You may remember Kelsey and Jacob from their highlight film, High School Sweethearts In The Hill Country. That one was the three minute version. This is the whole thing.
Today, Rachel and I want to share their full wedding film with you: a story that says a lot more about who they are, how their relationship grew from campfires and two-step dances to a wedding next to a pig barn, and of course, how they ended up with a petting zoo at their wedding reception.
Nine Years In The Making
These two have been together since high school. That is the kind of history that changes what a wedding day actually feels like. Nobody in that crowd was meeting the other half for the first time. The best man had stories going back to sixth grade. Kelsey’s dad had a story about a cold, wet duck hunting morning and a question Jacob asked him in the truck afterward, three full months before he ever asked Kelsey.
When a room already knows the couple that well, your job as the filmmaker is mostly to stay out of the way and keep rolling.
The Family Ranch
Everything happened on their family ranch, which I described in my previous blog post as “their connecting point for all their key moments growing up together.” Jacob proposed right next to the pig barn. The ceremony happened a few steps away from it. Their guests spent the day in the same fields these two grew up in.
That gave us the chance to capture not just the ceremony, but a glimpse of who they are as people. From shotguns in the morning, to Aaron Watson in the evening, this wedding was the perfect culmination of Kelsey and Jacob’s relationship, and one that we were so incredibly overjoyed to film.
Yes, There Was A Petting Zoo
Kelsey loves animals. Her dad said it best in his toast: he heard about the petting zoo, started to ask what in the world was going on, then stopped himself and laughed, because of course there was going to be a petting zoo. It was Kelsey’s wedding.
By the end of the night the whole thing had turned into one long line of people with their arms around each other on the dance floor, boots and all.
Want Me To Film Your Wedding?
If you’re getting married (no shotguns or pig barn required), we would love to film it. Please get in touch at filmstrong.com.
You can see the gear I used to shoot this wedding at kit.co/whoismatt, and if you want to learn how I edit films like this one, that’s what Wedding Film Framework is for.