About a year before we tied the knot, I toyed with the idea of a wedding videographer, did the millennial thing and googled to my best “key word” ability.

After scavenging every wedding resource available, found they were WAY more expensive than I had thought and threw the idea in the trash quicker than you can say “over budget”.

I’m an economics major, and therefore a numbers gal, so most importantly; it had to make sense to me monetarily. Was the monetary value spent on a videographer going to increase my happiness enough for me to justify it? After all, us brides are already hiring a photographer, a planner, buying the perfect dress, all necessities to make our day perfect so to me, a wedding videographer was just an extra expense I didn’t need.

And then I met Marcus.

At the time, I was the lead wedding coordinator at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. Wedding vendors would come in frequently to tell us about their businesses; so needless to say, it was a normal day when the owner from Intellect Media came in for a visit.

He went through his spiel about his different techniques and angles, everything that made him different but it wasn’t until he said “let me just show you” and started playing one of his films that he got my attention.

Dana + Clarice | Wedding Film | Virginia Wedding Videography from Intellect Media Productions on Vimeo.

It started off with the bride’s father giving advice to the newlyweds. My arms and neck prickled with chills watching this couple, who I never met, and I found myself instantly wishing I was there just to be in the presence of their love. Let me tell you, being a wedding coordinator, it takes a lot for us to be moved, but within two minutes flat my eyes were filled with tears. The smirk on Marcus’s face let me know this wasn’t the first time he had gotten this reaction…. well played, sir.

This was not the “uncle Johnny in the back with a camcorder, shaky as hell, somebody make it stop” video I had seen time and time again.

This was… his art. This was a production. This was a movie with the bride and groom as the stars, and their family and closest friends cast for the supporting roles. Marcus has a way of telling a story, YOUR story, even better than you could have ever imagined.

Every detail caught, every wide angle methodically planned, and best of all, every moment you otherwise would have forgotten is now recorded forever.

Kristina-HD 1080p from Intellect Media on Vimeo.

… to be continued next Thursday.

Photo Credit: Ross Costanza Photography, Dragon Studio, Agha Photo, Will Hawkins Photography