I bonded with Adam back in January 2012, when we spent 13 hours crammed into a Honda Element together on a road trip from Texas to Georgia and back. Along the way, I learned a lot of interesting things about him:
- Years of driving buses for A&M gave him the ability to drive 13 hours straight without stopping if necessary.
- He’s such an un-picky eater that he will go into a restaurant and tell the server to order something for him.
- Unlike normal humans, 3 hours of sleep is plenty for him.
At this point, I realize this blog is starting to sound more like an ad for Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man In The World™, and not a groom from a wedding I filmed. Well strap in, because I haven’t even gotten to how Adam and Christine met.
On a humid week in August at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Houston, Texas, Christine made the decision to attend a talent show. Little did she know, that Adam would be performing a special dance at the show, with an inflatable Killer Whale. No water required, just him, the whale, a stage, and some paper streamers. Christine laughed so hard she cried, and while I would like to think she knew that she had to marry this guy, she says she was more interested in only meeting him.
That meeting eventually happened, time spent together turned into friendship, and friendship culminated in a date together at Trampoline World (with pizza). One year later Adam proposed, and yes, the inflatable whale made an appearance.
When Adam got back in touch with me about filming their wedding, he said they had a few surprises planned for their guests. First, the wedding reception would be Llamma themed. Second, there would be a talent show that mirrored the night they met. Third, they would be leaving in a bright yellow Smart Car the size of a go-kart.
The Chapel On Campus
The ceremony was on the University of Houston campus, which meant a drone shot with the actual Houston skyline sitting out on the horizon behind it, and honestly that is not a background you get to use very often at a wedding.
The chapel itself is a long room with a colonnade running down both sides and tall arched windows the whole length of it, so the entire ceremony was lit by daylight coming in sideways. I love a room like that. You walk in, you look at where the light is falling, and most of your decisions are already made for you.
The Vows
Adam opens his by telling her he is happy, and then, because he is Adam, he tries to explain how happy: if you could mix puppies with pure happiness, that would be pretty close. Then he gets serious and says he cannot believe she is going to be his wife, that he is the luckiest guy he knows, and that there is nobody else he would rather go on this adventure called life with.
He also does something in his vows that I’ve thought about a lot since. He starts to say he wants to be the kind of husband described in scripture, then stops himself and says that while it’s true, it isn’t sufficient, and that he wants her to know what it actually means to him. So he spells it out. Be sensitive to her needs. Sacrifice daily in small ways. Look inward first. Be quick to listen and slow to anger. That’s a much harder promise to make than the shorthand version, and he made it in front of everybody.
Christine’s has my favorite structure of any vows I’ve filmed, because it comes back around on itself. As a child, she says, she decided 25 was the perfect age to get married, and she’d been praying ever since for God to prepare someone for her. Then she describes the first time she saw Adam, when he made her laugh so hard she cried, and how he pursued her with gentleness, thoughtfulness, patience, and integrity. And then the landing: now I’m 25, about to be married. You bring out the best in me. You are my favorite. Today I am overjoyed to marry my best friend.
The Toast About The Hunger Games
One of Christine’s family gets up and tells everybody how she first described Adam. This was back when the two of them were both deep into The Hunger Games, and Christine’s very first data point about this guy was that he reminded her of the character everybody loves for being kind and thoughtful. The second data point was that he had danced with an inflatable whale on a stage. Which, as the speaker put it, left them a little confused but excited for her at the same time.
Then comes the part that makes the whole toast: they spent a while listening to Christine talk about how smart and funny and kind Adam was while the two of them were still just friends, thinking she was crazy for not dating him. And they said they realize now that the long friendship first is exactly what makes the relationship what it is.
They also mention having never once seen Adam nervous before the day he was working himself up to ask Christine out. That’s a good detail. That’s the kind of thing only a family member knows.
A Llama Cake, Because Of Course
As promised, after a beautiful ceremony on the University of Houston Campus, the reception began with a surprise Llamma Cake, continued with a sweet drum solo by Christine (barefoot in her wedding dress of course), a classic rendition of Adam’s inflatable whale dance, and ended with a crazy dance party courtesy of DJ Chaney.
And then a full drum kit appeared in the reception hall and the bride sat down behind it in her wedding dress and played. I have filmed a lot of receptions. I had never filmed that.
Here is the practical note for any filmmaker reading this. Whenever a couple tells you in advance that they have surprises planned, take that seriously and ask for the running order, because a talent show is not something you can cover reactively. You need to know it’s coming, you need to know roughly when, and you need a second angle on it, or you will get one shaky wide of the single funniest thing that happens all night.
Was it a wedding day? Yes. Was it also a talent show? You bet.
Interested in having us film your wedding/talent show? Get in touch!
My Wedding Filmmaking Kit
People ask constantly what I shoot weddings with, so here it is. This one is from 2016 and the bag has turned over since, so treat this as what I reach for now:
- INSANE lowlight main camera on Amazon
- My favorite wide angle lens with AF on Amazon
- Ultra-versatile medium lens with AF on Amazon
- Best drone ever on Amazon
- Filters for the best drone ever on Amazon
- BEEFY electronic gimbal on Amazon
- Fantastic video monopod on Amazon
- Ridiculously tiny audio recorder and mic on Amazon
- Prism for fancy in-camera effects on Amazon
- FAST video editing laptop on Amazon
- Indestructible camera case on Amazon
- Light & sturdy travel tripod on Amazon
- Portable LED Lighting Kit on Amazon
The whole list is on my favorite wedding filmmaking gear page, everything is graded with my own WhoisMatt LUTs, and the music comes from Sound Stripe (coupon code “WHOISMATT” for 10% off) or Art List (free extra 2 months through that link).
If you’re a filmmaker trying to book more weddings, I have a free quick tips guide on how to book more wedding film clients, my wedding film editing course covers the edit start to finish, and there’s a free Learn Wedding Filmmaking Facebook group. Whenever I need help with an edit I use Archaius Creative, who’ll take 10% off your first project.