Our 2012 kickoff wedding! Taylor + David became husband and wife on Saint Patrick’s Day 2012 with a charming ceremony at the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church. They had a rocking reception at the Columbia Club with the help of Event One DJ‘s Wes Adkins. With a kickoff wedding as good as this, it’s going to be a great year!

Be sure to check out some fantastic photos taken by Jenna Davis Photography here.

ceremony: Tabernacle Presbyterian Church
reception: Columbia Club
photography: Jenna Davis
dj: Event One DJ
cake: Amazing Cakes of Indy
floral design: Linda Batker

A sad day at Jet Kaiser Films.
Dani and I spend a large part of our lives documenting the happiest day of our couples’ lives. You can always jump over to our blog here and view happy, cheerful stories told by happy, cheerful people. Life has its ups and downs, laughter and tears. That’s life.

A year ago, We had the wonderful opportunity to meet Sally & Tom. Sally was diagnosed with ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Sally and Tom were the second Indianapolis recipients of a free wedding provided by Wish Upon A Wedding. They were married on May 1st, 2011.

We learned today that Sally passed away on March 28th 2012. Our condolences go out to Tom and all of Sally’s family & friends. Sally & Tom were not our clients, but our friends. We feel so privileged to have know Sally, and we’re truly honored to document the the love story of Sally & Tom.

Below is the Love Story video that we created for them a year ago.

An awesome trash-the-dress session on the north shores of Jamaica near Ocho Rios. We were able to sneak away from the resort two days after the wedding for an awesome trash-the dress session on the beach. Sue & Duy were able to have a romantic horseback ride along a secluded beach which made for some beautiful images. They are so photogenic and have such a powerful chemistry between them. It was a pleasure to capture them using HD cameras as well as on vintage super 8mm film. If you every find yourself in Jamaica, you should check into Hooves (near Ocho Rios and Dunn River Falls) for some scenic horseback riding

Watch their wedding short film here.

When I first met Miral & Suman via Skype, I knew we were in for something spectacular. Not only because of the 3 days of fun they had planned, but I saw right away how much they loved each other. Miral & Suman gave us full creative control over documenting and piecing together their wedding story.  The festivities kicked off on Thursday with the Mehndi party where Miral had to wait patiently while her henna was applied for about 6 hours. Friday began with the Sagai (engagement) ceremony and then the Mandvo ceremony took place to prepare Miral as a bride. After the Friday ceremonies, everyone gathered at the India Community Center for garba and raas dancing which went on past midnight. The wedding ceremony and reception was held at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and started with a baarat (groom’s wedding processional). It was exciting for us to be a part of Miral & Suman’s wedding weekend.

A culture cocktail wedding.
Irene was born in Kishinev, Moldova and Erez was born in Tehran, Iran, but both of them immigrated to Israel when they were little and then found each other in Indianapolis. They speak Hebrew between the two of them but in Irene’s family they speak Russian and in Erez’s family they speak Persian. They officially met at Starbucks, Erez had heard of an Israeli girl from school and saw Irene walking into Starbucks one day, immediately came up, introduced himself and bought her coffee. They talked for 3 hours, decided to go dancing on Saturday and that was it.

There wedding ceremony and reception took place at The Montage at Allison Pointe and turned into quite a jumping party with the help of DJ Igal Bitton from New York.

ceremony + reception: The Montage at Allison Pointe
photography: Shane Rodimel Photography
floral design: The Empty Vase, Indy
dj: DJ Igal Bitton, New York
audio-visual: Pure Energy Events
cake: Lana’s Dazzling Desserts, Chicago

What an experience! Our first destination wedding in Jamaica and it was spectacular!  Suelynn & Duy became husband and wife with small, intimate wedding at the Gran Bahia Principe Resort in Runaway Bay, Jamaica.  We were able to sneak away from the resort two days after the wedding for an awesome trash-the dress session on the beach.  Sue & Duy were able to have a romantic horseback ride along a secluded beach which made for some beautiful images. The trash-the-dress session ended with Sue playing around in the sand and water with her new husband.  They were so photogenic and they had powerful chemistry between them. It was a pleasure to capture them on film.

Watch their Trash-the-Dress session here.

Dani and I were able to spend a few extra days in Jamaica and drive all over the island.  It was everything we hoped for and more.  It was too easy to fall in love with the people, the culture and, of course, the weather (it was the end of November after all). We are already preparing to return as soon as we can.

ceremony + reception: Gran Bahia Principe Resort, Runaway Bay, Jamaica
floral design: Tai Flora
horses: Hooves

Here are a few behind-the-scenes photos

capturing some establishing shots

jet doing his thing

we stopped a few times along the road to replenish our banana supply

south of montego bay

the jkf crew + their sunburns

Clare + Matt definitely know how to have fun. It seems as if there’s not a dull moment when the two of them are together.
The a cappella group, Straight No Chaser, serenaded the couple before dinner at the beautiful Mavris Art & Event Center. Later on, Dave & Rae played some great music that made it impossible for anyone to avoid the dance floor. We were able to sneak Clare & Matt outside so they could have some quiet alone time enjoying the glowing Indianapolis cityscape.

Ceremony: St. Luke’s United Methodist Church
Reception: Mavris Art & Event Center
Photography: Tom Bartholomew
Live Music: Dave & Rae & Straight No Chaser
Cake: Classic Cakes
Floral Design: Petal Pushers

Warning: Grab a tissue box before clicking “play”.
The father-of-the-bride surprised everyone with a “slightly altered rendition” of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight”.  There wasn’t a dry eye in the room, including Dani and I.  His serenade beautifully summarized Nikki + Matt’s perfect wedding day.  This is a great video to share with those that don’t see the value in hiring an event filmmaker.  Imagine if this precious moment was documented with only still photography.

Another IN[FOCUS] event has come and gone. This year, Dani and I traveled to Charleston, SC and meet up with the greatest event filmmakers in the world. We enjoyed the presentations, chatting with old friends and making new ones. Of course, we stay current with all of our cameras, lenses, and software, but it’s important to not neglect the importance of investing in our minds.

This was our first time in Charleston and we fell in love with the city right away. Luckily we had a day or two after the conference to explore some of the historic sites before traveling back home. The SC Republican primary was in the works that week and there was plenty of GOP commotion throughout the city which was interesting to witness. Looking back at our previous IN[FOCUS] video entries, this video is very laid-back and I feel it totally represents the vibe of the city.

What a rewarding trip.

The Indiana Roof Ballroom has to be our favorite wedding reception venue in downtown Indianapolis. It’s hard to get a bad shot in there. Shannon and Chad had a wonderful wedding celebration and it was a blast being a part of it. This trailer features our usual full HD cinema footage as well as some classic silent movie footage shot with antique cameras.

prep: Conrad Indianapolis
ceremony: Tabernacle Presbyterian Church
reception: Indiana Roof Ballroom
floral: Circle City Design
dj: Platinum DJ Productions
photo: Dawn Fisher
cake: Heavenly Sweets