch our video and I look forward to sharing it with our kids in the future and re-living that perfect day."
"I look forward to sharing it with our kids... and re-living that perfect day"
TIP V. "As everyone says, don't stress the small stuff: You have NO control over things like weather on your day, and if you're planning an outdoor wedding you risk rain, wind, too hot, or too cold. We took the risk, and although it was misting through most of our pictures and pouring during our first dance - I never let it bother me. Because in the end all that matters is that you get to marry your best friend."
I hope you find that these tips were helpful to you and that you found a tip that you can incorporate into your wedding! Something that immediately stood out to me while watching Devin and Nic's wedding video was the smile she had her face the whole day! She exuded pure joy! She mentioned in her tips to let the little things go because you can't control everything. It seems like such simple advice, but when you actually think about it and take in what that would actually be like, it's a little scary. Giving advice to let go of some things when they don't go as planned on the day that is supposed so be perfect and the most magical day ever, is not just advice that can easily be taken. This advice may not be easily grasped but it's worth a shot, especially if it helps you smile more than worry on your big day, because it is going to be the happiness you had that you will remember more than any rain or clouds.
"it's going to be the happiness you had that you will remember"
It's very true, your wedding day is huge and, yes, there is a lot of pressure that goes along with that. However, as far as having the perfect day, it will be perfect for you and your future spouse because of what you made of it and because of the words of commitment you shared on that very special day. As far as those little bumps that may arise, they will give you a good story to tell! So as much as you can, fight to let those little things go and laugh about it because after all, you are getting married! How awesome is that?!?
Don't waste your energy or one second of the one day that is ALL ABOUT YOU worrying about things you can't change. Instead, try your hardest to focus on the constant that is in your life now and will be forever starting on that very special day. Give that commitment and future spouse all your attention, because they sure deserve it! In taking Devin's advice I hope you will have the most happy day, just like she did!
"give that commitment and future spouse all your attention... because they sure deserve it!"
Thank you Devin for your contribution to this series!
Thank you for reading!
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Watch Devin and Nic's beautiful wedding video!