In the years after graduating from Texas A&M, I still found myself returning to College Station every few months to film a wedding, film for the University, or to pass through and see friends (and often film something with them). As time has passed though, that list of friends that call College Station their home has gradually dwindled. That’s the nature of a college town, over half the residents are transitory and will only live there for four or five, or in my case EIGHT years, before moving on to bigger cities.
This doesn’t make my visits back to College Station necessarily lonely, but it does make my time spent with friends that still live there more special. One of the people that has made those visits great has been my friend Josh. For the past few years he has been consistent in not only finding out when I am headed back to College Station, but also what my schedule will be, and when we can hangout while I am there. This usually results in us staying up incredibly late filming timelapses of various landmarks around the Texas A&M campus while discussing the finer points of light pollution and whether Sony is better than Nikon which is definitely better than Canon.
One of those nights two years ago turned to a discussion about a girl that Josh was pursuing. One that he met at church, was instantly friend-zoned by, and then managed to invite on a date for coffee. He told me she was a girl worth pursuing, and more importantly she pushed him to love Jesus more.
Fast forward one year and I was back in College Station, filming more timelapses with Josh, but this time he brought the girl, Jennifer. A few months back he had proposed under the Century Tree on campus, and at this point I already knew I would film their wedding, but it was nice to finally put a face with the name of a girl that Josh had spoken of so fondly.
Finally, six months later after all the buildup, I filmed Josh and Jennifer’s wedding on a beautiful day in March. The clouds rolling through in the morning gave way to the piercing sun that cut the ceremony in half diagonally. Afterwards, we all marveled as the sunset cast its rays across the pasture. Throughout the day, I was constantly reminded of their love for each other, and Jesus love for them. Their notes? All about each other and Jesus. Their vows? All about each other and Jesus. The toasts by their friends? All about how they met, fell in love, and cared about each other and Jesus. Between those moments and the amazing weather, 12th man towel waving, and constant whoops throughout the day, I knew their wedding film was going to be fun to create.
The Day Itself
The venue sits out in the countryside, and the film opens there, in the tall grass, before anybody has arrived. Anytime I get a wedding out in a pasture I spend the first stretch of the morning just walking the property, because that’s where the film’s sense of place comes from and there’s usually only one window to get it.
Getting ready is the same on both sides of the building and completely different in feel. One room full of curling irons and hairspray and everybody talking over each other. One room where a guy quietly puts on a jacket and stops for a second.
And then there are the boots. This is a Texas countryside wedding with two stepping in the forecast, and the boots under the dresses tell you exactly what kind of reception you’re about to film.
The Ceremony
The officiant opens by talking directly to the room rather than to the couple, which I always like:
Whether you’ve gotten to watch their relationship from afar, or maybe you’ve walked through the trenches that is dating and engagement with these two, we have enjoyed every minute of it. It has been beautiful to see your love for one another.
Then the letters they wrote each other that morning, read in voiceover over the getting-ready footage. Jennifer’s opens with “we made it” and thanks him for letting her say yes. Josh’s calls her his sweet love and talks about how little they knew their friendship would grow into their best friendship, and about the next few decades being a profound adventure to share.
Their vows are traditional and deliberate, and both of them are visibly working to get through them. And the line from the homily that ties the whole film together is the one about where this came from:
We like to think that maybe it was founded in the dating relationship. The dinner dates, the coffee dates, the more coffee dates, the movie dates. We like to think that it was there. But we know that first and foremost, it was founded in Jesus.
The moment I keep coming back to in this film is the groomsmen behind Josh during the kiss, because they are having a bigger reaction than anybody else in the building, and none of it is for the camera.
The Reception
Aggie Ring wearing, two stepping, Jesus loving, exactly as advertised. There’s towel waving. There’s whooping, constantly, which if you didn’t go to A&M is a thing that just happens and you learn to stop being startled by it.
And the film ends the way the night did, from above, with everybody lined up outside in the dark waiting to send them off.
Credits
Sound effects licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License:
- rbh train freight by.wav by RHumphries, on Freesound
- Farmyard Ambience Revisited.wav by Benboncan, on Freesound
- Cotton Flapping.wav by Benboncan, on Freesound
- Swird Swipe5.wav by LukeSharples, on Freesound
- Swish by NightiKnight, on Freesound
Want To Watch More?
- Meant to be together since grade school, a wedding in the heart of Austin
- The brightest shade of sun I’ve ever seen, a wintry wedding in Waco
- Laughter, love, and adventure, an incredibly energetic wedding in the Texas Hill Country
- Growing old, disgracefully, together, a South Texas wedding film
Interested in having me film your wedding? Get in touch! You can also see more of my work at Filmstrong Productions.