Today I will Marry my Best Friend...

We recently finished a wedding for Chelsea & Brandon a really sweet couple we met almost a year ago at the September 2008 Wedding Festivals trade show. The wedding date finally arrived and our video cameras were ready to capture the joy and sentiment felt by all in attendance as these childhood sweethearts had their long awaited big day!
The ceremony was held at Refren Baptist church, a quaint chapel with beautiful stain glass windows and southern charm. The reception was at Furman University and though it rained periodically throughout it did not dampen the beauty of the surroundings or the mood of the guests as they rocked it out on the dance floor!
One of the special features of our video collections is the bride and groom interviews done before the ceremony. This provides a time for each of them to express to one another a small amount of the emotion & anticipation that they are feeling at that moment. Re-living when they met, and fell in love and declaring their love and enthusiasm over starting their new life together. These few minutes will become a priceless part of their wedding video.
You can get to know Chelsea & Brandon a bit by watching a portion of their interview in the clip below.

The Better Tie Crew

Chelsea + Brandon Q/A from Better Tie Productions on Vimeo.

Stop & Smell the Flowers

There is much preparation that goes into the making of your dream wedding. It seems as the day quickly approaches the to-do list is forever growing and it can be pretty daunting for a soon to be bride or groom. It is a bride's tendency and almost role in the days to come to worry about so many different aspects of her big day, there are a lot of variables and she bears the weight of her hopes and dreams of a perfect wedding on her shoulders. But there is one thing you don't have to second guess, You can count on Better Tie Productions! We hold true to our personal commitments that we made when we started our business, to Integrity, Quality, Excellence, & Individuality. We also made a commitment to not double-book our events. This comes with sacrifice at times, but we feel it is of the up most importance and value to our clients to know that they are getting our undivided time, focus and creative energy. We are invested in your day from start to finish. And because of that you can have peace of mind and Enjoy yourself and each other! We will provide you with everything you ever dreamed of and more by taking the little moments and making them spectacular. Stop, smell the flowers..you deserve it!

The Better Tie Crew

"And now we are as One."

We were honored to be a part of Gerrie & Brandon's special day. They chose the Black Tie Video Collection so we pulled out all the stops and were able to obtain some amazing footage of their phenomenal wedding. John Knox Presbyterian Church proved to be a gorgeous back drop for their ceremony, and the reception at Westin Pointsett Hotel downtown Greenville was just icing on the cake. Their first dance was beautifully choreographed and as the night went on dance fever was definitely in the air! Gerrie challenged her bridesmaid to a dance-off which was unforgettable! Gerrie and Brandon were relaxed and really enjoying every moment of their day, and it was a pleasure to capture. When the night came to a close, 3 weddings were leaving the hotel at once which created a grand departure. A perfect ending to a magnificent day!

Here is a highlight trailer of the day. Enjoy!

Brandon + Gerrie highlights trailer from Better Tie Productions on Vimeo.

The Show Must Go on!

Last night, Thursday June 11, 2009 was the Wedding Festivals trade show. The only summer trade show, and our first show to debut our photography to the public! (Which previously was only offered privately and to our corporate clients.) We were anxiously and with great preparation looking forward to it. The trade shows are an opportunity for us to meet hundreds of brides, but also for you to get to know us a little as well - a glimpse behind the camera- so to speak. And we want our booth to represent our personality and the creativity that we will be infusing into each and every photo shoot and video. That all starts weeks before the actual trade show. The Better Tie crew begins discussing ideas and new designs into the wee hours of the morning,(which is usually when we work best!)Once we have a design in mind we start dry runs of the set up in our workshop. We feel strongly that time + effort produces perfection. And we want that for each project we are working on.
We were very excited about this trade show, and were pumped when the doors opened at 4pm and soon to be brides and grooms and friends came pouring through. Our booth was looking sweet, lights blazing, dvd playing, meeting & greeting...then shortly before 5pm...BLACK! The entire civic center lost power due to some pretty crazy high winds. You couldn't even see the vendors whose booth is besides yours, or the bride that is a foot away from you! Amazingly though by the light of the emergency exit signs, and open doors that let some light stream in...the show continued! A great friend of ours brought some flash lights and we hooked them up to display our booth and held them so the brides could view our albums. And we thoroughly enjoyed the campfire-esque feel. The show must go on- and we are so thankful that it did! Unfortunately, we could barely see your faces to remember you the next time we meet with you, but we had SO many Great conversations with each person that stopped by our booth, and are really appreciative for the opportunity to get to know your style and expectations for your wedding. And we can confidently say that we can Rock your Photo & Video Dreams!!
This was a night to remember, we look forward to speaking with you in the upcoming weeks!
- The Better Tie Crew

The Beginning of Forever...

There are those people who you meet, who when you walk away from you feel blessed to have crossed paths with, and thankful for the opportunity to have worked with them. Sarah & Mark are definitely that type. They are an all around genuine, down to earth, fun-loving couple who radiant a deep love for each other and for life. It has been a pleasure working with them over these past few months. And their wedding day was just a culmination of those experiences. Their big day was an outdoor event and with storms in the forecast we were holding our breath all week. Fortunately any gloomy clouds and rain were held off and we had a beautiful weekend to capture them both through photography and video. They both have become pros in front of the camera, which was great for us! And enabled us to focus our creative juices on the bridal party.
One cool point of interest from the day was that Mark a talented potter by trade, hand made some amazing looking mugs as gifts for each of their guests.That is not something you see every wedding!
Mark & Sarah we wish you all the best as you start your new life together!

*Check back with us for pictures from their day!

Let there be Light

Summer has just begun and seems to be flying by quickly already. This past weekend was jammed packed with events, one of them being the wedding of Heather & James in the heart of downtown at the Greenville Country Club doing lighting design.
We were excited for the opportunity to work with one of the upstate's finest high-end florists Dahlia. Their exquisite floral arrangements paired with our creative lighting design transformed an ordinary reception hall to look like a page out of a magazine. We created a "Garden Room" in the entryway, by complementing the greenery with earthy green lights and a custom made monogram light displayed on the wall. In the main ballroom we infused fuchsia and spotlit each center piece for a complete romantic ambiance.
If you are wanting to take your event to the next level, and create an enchanting oasis our cutting edge lighting design & expertise will do just that. We have been in the lighting industry for almost 18 years now, and using lights in a unique and artistic way is a passion of mine. The possibilities are endless, and surprisingly affordable. You can contact me through the Better Tie website and please check out Dahlia florists at dahliaonline.com

Logan Bridal shoot.

We were able to shoot Logan's AMAZING bridal portrait at the "Acanthus". Jim Craig with the Acanthus was so gracious as to let us go through the whole house and take pictures wherever we needed to. I wish we could have spent all day there it was so beautiful. But Logan was so hard to work with!!... LOL j/k She was great! We went shooting early in the morning and by 9:30am it was already 93 outside and 70% humidity. She never complained once I felt bad for her being in that heavy dress all day. Well, we were able to get some great shots. Elisha was the photographer and did a great job!
I'll post some pictures here, but you can view more on our website www.BetterTieVideo.com or look us up on FACEBOOK (Better Tie) and we have some pictures there too. Let me know what you think.

Daniel Yopp
Better Tie Video