I’m going to start this off by saying that the Roberts family is one of the coolest families I’ve ever met. Their children are musicians, pastors, IT experts, and barbers – and that’s just the boys! If you’ve followed my blog, you may have already heard some of their music. Christopher and his brothers Ben and Terrence are in a Christian Rap group called T.I.C. – Troops In Combat and their mixtape is a free download on my site.
Now that I got my plug for my site out of the way, let’s talk more about family. Oftentimes when I’m filming and editing a wedding I keep my focus on the couple because it’s their day (duh) and they are the most important characters in their story. But with Christopher and Ivy it was different. Christopher’s family is so connected that pretty much any event is a family affair. I remember visiting their church after being invited by Christopher’s brother Terrence. As I came in I met his dad and grandfather, both of whom were ministers at the church, his brothers, sister, various girlfriends and boyfriends, cousins, second cousins, aunts, uncles, pretty much every possible relative that could be there was there. Some churches claim to be a “family”, but this one really was one made up of a couple hundred people that were mostly related in one way or another.
Terrence and I were good friends, and without fail when we would hangout one or all of his brothers would come too. It always made things fun, and I really began feeling like part of the family.
This family-minded atmosphere translated so well into their wedding film. Of course every wedding I film has family and friends present to watch the couple be married, but this one was different. Christopher’s dad was the minister, his brothers were the groomsmen, Ivy’s sisters were her bridesmaids, much like at their church all people present were either related or about to be related. Everyone already knew each other so well, and it was incredibly clear that this was a joining of two families, not just two people.
This all made for an intimate wedding film that I believe sums up Christopher and Ivy so well.
A Church That Holds Everybody
The film opens on the building itself under a sky that is doing that thing Texas skies do in the summer where it’s about to rain and then decides not to. Big brick sanctuary, white steeple, a circle drive out front. Nothing about it is fancy and everything about it is theirs, because this is the church his dad and his grandfather both ministered at.
Inside, it’s an old-fashioned sanctuary with wooden pews, organ pipes up on the back wall, and a long red aisle down the middle with a white runner laid over it. Whenever you’re filming in a room shaped like that, the architecture hands you your wide shot for free, because everything in the space already points at the couple.
Getting Ready
The morning was aunts and cousins on a living room couch surrounded by tissue paper and gift bags, wrapping and assembling and generally handling everything, which is very much how this family works.
Christopher and the groomsmen wore white jackets with teal bow ties, and there is a shot in here of somebody else’s hands straightening his tie for him while he stands there and lets them, which is one of my favorite kinds of moment to catch on a wedding day. Nobody asked for it. It just happens, over and over, all day long, and if you’re filming with your camera down you miss all of it.
Their Vows
They said the same words to each other, which I love, and Ivy read hers into a handheld microphone so the whole room could hear it. After the traditional part, the better and worse and richer and poorer, they both got to the line that gave this film its name: I take you to be my best friend, my faithful partner, and my one true love. I promise to encourage you and inspire you and to love you truly through the good times and the bad. I will forever be there to laugh with you, to lift you up, and to love you unconditionally, through all our adventures in life together.
His dad performed the ceremony, and the pronouncement he gave was addressed not just to the couple but to the whole congregation of family, friends, brothers, and sisters, which in that room was more or less the same list of people twice.
Two Families In One Room
There’s a shot of the flower girl and the ring bearer heading back up that red aisle after the ceremony, and honestly it sums the day up better than anything I could have staged, because the kids in the processional were cousins, the groomsmen were brothers, the bridesmaids were sisters, and the minister was Dad. That is a very rare thing to walk into as a filmmaker. Most weddings you spend the first hour figuring out who everybody is and how they connect. Here, everybody already knew.
The Reception
Then a dance floor, colored lights, and a room full of people who have known each other their entire lives cutting loose. And then a car door, and they were gone.
Interested in having me film your wedding? Please contact me!