Party Showcase, an elite organization of wedding vendors in Topeka, is excited to announce that it is hosting “Bridal Elite” on May 3, 2012. The event will be taking place at Serendipity, one of Topeka’s newest and chicest venues at 820 N. Kansas Ave. in the NOTO Arts District. The event is from 6-9 PM and will feature refreshments, mingling with the vendors, complimentary dinner, and a fashion show by David’s Bridal. Admittance is free and by invitation only, so if you wish to attend please contact me at kellen@studio32productions.com to be added to the invitation list. We are looking forward to this unique and upscale event and hope you will be able to join us.

So, for anyone that is getting married that has not heard of theknot.com, I am pretty sure that you are living under a rock. (Just kidding…. If you haven’t it is a pretty cool website). As a vendor, I think it has its good and bad side, because if you want to advertise on there they charge you an arm and a leg (and maybe your firstborn) because they think very highly of themselves, but the content they post is pretty cool.  With that being said, I have stated before that I read a lot of stuff on the Internet and one of the latest articles they posted was about “7 Creative Videography Ideas.” Well how nifty, we are videographers and we think we are pretty creative, so I was interested to see what they came up with. More

So here at Studio 32 Productions, not only do we have a busy wedding and corporate videography business, we are actually real people. Shocking…..I know. In the real world we live our daily lives, put our pants on one leg at a time, and we even have twins! With that being said, since we are in the media production industry our kids really like watching movies (of course the ones we create). But, since the twins are just a little shy of three years old, a DVD to them is little more than a Ninja death star they can impale each other with. Hence, the fact that our precious copy of “The Best of Barney” gets more scratches than a cat in a junkyard with an upset Doberman. The kids really wanted to watch their favorite purple dinosaur this last week, but it wouldn’t play. I was bummed, let me tell you. They really wanted to watch it, though, and I am cheap, so I had to figure something out. More

We were recently lucky enough to have the privilege to shoot an absolutely gorgeous wedding on a warm summer day at Fort Leavenworth. As wedding videographers we work with just about every type of vendor/service provider under the sun both before, during, and after the wedding day itself, but on the day of the wedding the groom said something to us while we were shooting that has really stuck with me. I already realize that while planning a wedding the wedding videographer probably does not show up as the #1 person/company to hire on the list of things to take care of, but the photographer normally shows up at the top of the list, right up there with reception venue, wedding dress, and caterer. Unfortunately, there are some common misconceptions about videographers and some people think that they are obtrusive, get in the way, and will direct all the shots. Some photographers have probably had negative experiences with amateur video people in the past and because of these experiences some even recommend not having video at your wedding and that photography is sufficient to capture the memories of your day. I would like to point out, though, that our video style is a blend of both documentary and cinematic styles, allowing us to blend into the background and allowing your story to speak for itself. Why would you need to create a story when a beautiful one is unfolding right before your eyes? More

For all those in the Topeka area in the market for a vendor for a party, event, or wedding make sure to come see us tomorrow, March 20th from noon to 5PM at the Topeka Holidome for the Party Showcase event. Party Showcase is unique in that it includes quality, local vendors that cater to all types of events from birthday parties to corporate galas to weddings. There will be 50+ vendors, so don’t miss out on your opportunity to come meet with some of the best party and wedding companies in the area. For more information visit www.mypartyshowcase.com, and we hope to see you there!

Every year there are tons of bridal shows out there from which to choose to attend. And don’t get me wrong, those suckers aren’t cheap. But there can be a lot of merit in attending a well-prepared, nicely-laid out event. Half of the problem with bridal shows is that you are playing Russian Roulette because you don’t know anything about the vendors that will be at the show. That is where the WHITE Event comes in. Anyone who has ever met Michael Nolte or visited one of Nolte’s Bridal stores knows that he expects only the best. The WHITE Bridal Event is planned and coordinated by Mr. Nolte and all of the vendors who participate in the event are personally invited by him. Not only do you know you are dealing with some of the top-notch vendors in the Kansas City area, you know you are dealing with the best of the best. The format of the WHITE Event is also very different from most traditional bridal shows. It is a small, intimate affair  at the Kansas City InterContinental which allows you time to speak with the vendors in a more relaxed setting. As I have spoken about in a previous post I highly desire this type of setting because I think it is less stressful and much more calming. Also, there is a lunch and seminar put on by Michael Nolte himself so you will walk away with tons of helpful hints and ideas. Another novel concept is that there are break-out sessions with the vendors so you can hear a little bit more about their businesses and concepts. And to wrap it all up there is dessert with a fabulous fashion show. I just can’t say enough nice things about the idea and presentation of the show and I know you won’t be disappointed if you attend. Fore more information on the show or how to purchase tickets you can visit www.thewhiteevent.com or www.noltesbridal.com.

Now that the new year is upon us that can only mean one thing……bridal show season! We have quite a few events coming up here in the next few weeks so make sure to come out and see us and all of the great vendors. This weekend on Saturday (the 15th) we will be in Lawrence at the Free State Bridal Show, held at Maceli’s and the Granada from 10:00AM-2:00PM. Make sure to check out their website at www.freestatebridalshow.com for details and participating vendors. Then on January 23rd we will be in Kansas City participating in the Big Reveal KC. If you have never participated in a Big Reveal event it is quite an experience and I highly recommend you take a look at their website (www.bigrevealkc.com) for all of the details. We will once again be participating in the elegant WHITE event at the Intercontinental on the Plaza on February 6th. This is definitely the most well-planned, most-exclusive bridal event you can attend and well worth every penny. The website can be found at www.thewhiteevent.com. If you haven’t already figured it out from the shows we are participating in….we prefer to participate in smaller, boutique bridal shows. Not only are they more intimate and less stressful on the brides-to-be, but they allow us to get to know our potential clients better. We find this atmosphere much more appealing than the large mass bridal shows at the expo centers and coliseums. Not that we don’t have fun seeing tons of potential clients all in one day, but this is definitely the way we have found works best for us. Happy planning and we look forward to seeing you at one of the shows in the coming weeks.

It is hard to believe that another year has almost come and gone, but then again here we are. We have had another successful year at Studio 32 and we are thrilled and grateful to all of our wonderful clients who make what we do possible. It seems like every year there seems to be a trend with a lot of the weddings we attend- similar bridal dresses, popular colors, trendy favors, and things of the sort. Looking back over the weddings we have done this year, though, it hit me that all of them were pretty unique. Heck, we even had a bride that put two dresses together to make her own custom dress! But then it hit me that even though the weddings in themselves weren’t similar there was one thing that wove through quite a few of them that stuck out in my mind…..the bride’s SHOES. Thus, I have dubbed 2010 the Year of the Shoes. (For those of you into Chinese Horoscope it is actually the Year of the Tiger, but Year of the Shoes sounded better). This year we have had a bride that wore stilettos that looked like a peacock, custom ballet flats, and a pair of completely gorgeous Jimmy Choo’s. Then there was the bride who wore orange sandals and the bride who wore shoes adorned with enough sequins they shone in the sun. The list could go on and on, but one thing is for certain - that these brides put a lot of thought into putting their best foot forward!

While I was reading the Topeka Capital-Journal earlier this week I came across a letter to the editor that struck a chord with me. (Here is the link if you would like to read it yourself: http://cjonline.com/opinion/2010-12-08/letter_wedding_warning). In the letter a former bride states that she hired a cake baker/decorator to make the cake for her wedding day and on the day of her wedding there ended up being no cake. From the letter it sounds like she did everything correctly…she had a contract, she followed up with the person she hired multiple times, and she thought she had hired a reputable company to take care of an important element of one of the most important days of her life. More

As wedding videographers we are always reminding prospective brides and grooms of the benefits of hiring a competent professional to film their wedding day.

We also do a lot of research (and I mean A LOT) not only about equipment and trends, but also about the wedding industry in general, and one day I came across this article on MSN that I absolutely loved….I think it it is a great expression in real-life terms of what we are always trying to tell brides. Here is the link for you to take a peek yourself.

If you will note #3 states, “You will regret it if you skip videography.” Huh, I wonder where I have heard those words before? More