Destination Wedding Revealed

I'm excited to announce the booking of a destination wedding to sunny BAHAMAS! The wedding is for a couple out of Houston, Texas who will be having their ceremony and reception aboard the Carnival Celebration ship that departs from here in Jacksonville. Additionally, I will get to shoot alongside a photographer friend of mine, Tim Co. and his talented pal Alisha Clark-Nelson.

Something else cool, the Houston couple are Indian and I'm looking forward to experiencing a wedding of a different culture and traditions. Visually, it will make for a great film with all their festive colors! Fun in the sun times ahead!!

Bridal Show This Weekend!

Hey Central Florida brides! This weekend I will have a booth at the Happily Ever After Bridal Show in Orlando at Downtown Disney. For information on directions and tickets, click here. Be sure to stop by and say hello!!

Tonight as I was preparing a new demo to hand out at the show, a moment came over me where I really stopped and looked at the culmination of my movies passing through on the DVD menu screen. It was a moment where you pause and step outside your own work and go, "Wow I really did that!" And in that moment I realized I was so blessed to be able to have the privilege to have a job I absolutely love that lets me pursue something I'm passionate about... love stories. I absolutely love doing cinematography and the creative emotional outlet it provides for me. I recently had a new bride tell me she cried over a demo I sent her. She did not know the bride in the movie, she did not know me beyond my website, she simply reacted honestly to my work. To me, there is no greater compliment than when my movies can bring tears to the eyes of perfect strangers. Thank you to all reading this for allowing me the opportunity to wake up each morning to a fulfilling job I love waking up for.

Hot New Bridal Glamour video

Monica's Bridal Glamour video that I shot at Castle Otttis is now launched! Check out the video here! The bride was so outgoing and made for a really fun diva video shoot!

Castle Otttis

Yesterday I shot a Bridal Glamour video at a castle!! Hidden behind the sea and palm trees in St. Augustine, FL lies this landscape monument built in honor of Jesus Christ. For more information about the history, check out the link here to enter the castle. It's a beautiful place to have a wedding for every die hard princess at heart!

The new video will be up later this week. Get ready for an upbeat edgy twist this time around.

"Subject: I LOVE THE VIDEO"

I recently delivered the finished wedding video to Angie Peck. Below are her sweet words she emailed me in response to viewing her movie:

"Scarlett,

Our wedding video is AMAZING!!!! I can not believe how talented you are. I have never seen any wedding video like it or any done so professionally. It was exactly what I wanted and I love the song you selected during the ceremony. I have that CD but never thought of telling you to use it.

It was so hard for us to think about wedding details after the loss of Dad and Steele. I think God has truly blessed us to find you and Anetta with such short notice. I am so thankful for what you have done for us and will always have such good memories of that day!

Thanks again,

Angie Peck"


Thanks Angie!!

Extreme Makeover Part 2

In journalism school, I learned the best stories were found in the rewriting process. The same is often true with design.

This weekend I put the Captivating Studios website through an extreme makeover.. again. As I slowly start to phase out the design part of my business and focus more exclusively on weddings, I needed a website to reflect that. I also learned at a design conference, sure, you can take on all genre's of work, but until you learn to focus on the one genre you are passionate about, you will kill yourself trying to take on too much and be unhappy doing it. I guess sometimes we just learn the hard way.

I do still love to design, but I love more the opportunity wedding cinematography gives me to build relationships with the bride and families and create a product that they will cherish for many years to come. Plus, it's exciting to bring my design background into the crafting of this new form of art as I continue to grow in my knowledge of cinematography. As I watched a movie about Mother Theresa today, one of her quotes stayed with me:

"I am the pencil by which God writes with. He is the ultimate author."

This quote taps into my passion for filming weddings. I feel like the pencil being used to write (film) your love story.

Enjoy the new website! Keep an eye out for a new demo reel and other films to be added in the next few weeks.

p.s. I'm excited to share I just found out that the new website was chosen to be showcased in a design gallery. Check out my profile here.

p.p.s. In addition to the website redo, the company that hosts my website was going through it's own extreme makeover this weekend updating it's servers, and I haven't been able to receive email the past 24 hours. If you sent anything to me, please resend. :-)

Destination Wedding

Stayed tuned for some exciting news about a fabulous destination wedding coming up that I'll be filming! I'll be able to share more next week.

Dinner Party

This past weekend I threw a dinner party for all the women in my life who served over me through the years as mentors, whether spiritually, professionally or as a supportive friend. It always makes my day when someone takes the time in their day to thank me for how I've made a difference in their world, so this was my little way of giving back to thank those who were important in helping me become the person I am today.

Who has impacted your life? Whether it's throwing a dinner party or sending a simple card, I encourage you to reflect on how someone has been important to you and follow through with telling family and friends how much they mean to you. I learned there is no greater gift you can give to others than the sincerity of your appreciation and sharing with them how they served a purpose in your world.

(Left to Right:
Debbie Turner-Former Sunday School teacher
Pauline Seminara-A loving hostess with the mostest
Mary Hamilton- Former boss/Supportive friend
Grandma-A Southern lady of true class
Me
Anetta Nadolna- Creative soul sister
Mom- My best friend and hero
Donna Carter-Angel in disguise, powerful prayer warrior
Frances Watson (Going on a young 91 years old this year)-Baptized me

Beautiful testimony

I'm always appreciative of the kind words brides and grooms take the time to share about their movies. This one especially touched my heart that I received yesterday.

"Hi Scarlett,

We are soooo excited about the sneak peak of our movie! We were literally in tears watching it. We felt all of the emotions of the day. You have truly captured the essence of our day. You are doing an awesome job and we are anxious to see the whole movie. We were also pleasantly surprised by the prompt turnaround time. Your literature stated 6-8 weeks so we were not expecting it until the beginning of August. Wow, you are quick!

We have absolutely enjoyed working with you. Thank you for the awesome job you are doing. You are truly a special person and an extraordinary videographer and artist. It is our prayer that God continues to bless your business and increase you exceeding abundantly.

Sincerely,

"Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas Jordan"

"A Sorta Fairy Tale" Wedding

The wedding highlight intro for Adam and Angie is now posted on my site here. This wedding took place at gorgeous Ponte Vedra Beach. I always love doing beach weddings. God provides so many natural visual elements to work with.

Paparazzi

Here's a pic of me playing paparazzi at Nick and Candace's recent wedding, courtesy of Kingdom Weddings Photography. If you haven't yet, be sure to check out my highlight wedding intro for them here.

The highlight intro for Adam and Angie should be posted before the end of the week. Angie was the bride in the bridal glamour tribute video below.

Once Upon Your Wedding

I am always humbled by the kind words people share about my work. It's always rewarding to see how God is using my gifts to touch the hearts of others.

It's fun to meet other people in the wedding industry who truly have a passion for wanting to make a bride's day as beautiful as I like to capture it. Terrica Skaggs, with Once Upon Your Wedding, is someone who has the gracious heart behind carrying out your happily ever after. If you are looking for a great wedding planner, check out her link here. She also just started a new division specializing in couture travel and destination weddings. How fun!