I am SO excited to be sharing this wedding with you all today! Not only is it full of DIY vintage and rustic details, it’s also the wedding of ELV’s own Samm and Alex, the owners of Imprint Cinema! Which of course means that along with gorgeous images by Verve Studio, I have some excellent video to along with this fabulous wedding too! The happiness and love in this wedding is just absolutely contagious- it’s sure to brighten your day! Plus, the lovely bride (and my friend) Samm is sharing some of her wonderful wedding planning insight too, so be sure to take notes! :)

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

 When it came to planning, I had always thought I could handle it myself- weddings are what I do for a living so I figured since I see them al the time it wouldn’t be that hard to put all the pieces together since I had a pretty good idea what I wanted. Alex mentioned getting a planner a couple times and I had thought about it but we weren’t sure it was going to be in the budget so we hadn’t made the jump yet. I planned everything myself with old fashioned pen and paper in a 3 ring binder for about eight months of the process. Until Alex found me crying as I was doing my hair one day quietly saying, “I need help” to myself. He finally told me I was getting a planner and that I was going to have to let go a little. The control freak inside me dissipated a bit and Lauren from Tickled Pink Brides stepped in and quite literally saved the day. She made me realize there was so much I hadn’t even thought of that we would need. Things like flatware since we weren’t having a traditional caterer and trash cans! Things that never even entered my brain. I don’t know what I would have done without her, she was my personal angel on my wedding day.

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

We are very lucky and we get to make wedding films as our job so when deciding who to work with we had a slight dilemma. First we tended to be irrational picky about our vendors and second, most of the people we wanted to work with were our friends. Our first big decision was our photographer. It came between Verve, who we know very well and are great friends, and another photographer who we didn’t know at all. In the end, we wanted not only for our minds to be at ease knowing we had the very best but we wanted to be surrounded by people who love us on our day- we just happen to be so lucky as to know so many wedding professionals who do love us! When we did have to make a decision about a vendor we didn’t know, I think we probably drove them crazy with all our questions, meetings, and phone calls but in the end we had an absolutely fabulous team that I wouldn’t change a thing about. 

What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?

Oddly enough the details for the wedding just kind of happened. Every piece has its own story of how it came around. The mustaches (toasting flutes, Alex’s details, and our tattoos) all came about after our Invitations went out with little mustaches on them and we just thought they were cute and funny. The antlers were an interesting and somewhat last minute addition that ended up being one of our favorite parts of the decor.  The venue has a chandelier made of antlers in the larger room where we were going to serve dinner and when Alex saw that he got so excited but we just didn’t know what to do with it. The next week probably we were shopping for table doilies at The French Nest back in Orlando when Alex runs over to me and takes me over to a giant bucket of Antlers saying, “Look what I found! What can we do with these? I want them”. I thought he had completely lost it but he was so excited I couldn’t say no so antlers became a part of the day. My original plan was not to go for a vintage or rustic look at all… But it is who we are and I finally realized that the decor should be “us” not just something pretty I saw that fit someone else. 

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

My favorite thing about my wedding? Probably the stories we all went home with. The donkey from the stables next door braying during Alex’s vows and everyone cracking up except him (he didn’t even notice!), getting tackled by my bridesmaids after the ceremony because they all tried to hug me at once… The great part is that I get to have those everyday because of my photos and my film. So I guess those are my favorite things. I would be very sad to not have either of them. 

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

My advice for brides… Oh boy. First, if you don’t think you need a planner, you do. Even if it is just day of coordination, do it! You will not regret it.

If you decide to be crafty, don’t leave everything until the last two weeks like I did- that way your soon to be husband won’t be painting a sign the morning of the wedding like mine was ha!

And probably my biggest piece of advise: Find vendors you love spending time with because you will be with them more than anyone else on your wedding day. I was surrounded by cameras all day 3-5 at a time and if I hadn’t have loved those people, I would have gone insane. Make sure you are around people you enjoy on your big day :)

Such AMAZING advice! And now, we of course can’t have cinematographers’ wedding without the video, and we get DOUBLE the fun- one trailer edited by Samm, and one edited by Alex!

Samm’s trailer…

Our Wedding Trailer #1 from Imprint Cinema on Vimeo.

Alex’s trailer…

Our Wedding Trailer #2 from Imprint Cinema on Vimeo.

How awesome are BOTH of those trailers?! Don’t you just love how in love these two are? I can attest to their awesomeness and love for each other- it’s pretty great! Oh and I have a little something special featuring these two later on today too… let’s just say it’s quite colorful! :)

I absolutely love how Samm said that their wedding details just kind of happened. With all of the planning and such, I think that’s a really good thing- because those details that “just happened” were also totally and completely THEM! I really love the incorporation of the antlers into the centerpieces- I’ve never seen that before! What about you- what’s your favorite part of Samm and Alex’s wedding? Oh and which trailer is your favorite??

Vendors who made it all happen…