Fat Cat Productions

DEVLIN PREQUEL NOW ONLINE!

2010-11-28T23:51:00.002-06:00

Finally! Tim and Amanda's wedding day prequel is finally online! Scroll down to their blog entry or click here to view it! Be sure to leave your comments and let us know what you think! Congrats to the Devlin's! sg

LEESTMA PREQUEL ONLINE NOW!!!!!!!!

2010-10-18T11:38:00.002-05:00

FINALLY, again, the long awaited prequel is here!
Scott and Andrea's prequel is now online, you can see it at the link here http://fatcatrocks.blogspot.com/2010/09/costello-leestma-9-4-2010.html or just scroll down to find it. Thanks everyone for all your patience as Fat Cat goes through our recent changes! Be sure to leave your comments for the bride and groom!!!! It was a great day! SG

Michel - Devlin Wedding 10-02-10

2010-10-04T11:52:00.004-05:00

This weekend we had the fabulous privilege of spending the day with Amanda and Tim! The day started early at Eric Fisher Salon in east Wichita where the girls in the bridal party, including the couples mothers and grandmothers were in attendance, overtaking the entire upper floor of the salon in preparation of the big day! Amanda was amazing. Calm and relaxed with literally not an ounce of reservation or nerves. Everyone's hair looked amazing (of course!) and everyone was very happy with the results. It took about an hour and a half to get everyone through and once they were finished, spent no time in gathering their things and heading east to Andover to continue getting ready near the ceremony site.

In the meantime Barry headed east to meet the groomsmen while they prepared for the day, they met in the clubhouse of the Flint Hills National Golf Course and chose some dashing suits in lieu of tuxedos. The men spent most of their time relaxing and enjoying watching football! They started their photo session with photographer Tim Davis, who is a long time friend of Tim's family.

When I arrived to the golf course, I grabbed a golf cart and headed to the Dower Lodge on the property to finish up with the ladies getting make up applied by the Maid of Honor, who is a make up artist, it worked out perfectly! The lodge had a gorgeous view of the ceremony site across a lake to the 10th hole of the course where all the chairs were set up in perfect rows, all 400 of them!

Amanda chose beautiful dresses for the ladies, a gold strapless gown that blended perfectly with the fall colors and surroundings. She chose orange and purple flowers exquisitely done by Walter's Flowers. The flowers were incredble against the ladies gowns. Amanda's dress was found in Denver and was simply amazing. Strapless with material wrapping her in angled layers. And of course Amanda's awesome gold shoes by Jimmy Choo. "We have to have a little Jimmy!" she beamed!

When they were ready, they met Tim Davis for photographs and then had a private moment with just her groom prior to the ceremony. This set up was perfect as they were able to get all of the photos of bridal party and family completed before the ceremony so they had time to visit with hundreds of guests at the reception later.

Guests arrived signing cards of well wishes in place of a guest book and were served water, lemonaid or champagne as they waited for the ceremony to start. At 4pm, the ceremony started with a string quartet playing in the background as the bride made her way down the path to the 10th hole with her father. Everyone was all smiles as Bishop Eugene Gerber began the ceremony. He jokingly stated towards the sky "I asked for a gentle breeze!" as a few gusts of wind carried the brides veil in gentle cirlces. The ceremony was an abbreviated Mass and Tim and Amanda were soon announced as husband and wife. They wasted no time heading back to the lodge to witness the signing of the marriage certicifate while guests were escorted to their cars via golf carts. Everyone was instructed to then head to the Wichita Country Club for cocktail hour.

At the country club we set up with DJ Scott Ward from Accent Mobile Music getting the run down for the evening and a special surprise that Amanda had planned for Tim. When the bride and groom arrived in their classic car Scott had the guests clear a path from the main entrance to the grand hall for them to enter. He announced that the bride and groom had arrived and welcomed them with the help of "Tim's favorite band". A snare drum started it off and the K-State Marching Band entered the Hall at the same time as the newlyweds! Tim had the biggest smile on his face and guests were singing the K-State theme song. The band played 3 songs for the bride and groom before they mingled with guests and had some great toasts from their bridal party and fathers.

With Amanda's strong ties to family, dinner was served family style at the guests tables consisting of her favortie, Italian. There was not an official bridal cake, keeping with the theme of family and friends, each table had their own cake to share at their tables. Also for dessert was Tim's favorite, Squeaks donuts and milk.

The couple enjoyed their first dance and dances with their parents as their guests circled them in the grand hall and the party was officially started! Guests enjoyed the night visiting with the couple and were sent away with a treat of late night cookies and milk. We stayed until the couple left at nearly midnight, still smiling. The couple will be spending their honeymoon in Italy but at a later date due to committments with the family business. We know they will have a wonderful time!
Thank you Tim and Amanda, and your families, for allowing us the honor to spend one of the most important days of your life with you! The day was perfect. We have enjoyed getting to know you. It is obvioius you are loved and cared for by many people and we know there are great things in store for you in the future. Thank you for making our last official hurrah simply the best!

Click the video below to see the wedding day prequel!

New Prequel Finally Online!

2010-09-15T00:33:00.002-05:00

We apologize again for the delay in posting the latest prequel. Hilary and Nicholas have been so patient with my schedule its not even funny :) Thank you! Please enjoy the much anticipated Dopfel Wedding Prequel by scrolling down or clicking the following link http://fatcatrocks.blogspot.com/2010/08/meister-dopfel.html As always let us know what you think! Just two more to come!!! SG

Costello- Leestma 9-4-2010

2010-09-08T04:13:00.011-05:00

This past weekend, the 4th of September, we had the pleasure of spending our second to last wedding with Andrea and Scott. It didn't see much like work except for carrying around the equipment from place to place. Andrea and Scotts parents made us feel so welcome and part of the family, it was quite a treat to spend the day with everyone!

I started the day with Andrea and her bridesmaids getting ready at the church downtown, St. Mary's Cathedral. It didn't take Andrea long to decide to get into her gown so she could get pictures taken and get down the aisle to her groom! She looked fabulous- what else?! She came in with her hair perfect in an updo and splashes of small sequined flowers accenting the style. She had the most amazing veil in place, cathedral length and trailing the ground, I had to be careful not to step on it and yank it out of her head! Her dress was a gorgeous ivory, strapless with embelishments across the waist and an easy zippered back that fit her like a glove. She borrowed stunning diamond jewelry from one of the bridesmaids and her grandmother presented her with the something old; a cameo ring that she wore at her wedding, as well as the brides mother and now the bride. A tradition they hoped to continue.

Barry spent some time in the morning with Scott and the groomsmen at the Hyatt downtown. It also took no time at all for the men to get ready and head to the church to get pictures. Classic black tuxes was the attire. Their photographer Amy Stevens from Lola Jo Photo Design and she got as many shots beforehand as she could. You can check out her website and blog here http://www.lolajo.com/ We did have a great time hanging out and sharing a few laughs! We'll post a few pics of Amy's very soon! (I'm having some uploading issues, so check out Amy's blog in the meantime!!!)

In no time, it was time to get the wedding started, all cameras rolling, the main door to the church opened as the crowd rose to their feet to welcome Andrea and her father into the church.

This was the first time Scott was able to see his bride all day. They celebrated a full catholic mass and were soon announced as husband and wife, making their way out the main doors as husband and wife. Guests lined up outside the church to wish them well as they left on one of the red city trolleys.

The couple returned discreetly to the church to finish up bridal party portraits and made a quick stop at the Keeper of the Plains as Barry and I gathered equipment and went to set up at the Hyatt for the reception and party. Guests relaxed with cocktail hour as I followed Amy down to the river with the couple for a few quick shots- what fun we had with the Kansas wind and that amazing veil!

Again, all too soon after they were announced into the reception with roaring applause by Adam Bontrager of Accent Mobile Music- they made their way to the cake and cupcake table for the festivities and their first toast. A fabulous dinner followed, as well as the formal toasts by bridal party and a surprise toast from the father of the bride. They chose to dance with their parents first before dancing together as husband and wife and then invited the bridal party to the dance floor to kick off the party. Once the few brave souls let go of the initial shyness, the party was a hoot and everyone had an absolutely great time. Many fun requests had me wanting to join in the dancing through the night. A particularly fun song I enjoyed was the tribute to Scotts family from Ohio and Ohio State University sung to the tune of "Hang on Sloopy- O- H- I -O!"

We are extremely jealous that the couple will be spending thier honeymoon in Jamaica, but it is well deserved for a well deserving couple! We thank you for allowing us to spend such an important and special day with you, we feel like we were treated like family and that makes it that much more special. We hope we get to know you both better in the future, congratulations and good luck!
Click below to see the wedding day prequel. "Sunny Day", a perfect day to fall in love! :)

Changing Times....

2010-08-18T02:30:00.005-05:00

Well everyone, it has been a whirlwind for us here at Fat Cat over the last 8 years. We 'officially' began our business back in 2002 but had been doing video work for longer than that. We started out Part Time making "extra money" on the side until the workload got to be so big that we took the business Full Time, trading it in from my employment as a Paramedic after 14 years. What a change that was! We shared a beautiful studio with T&J Studios in Valley Center for almost 2 years...then, economic times changed in the world and we again had to move our business back to Part Time and I had to regain Full Time employment elsewhere back in the medical community.

This lead to another path- I started Nursing School earlier this year and am excited for it to be done at years end! But now the time has come for a change- again. We have been receiving quite a few emails and phone calls lately inquiring about our availability to film weddings in the 2011 season. As much as we have thoroughly enjoyed our time filming weddings and meeting SO MANY wonderful brides and grooms and their families, we have had to make a difficult decision for our business. With our change in our Full Time employment status this year and coming this December/January as well, Fat Cat currently will not be accepting any 2011 weddings at this time. We will still continue with our love for filming and cinematography by completing Love Stories for the wedding day and Baby Stories (a few of which are in the works currently for this fall) and other smaller projects such as our recent work with the Fire Department, local schools and Hutchinson Community College Paramedic Program.

There were several reasons behind this decision and we deeply apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment this may cause to our "future" brides we have not had the pleasure of even meeting! We have a few more weddings this year to attend with some awesome brides still, so a few more prequels to come for you to enjoy in the wedding department. We hope to share other work with you in the future as the business takes on a new change. It has been a huge part of our lives and we are not sure where new roads will lead us, only time will tell. Steph

Meister- Dopfel !!!

2010-08-09T16:48:00.006-05:00

This past weekend, on the 7th of August, we were able to spend the day with Hilary and Nicholas for their wedding. The day not only went by in a blur for the couple, but for Fat Cat as well! We first met up with the bride and groom at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to film the preparations. The bride was running slightly late, but I truly have never seen anyone as relaxed and calm as she was when shortened on time. No concerns, no worries, no stress. Even when asked about all the traditional new, old, borrowed and blue items, she realized she had nothing old or borrowed. She simply replied "I'm not worried, I doubt it will curse me". Not a care in the world! She was ready to be married and ready to go! I believe she was ready in record time as well wearing a striking Maggie Sattero gown from Uniquely You Bridal. Strapless, lace up back, with a short lace train and embelishments across a belted waist and simple and elegant tiara with veil. The ladies wore classic black strapless gowns with lace overlay on the bodice. Barry spent his time with the groom and groomsmen making sure that the couple did not run into each other prior to the ceremony! They took as many photos as time allowed for separately before the ceremony.

At 2pm the doors to the back of the church swung open to welcome Hilary and her Dad into the sanctuary for the ceremony in front of approximately 150 friends and family. The mothers of the couple shared readings, and Fr. Mainzer from Newton was the officiant, being a long time friend of the family. It was a full mass to celebrate their new life together and the couple left with guests blowing bubbles on their way to the stretch limo.

We then met up with the couple again at the reception hall, Tallgrass Country Club that was beautifully decorated with Hilary's colors of a maroon, pink and black. A very awesome color scheme I might add! Chairs were adorned with chair covers and at the head table, they were embroidered with "Mr. and Mrs. Dopfel". The couple snuck away after arriving to grab some quick photos on the golf course before being introduced into the room as husband and wife! They were truly happy and enjoyed greeting all their guests. The cake was amazing as well and the grooms cake was simply cool as cool gets, a small airplane with the tail numbers of the grooms actual plane! Very cool.

After dinner, the couple shared their first dance together which was beautifully choreographed- the crowd went wild! Great job guys! The remainder of the night included toasts, parents dances, the boquet and garter tosses and just plain fun. It was alot of fun to hang out with Nicholas and Hilary and we wish them all the happiness and joy that can come their way to do so!

Check out their wedding day prequel below! Enjoy!

New Prequel Uploaded!

2010-07-23T11:19:00.002-05:00

Our newest Prequel is now online for Bibi and Wade. You can check it out by scrolling down to their entry or clicking here http://fatcatrocks.blogspot.com/2010/06/bibi-wade-6-12-2010.html to go directly to their page. Leave your comments and enjoy! A few Fall weddings are yet to be shot, we are excited to share them with you as well in the coming months! SG

A Totally GAGA Prequel Now Online!!!!

2010-07-12T20:31:00.003-05:00

Check out Veronica and Mike's Prequel now online by scrolling below or clicking on thier link here! http://fatcatrocks.blogspot.com/2010/06/davis-holtz-wedding.html

Enjoy and be sure to tell us what you think!!! Steph

Riley- McLaen Prequel (FINALLY) Online Now!

2010-07-08T09:55:00.002-05:00

Sorry everyone with the delay in prequels, school is taking its toll on me this summer obviously, thanks to my kickin' brides and grooms who continue to be patient for me! You're the best! So now without further adu, Chris and Cassie's Prequel can now be viewed by scrolling below to their post and/or using the following direct link. http://fatcatrocks.blogspot.com/2010/05/reily-mclaen-wedding.html
Enjoy! Up next Holtz Wedding and the Papparazzi!

Bibi & Wade 6-12 -2010

2010-06-16T23:36:00.005-05:00

This past weekend was great! Bibi contacted Fat Cat over a year ago prior to us leaving our Valley Center studio during a spring Open House. She secured her date shortly after and we have looked forward to the day ever since. Bibi's lineage is Laotian and we were excited to see some of her traditions on the wedding day.
I started with Bibi at The Bee Hive Salon in northeast Wichita where she met her bridesmaids and worked out any last minute nerves. This quickly subsided as she had a great time with her friends and they made her feel c omfortable and she was soon ready for the day she had planned for so far in advance. Bibi's hair looked fabulous, tons of curls, updo plus a variety of veils for the day. He was also very happy with the bridesmaids hair by the great staff at Bee Hive. I later met up with Bibi at St. Thomas Aquinas for her to get dressed with the rest of the ladies.
She had chosen a gorgeous fitted white gown by Kinney Chen that fit like a glove. The ladies wore dark chocolate dresses and had accent floral arrangements of reds, orange and white mixed flowers with my new favorite flower, monkeys tail! Very cool.

The groom arrived ready with his groomsmen and everyone got right after photos, as the bride and groom chose not to see each other prior to the ceremony- they wanted the element of surprise.

The ceremony started on-time and everything was perfect, processional, readings, vows and the pronouncement. They chose not to have a full mass. The couple hired Sublett Photography for the day and Carol and Amber were fun to work with, they took the newlyweds downtown for a portrait session before the reception. We went ahead to the receptioin to set up and wait for their arrival in the limo.

The reception was held downtown with Jubilations Events planning a good portion of the day and decorating beautifully, with the help of some gorgeous blue and white uplighting by DJ Another Dimension. Ladies, uplighting is definitely the way to go if you want to set a both romantic, relaxed and fun mood. Lights change everything! It was great!

The couple entered to thunderous applause and promptly cut the cake, as it was iced with coolwhip and the fear of icing melting was a factor in the warm weather, but all was well! (And yummy). The cake was at least 8 different flavors for guests to enjoy. The couple shared two first dances, a traditional as well as taking a moment for Bibi to change into her Laotian traditional gown for another first dance. The couple then were able to greet all their guests table by table and share in a shot of Hennesey! Laotian music played in the background for all guests and it was truly beautiful. Later, the bride changed back into the contemporary gown and danced the night away. Boy did they dance! It was a great party! The photo booth by Photobooths4fun was a HUGE hit as well.

We had a great time, everyone did. To Wade and Bibi, thank you so much for letting us share the day with you, we appreciate it and the opportunity to get to know you better. We wish you every happiness in your new married life! Click below to view the wedding day prequel, a classic style with classic film filters. Enjoy!

Davis- Holtz Wedding

2010-06-02T14:42:00.004-05:00

This past weekend we spent the day with Veronica and Mike. Veronica is a meteorologist with NOAA and Mike is in the US Air Force, what a pair! We had a great day. I started at the downtown Hyatt documenting the ladies getting ready for the day with hair and make up. The ladies made Veronica feel right at home and there were absolutely no pre-wedding jitters! Everything went according to plan! The bridesmaids wore dark purple gowns while Veronica chose a stunning strapless Maggie Soterro with a mermaid fit and the perfect amount of embellishments and lace. Everyone looked awesome which matched the groomsmen's uniforms, all of which were in the Air Force with Mike.

After separate photo sessions with photographer Tim Davis, the couple headed to the ballroom for the ceremony. Family and friends came to town from all over the US to witness their vows and it was a full house with about 150 guests in attendance. The grooms Uncle presided over the ceremony and was a very personal touch. Two special readings were included in the ceremony, one of which I especially enjoyed from Dr. Seuss. I love this couple!

Without any hesitation, the vows were exchanged and the couple was soon announced as husband and wife with the groomsmen leaving ahead of the couple. They re-entered the ballroom as the Honor Guard with swords raised above the couple as they left. Of course, they had to be trapped for the traditional kiss and swatting of the bride's backside with a sword as they left!

A cocktail hour followed while the wedding party braved the heat and humidity for photos and then entered the reception hall with one of the best wedding party intros I've seen in some time. As the Black Eyed Peas "I've got a Feelin" played in the background, each couple came in dancing of course followed by the lucky couple. They all finished the song dancing wildly on the dance floor to start the party!

All the usual traditions followed, first dance, parents dances, cutting of cake, toasts, and of course boquet and garter toss. It was one heck of a party, one I cannot compare to in quite some time- everyone was having the time of their lives.

The couple will be spending their honeymoon in Hawaii, you lucky dogs! :) We wish them every happiness in their new life in Texas, you both are the best and we enjoyed spending the day with you and getting to know you immensely! Thank you for having us!

Check out all the fun everyone had below- I told ya they were a cool couple! :) (And thanks to Tim Davis for letting us poke a little fun at the "Paparazzi", too!

New Prequel Online!

2010-05-28T23:19:00.003-05:00

Scroll down to check out the Neises-Goebel Prequel below! Thanks to the Goebels for their patience with our busy month with school and congrats to Elisabeth on graduation from Nursing School as well! You're the best! Coming soon, the McLaen prequel, stay tuned!!!

Reily- McLaen Wedding

2010-05-16T11:19:00.007-05:00

Last week we spent the day in Caldwell, Kansas with Cassie and Chris for a great wedding! We first met Cassie and Chris last fall while shooting their Love Story. It was a complete blast and we got to know the couple well, we had lots in common with each other, the same friends and interests and all around just had a great time! They waited a long 5 years for the wedding day and they were ready to go!!!

I met Cassie at the local salon on Main street to have her hair fixed. Chris sent her flowers and a card stating he could not wait to see her later that day! Her bridesmaids, friends and family came and went to say hello and make sure there were no last minute plans they could help with. When Cassie was done, she of course looked stunning and I couldn't wait to see the dress. I hopped a ride with the bride in her car back to her house down the street while Barry and the photographer, the completely awesome Tim Davis, tried to track down the groomsmen to no avail! :) So while they set up at the church for the upcoming photo session, Cassie and I went to her house so she could get dressed.

Cassie wasted no time and was in her dress I think in record time that I have seen in 8 years of filming weddings. She had a very form fitting dress that opened up loosely near the knees with a short classy train. The lace overlay gave it a traditional feel. Now, the lacing up the back took a little more time! The family dogs had to come by for a visit. Cassie was completely relaxed and a few mintes later, I again hopped a ride with her and the flower girls in her car to get to the church.
Chris and Cassie wanted to see each other prior to the ceremony to finish as many photos as possible so they had more time to enjoy the party and visit with guests afterwards. So Tim set up a nice meeting in the church of the bride and groom alone. When Chris saw Cassie for the first time, he said, and I quote, "I'm the luckiest guy in the world, aren't I?" YES CHRIS YOU ARE!

Shortly after some photos, time flew by very quickly and the ceremony was underway almost before we were prepared to film!
I do believe that was also a record for a Catholic ceremony. I must say Chris and Cassie have to be the most laid back, best sports I've seen in quite some time when the priest called them by the wrong names at one point! Which became the big joke of the day...

So after "Charles and Kathy" had their first kiss as man and wife, it was definitely time to celebrate! They ushered out all guests row by row to be able to thank everyone who came. Then everyone lined up outside in the beautiful weather with bubbles to wish them well as they drove away in Chris' truck, appropriately decorated with balloons and the traditional beer cans being drug behind them!

They made their fake getaway, came back to the church for just a few photos by Tim before I got to hop a ride with Tim and follow the entire bridal party (all in the back of Chris' pick up) to a nearby wheat field and other places for photos. It was appropriate as Chris is a custom cutter by trade in the family business and spends much time on farms and in the country.

Then off to the reception where the bridal party received a grand entrance by Ryan of Absolute Sound DJ Entertainment. They cut the cake, had a wonderful dinner and had the first public screening of the McLaen Love Story on the big screen. Chris and Cassie received many compliments on their story as many of their friends and family were unsure how they met and fell in love. Too fun!

Then they shared in all the traditional dances and events during the reception. They had a wonderful time visiting with everyone who came to show their love and support. There were many family members from out of town as Chris hails from the Dakotas.

Click below to see what fun everyone had in the McLaen's Prequel!! Congratulations Chris and Cassie!

Neises - Goebel

2010-04-26T15:29:00.004-05:00

Last week we had the pleasure of working with Elisabeth and Curtis. What a fun day! We were slightly out of practice with a slow start to our shooting year, but we made it happen! I started the day by meeting Elisabeth and the bridesmaids at the salon in west Wichita to get updo's and make up done before the big events of the day. It was a very nice relaxing time. It was good to visit with Elisabeth and get to know her a little better. It was also fun as the entire bridal party were nurses or ready to graduate nursing school! With Barry and I and the entire wedding party and other guests, everyone was in good hands at this wedding!!! It didn't take long for the brides hair to be complete, tiara in place and ready to roll. Although we cannot say the same for the precious flower girl whose gorgeous hair took 3 whole hours to complete! Then it was off to make sure all the equipment was accounted for and we met Elisabeth at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to finish get ready.

Elisabeth wore classic white, strapless gown with a beaded and pleated bodice, and skirt that wrapped and gathered at one side of her waist. Layers of toule with embelishments peeked through below, very cool... The ladies wore two different shades of strapless blue tea length dresses to match the flowers and color scheme chosen for the day, very summer like and fun!

Although the bride and groom chose not to see each other prior to the ceremony, the photographer, Tony from GS Memory Maker, set up the couple on either side of the chapel door where they could talk and hold hands but not see each other.

At 2 o'clock, the doors to the church opened and Elisabeth and her father walked into the sanctuary filled with about 300 of their closest family and friends. They celebrated a full Mass prior to running off in the trolley and to Old Town for pictures with Tony.

Fat Cat high tailed it to the reception hall at St. Peters in Schulte and readied all our equipment for the nights party.
Complete Music then announced the bridal party into the room to the roar of the crowd. Traditional events followed with dinner, a slide show, toasts, and cutting of cake. The wedding cake was gorgeous with shades of blue flowers to match the boquets and dresses. We'll let Elisabeth share the secret about the cake... The couple's first dance was partially choreographed and they did a great job, probably because Elisabeth changed into her pink street shoes! Sweet!

What a great night, Curtis wore a big smile the whole night and it is apparent they are both made for one another.
Congratulations on your marriage and the new job! What a great way to start your life together! Enjoy your trip this summer, you completely deserve it! Best of luck to both of you- stay tuned in the coming weeks for Curtis and Elisabeth's prequel!

The Blush Bride and Fat Cat!!

2010-02-10T16:35:00.005-06:00

We are excited to announce that Fat Cat Productions is one of the newest members of Blush Brides! Go to www.theblushbride.com to check out all the awesome vendors if you or someone you know is planning an upcoming wedding! Specials for Blush Bride Members to help you plan and save money! We are all into that right!? Check out the Blush Bride Launch Party as well! Fat Cat will be there to document! Come join the fun! Psst! PASS IT ON!!!!!!!

One More Prequel Online Now!

2010-01-18T21:45:00.003-06:00

The Tucker/Kramer Prequel is now finally online! We are caught up on prequels and now working feverishly to get more weddings out before spring! You can check out the prequel here or you can scroll down to the Tuckers entry below. Enjoy! SG

New Pequel Online Now!

2010-01-15T12:56:00.002-06:00

We are slowly catching up in the prequel queue! The Hathaway wedding day prequel is finally online! You can scroll down to see it or click here! Lend us your comments, we love to hear from you! (Comments may take several minutes to load online). In the meantime, see that link to your right that says "subscribe"? Yup, click on that to enter your email address and whenever we update the blog, you will receive an email in the morning to let you know- no releasing your email to others, no annoying solicitations either :) Go ahead. You know you want to! :)

GOOD TIMES!

2010-01-10T22:20:00.003-06:00

Thanks to all the past and future brides who came out with friends or family to the bridal show this weekend, what fun! It was great to see you! Unfortunately no one claimed the Facebook/Social Networking special, but the bridal Show special is still running for a few weeks. 15% off wedding movie packages. Our year is filling up with shooting dates and a limited number of available weekends, so do not delay! If we are unavailable for your date, don't fet- we can still do Love Stories, Bridal Elegance ideos, etc for your big day! Give us a holla!

BRIDAL SHOW TODAY! SOCIAL NETWORKING SPECIAL!!!!

2010-01-09T10:05:00.003-06:00

The 2010 Bridal and Prom Expo doors just opened! Come down and see us! Through the magic of social networking we are offering an incredible special....check out the FAT CAT ROCKS Fan page on Facebook for the details!!! You don't want to miss this one! (TRUST ME!) Be the first to tell us what the special is and book your 2010 wedding and be on your way to an incredible memory of your wedding day with Fat Cat for an incredible price!!!! See you there!!!

New Prequel Online!

2010-01-08T10:58:00.002-06:00

The McCurry/Krol prequel is now online as of last night! You can scroll to their entry or click here for the link! It was a great day for Cori and Noah- check it out! Be sure to let us know what you think! Again, Enjoy! (More to come!!!)

New Prequel Online!

2010-01-04T21:44:00.001-06:00

Another prequel is online now! (We are playing catch up!) The Pippin Prequel is the newest upload for you to enjoy! Be sure to comment and let us know what you think- you can find the prequel by clicking here or scrolling down to the Pippin's blog entry. Enjoy! More to come!

New Year!!!

2010-01-01T11:18:00.006-06:00

Happy New Year!

We hope this wish finds you all well after a great Holiday Season celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with your friends and family. We have enjoyed working with each and every bride and groom this last year! We are so lucky to mesh with such wonderful people! Thank you to everyone who has allowed us to be a part of their big day!

The New Year brings many new opportunities this year and we'd like to share just a few things that have been going on here with you...

With the Holidays we are still working on catching up on a few prequels to post from November and December of '09, bear with us just a little bit and we'll get these posted ASAP!

The most recent news is the Bridal Fair coming up FAST on January 9th and 10th at Century II. We will be on the entry aisle along the wall, booth #5 so come and see us! We will be handing out our demo DVD for those who have not made the final decision to hire a videographer yet. For those that have, tell your friends! It's $7.50 for a one day pass or $11 for both days if you don't get all your shopping done in one day. A great value in the scheme of wedding planning!

We also wanted to let everyone know that we have been very happy over the years with our business growing from a "side"/part time job to a full time and professional income. But the last few years we have taken on new projects in life and we are now back to a part time, but professional venture! We are taking only a limited number of events in 2010. So if you have had friends who have showed an interest in having Fat Cat videotape their wedding day, pass the word on. We book only one wedding per day on a first come-first serve basis. We already have a handful of events planned for 2010 and with our newly limited availability, wedding slots are filling fast!

For those that are unable to book us for the wedding day itself, don't forget about those one of a kind videos shot ahead of time that are GREAT hits at the reception- We will still be available for LOVE STORIES, BRIDAL ELEGANCE VIDEOS or SAVE THE DATE VIDEOS, BRIDAL PARTY MUSIC VIDEOS, VIDEO SPOOFS (or anything you can dream up! We get awesome ideas from brides and grooms!) even if you cannot make the wedding day video work.

Or even after the wedding day, consider an eXtreme session or Trash The Dress Session. Baby Stories and Birth Announcements are also becoming popular.

If you have been hinting at that special someone to pop the question, or know someone who will be.... don't forget to ask us to VIDEO TAPE THE PROPOSAL. What an awesome addition to your upcoming wedding video! Tell the WHOLE story. We can concoct any good ole fashioned story up with the grooms, even hide a wireless mic to capture it ALL ! Call us! (Or just send him this link....)

We have been very blessed the last year with wonderful friends and brides, a new dog (Murphy), starting our nursing school careers and more, we hope this new year continues to bless you all with love, health and happiness. Steph

New Prequel Online!

2010-01-01T11:16:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year! The Winter- Hanson Wedding Prequel is now online! You can view it by scrolling down to their blog entry or clicking here. Be sure to tell us what you think and leave your comments for the bride and groom!!! Enjoy!

Tucker/Kramer Wedding

2009-12-28T12:49:00.006-06:00

One word describes our day with Gary and Jazmine yesterday- Wow! It was a great day. We met Gary and Jazmine this past summer while they planned their wedding party and reception. The two were already married and wanted to have a big celebration for all their friends and family. We were honored to be a part of it.

I met Jazmine at Don Michael Bannon Salon downtown where she and the ladies were given fabulous hair styles and make up for the day. Don gave them updos with a similar styling to look fabulous for the photos and video. Everyone was stunning. After a fun and relaxed morning, the ladies met back up with me at the Wichita Marriott to get dressed for the day. Jazmine chose a gorgeous blue for her color. She wore a classic white strapless gown with my favorite souffle skirt and a dark navy blue ribbon wrapping around her waist. The bridesmaids wore matching navy blue strapless gowns. The flowers were a wintery light blue and complimented the dresses quite beautifully. Jazmine isn't the biggest flower fan and saved her budget for other things of "something blue"! (Read further).

As the two were already married and the wedding being an evening event, they chose to see each other before the ceremony. Her photographer, Tim Davis, set up a great place in the hotel lobby for them to meet and share a special moment together then knock out the traditional photos prior to the ceremony. But this photo session was quite fun and not-so traditional!

In the meantime, Jubilations Events were putting the finishing touches on the ceremony and reception rooms, turning them into a white and blue winter wonderland. Scott Ward from AMM DJ Service added the last blast of color with 20 different sets of LED uplighting filling both rooms! The lighting itself really was a centerpiece. Absolutely stunning. Stunning + Gorgeous= Wow.

6 pm fast approached and Jazmine made her way down the aisle with her father to meet Gary. They reaffirmed their vows, shared a unity sand ceremony and a comical early kiss as husband and wife! The ceremony was short and to the point as the couple wanted to spend their time with friends and enjoy time at the reception.

Tim, the Jubilatoins staff, Scott, and Fat Cat all had a chance to take pictures of the reception hall prior to the guests entering during the cocktail hour (a rarity for us) and everyone was just in awe. The bride and groom got a first sneak peak as well. Then the guests entered and you could read their lips "Oh wow!"

The room was completely transformed with white draperies and table linens, white chair covers with light blue sashes, white table tops trees with irridescent crystals and votive candles hanging in them, drapereies framing the dance floor with uplighting and several other white and blue decor touches. The bridal party entered and the bride and groom got right to it and cut the cake, started the buffet line and moved right into their first dances.

The night was a fantasy come to life, we cannot wait to show you the pictures from Tim and the prequel in a few weeks.

Thank you Jazmine and Gary, we had a great time spending the day with you. It was a great day, and it is obvious you are loved by many! Good luck to you on your new life in California and enjoy the Vegas vacation!

New Prequel Online!

2009-12-19T11:45:00.002-06:00

The Peaster Prequel is finally online! You can check it out at the following link or scroll down to the blog entry. Enjoy!

Hathaway Wedding

2009-12-12T13:04:00.004-06:00

Back on December 5th we spent the day with Emily and Luke. It was a little bit different as the couple were already married just prior to Luke leaving for a deployment in the US Army. But they still wanted to have a big celebration with their family and friends and that is exactly what happened on the 5th! I started the day in Newton with Emily at the Hair Company Salon on Main Street. The bride had a very special stylist- her mother-in-law! She did a wonderful job and hooked Emily up with tons of curls and made sure there wasn't a single hair out of place! A few of the bridesmaids also had their hair done at the salon. They were quite impressive not allowing Emily to worry about a thing. They made sure all last minute phone calls to vendors were made for her, all decorations were in place at the reception site, made sure she stayed on schedule, ate, and also made her get a good nights sleep the night before! Then off to the church for make up and getting into their dresses. The wedding was held at First Presbyterian Church in Newton and I followed the ladies as usual as Barry hung out with the wild and crazy groomsmen in the basement. We shared the day with Brian from JDB Photography and had a really good time. Brian got as many photos as he could prior to the ceremony as Emily wanted to save the surprise of her in her dress for Luke as she came down the aisle!

Her dress was a stunning Maggie Soterro. It was a champagne color with layers of lace and angled ruffles. Topped off with a brown short fur coat it was incredibly unique and fit Emily like a glove.

The ceremony went off without a hitch and it was great that the couple reaffirmed their vows, but never taking off their wedding rings. One of the bridesmaids, Megan Small, sang a beautiful rendition of the Lord's Prayer. You can't beat an Opera singer at your wedding!

The couple then took photos after the wedding while we gathered equipment and headed to the Ville in Andover for the reception. The bridal party made their grand entrance down the staircase and everyone wasted little time getting dinner. Emily and Luke chose not to have alcohol at the reception but instead use those funds to cater in Marble Slab Creamery for desert complete with 5 different flavors of ice cream and 20 delicious toppings! Luke was first in line to get it moving!

Toasts followed and the couples first dance, then a surprise from Emily and her father during their first dance. They started out visiting quietly during a slow ballad and one wave to the DJ started the show in motion! It was a fabulous take off of some couples first dances breaking out into different styles of dancing but between the bride and her dad! It was so awesome. No words can describe it. The crowd was roaring. The party followed with everyone having a really great time. We for one, had a great time spending the day with Luke and Emily!

Luke and Emily, thank you so much for having us and thank you for dinner and ice cream! We appreciate that! We felt more like friends or family at your wedding than a working vendor- just the way we like it! :) You two are a gorgeous beautiful couple inside and out. We enjoyed capturing every minute for you! Click below to see the Hathaway's prequel!

New Prequel Online!

2009-12-12T12:45:00.002-06:00

After a much anticipated long wait, the Friess/Ruth wedding day prequel is now online! You can view it by clicking here connecting you to the blog entry for the day! We do hope you enjoy it- be sure to leave us your comments! More prequels on the way, we have a few more to catch up on! Until next time.... SG

McCurry & Krol

2009-11-21T21:05:00.005-06:00

Today we spent the day with Cori and Noah. Cori and her mother were referred to us by other brides the past few years and it was now Cori's turn to tie the knot! I started the day with Cori at Eric Fisher Salon in west Wichita to have her hair and make up done with her mother and bridesmaids. After some confusion with her original stylist, the folks at EFS jumped right in to help fill in missed gaps and Cori took it all in stride. "I'm not worried at all" she reassured the ladies. And she wasn't. It was a relaxed morning filled with chatting, catching up, giggling and mimosa's. Many of the ladies were even tag teamed with the time schedule with one stylist working on their hair as a friend of Cori's applied all the make up by Mary Kay. It looked like they were all high fashion models ready to hit the runway!

We met back up at the church parish hall to finish getting the ladies dressed, as well as the bride. The groomsmen arrived ready and headed straight to their picture session while the ladies finished. Cori wore a beautiful strapless white gown by Maggie Soterro. What else do you say about a Maggie Soterro? Just gorgeous. The ladies wasted no time getting into their dresses either and everyone was off and ready to finish pictures and get to the ceremony.

The ceremony was held at St. Joseph's in Andale, Kansas. It went by in a flash. Cori marched in with the biggest smile on her face with her father and I don't think it left her face until she left with a different man on her arm! :) Mr. and Mrs. Krol left the church under a barrage of flower petals thrown by guests outside leading to the awaiting trolley. The photographers took them to a few spots in town for a few photos and we met back up with them at the reception at the Airport Hilton in west Wichita where they threw quite the party!

The couple was announced as husband and wife into the room and started the traditions with the cutting of cake, an awesome dinner buffett and toasts from the maid of honor and best man. The newlyweds took time to visit with their guests and treated them to a "candy bar" and digital photo booth to capture some spontaneous fun moments! It was a complete hit- I don't think the booth was empty all night long! The couple shared their first dance together and honored their parents with their special dances and then cut the dance floor loose to family and guests. It was a fun but relaxing time for the bride and groom!

Thanks to Cori and Noah for having us at your wedding, it was great to see familiar faces as well! What a small world! We hope you thoroughly enjoyed your time on your honeymoon and we can't wait to hear about what a wonderful time you had! We enjoyed ourselves at the wedding and feel very honored you chose Fat Cat! Congratulations!!!

Hunter- Pippin Wedding

2009-11-15T13:57:00.004-06:00

Yesterday we had a great wedding with Matt and Gabby! Matt contacted us earlier in the year to film the wedding after learning from his Dad that we do wedding videos. His Dad, Bob, had worked with us many years at EMS prior to retiring. Matt followed in his dad's footsteps and is a wildland firefighter from New Mexico. Gabby is originally from England and wanted a video of the wedding to be able to share the day with friends and family that were not able to attend "across the pond". The wedding was held in Andover, Kansas, so the couple had friends and family from all over attending.

I started the day with Gabby and the girls at Planet Hair downtown with photographer-extraordinaire Tim Davis. One thing that stuck out in my mind was that one of the bridesmaids was from Hawaii- she had beautiful dark hair with a few small swatches of hot pink in the back. While she got her hair done, she left the hot pink showing amidst the curls and hoped it was OK with the bride whose colors were black, white, midnight and pale aqua blue. With Gabby's relaxed demeanor, of course it was alright, she said it was a "splash of fun!". I have now coined a new phrase, stealing it from Gabby! All the ladies hair had some splash of fun to it, flowers, braids, etc. All were just stunning. Gabby stayed to have her make up done at the salon and we met back up at the church to document everyone finishing getting ready and heading down the aisle.

The wedding was at the United Methodist Church in Andover, Kansas. The ladies had classic black dresses with a "splash" of white. The guys were of course in black tuxes with their own splash of white- Converse Chucks shoes! Too fun. Everyone remained relaxed and comfortable. Tim got as many photos as possible before the wedding of the men and women separately, even a classic...perfect... "Charlie's Angels" impromptu pose that left everyone in tears laughing.

Soon guests were arriving and everyone was taking their place in the sanctuary. Gabby had a huge smile on her face as she came down the aisle with her father. Matt returned it likewise. The ceremony was really great. The pastor poking a little fun at the couple but still giving a great personal and meaningful sermon on love. The ceremony was short and sweet and the couple left through a tunnel of guests showered with rose petals. Matt's dad is the Asst. Fire Chief in Andover and arranged for an awesome getaway vehicle- the couple was whisked away red lights and sirens on Engine 1 from the Andover Fire Department! So cool. After a ride around the block, the couple returned for group shots at the church where more fun and hilarious times ensued. The firemen were gracious enough to stay and take the couple to the reception afterwards at The Ville.

The bridal party was announced into the reception hall down the grand staircase and cut the cake to start the festivities. They wasted no time enjoying dinner from B&C Creations BBQ in Wichita! Spending time with friends and family was important. They shared a photomontage on the big screen, the bridal party toasted the couple and shared their first dance and dances with parents to open the dance floor to guests. It was really a great time with "splashes of fun" throughout the entire day.

To Matt and Gabby, thank you SO much for letting us spend the day with you, we appreciate that very much and its so great to work with families as relaxed and is fun as yours, it makes the day so much more fun and like we aren't even working! (Ya, ask my feet that last night!) Have a fabulous time in Hawaii and bring home tons of photos- good luck in New Mexico, stay safe and we wish you a life filled with waves, not splashes, of fun!

Winter / Hanson 11-7-09

2009-11-09T22:13:00.004-06:00

Cecilia and Sam heard about us from relatives whom we filmed a year ago, Lauren and Brad. They also met up with us at last years bridal fair and booked our newest package, the "Wedding Story". It is becoming more popular in our package selections with more personal editing after the fact including narration from the bride and groom about the day. We actually only met Cecilia in person a few days prior to the wedding as she lives out of town. We had a great time talking about the details of the day and what we all had in common. We hit it off right away and were excited for the weekend to arrive! I started at the salon in west Wichita, Mary Kate and Company, where all the bridesmaids had their hair done in up-dos and Cecilia stayed to have her make up done. Everyone had a great time. Everyone was relaxed and most importantly, the bride. Her hair was pulled all up in curls with an orange flower accent to the side and a blusher veil. When everyone was finished, we met up at the church, St. Joseph's in Andale. The bride wrote a letter to her groom before the ceremony and checked out the beautifully decorated hall adorned with fall colors again and a special favorite touch of mine, goldfish in bowls.

The couple chose not to see one another ahead of time. The bridesmaids were great coming down the aisle all in navy blue and different styled dresses that fit each ones figure and personality both. Of course, Cecilia was stunning a strapless Maggie Soterro lace overlay and short elegant train as her father escorted her into the church.

They celebrated a full mass with Fr. Eck officiating. This was especially important as Fr. Eck had baptized Cecilia as an infant in that very church. Her cousin Lauren sang during the ceremony, sounding like an absolute angel! After the mass, photographers Josh and Jenny from Kansas City let me ride along as we took the bridal party down an old country road for some fun photographs. We couldn't have ordered a more gorgeous day in November! After pictures, we headed back to the church's reception hall where the couple was announced by AMM, cut the massive cake, and enjoyed another great dinner by Corporate Caterers. The first dance, parents dances followed and soon everyone let their hair down and partied into the evening. It was a fabulous time. Thank you Cecilia and Sam for letting us tag along for the big day! We so enjoyed hanging out with you all day! Please keep in touch and we hope we can be friends for a long time to come in the future! God bless!

McKinney / Peaster 10-24-09

2009-11-09T22:04:00.003-06:00

We met Trish and Daniel at one of the area bridal fairs while they were deciding on a videographer. We were graciously referred to them by AMM. They had quite the day planned for their wedding! Jason was my assistant shooter that day with our crazy recent schedules! We started the day at the church, University Congregational in northeast Wichita, for a simple yet elegant fall ceremony. Trish arrived ready, as well as the men, and had the church adorned in beautiful fall decor. Colored pumpkins and gourds, fall colored leaves and flower arrangements really added to the charm of the church. The ceremony was quick as the couple was ready to share their time with the guests at the reception.

As soon as the couple were announced as husband and wife, they formed a receiving line at the back of the church prior to entering the limo for the ride to Tallgrass Country Club. This is what Trish and Daniel wanted to spend the most of their attention focused on for the day. The country club was beautifully adorned in fall motif. The entrance was draped in golds, rust and orange towers of fall leaves, and stacked pumpkins greeted you. The couple was announced into the room and enjoyed a wonderful dinner, toasts from members of the bridal party, and joined in their first dance together prior to the party. Everyone enjoyed themselves alot and Trish and Daniel thoroughly enjoyed their time spent with friends and family. Thanks to Trish and Daniel for letting us follow you on your day! We had a good time and wish you the very best as husband and wife!

Scobee-Cotter 10-16-09

2009-11-09T21:53:00.003-06:00

We first met Camille when she was the Maid of Honor for another bride several years ago. when it was her turn to walk down the aisle she found us again online and at the bridal fair. We were more than happy to see even ore familiar faces again and help Camille during her big day! Camille and Ryan started their day at St. Anthony's church in downtown Wichita. The bridesmaids gathered in the newly remodeled bride's room to don their dresses and accessories. Beautiful plum. Their hair and make up were already done when they arrived and everyone was excited to get the day rolling. The men got ready at the church as well i the sacristy. The bride and groom chose to have a few moments together in private before the ceremony and then to take as many photos as they could ahead of time in order to enjoy the party afterwards. Gina and Lindsey from Gingeroot Photography did a great job of setting up the first meeting and we had lots of fun working with them all afternoon and evening! I then tagged along with the photographers as the entire bridal party were great troopers and headed downtown for some fun urban shots! We all arrived on time for the ceremony. And like clockwork, it was gorgeous. As soon as Camille and Ryan were introduced as Mr and Mrs., they exited the church to the cheers of their guests and whisked away in an antique limousine, a surprise courtesy of Camille's mom! Then it was on to one of the most interesting reception sites we have been to- The Museum of World Treasures. We took some time for a few more photographs before the couple had their grand entrance. Where else can you pose with a giant dinosaur in the background!?

When Camille and Ryan entered, the guests were treated to a violin duo for music, toasts, dinner by Corporate Caterers, and cutting of cake. The couple shared their first dance, tossed the bouquet and garter and then in lieu of a dance, chose to spend their time mingling with each and every guest to thank them for coming.

To Camille and Ryan, it was so nice to see you again and get to know you even better- please stay in touch! We had a wonderful time with you and thank you for letting us share the day with you- we feel as part of the family! Good luck to both of you!

Friess and Ruth 10-10-09

2009-11-09T21:16:00.004-06:00

Desiree and Ryan found us via the bridal fair and online last year. Desiree had her heart set on an October outdoor wedding at Fort Hays State University. While we spoke on the phone, and again via email many times to go over the details as the date approached quickly, it was a good thing Desiree came up with a back up plan in case of weather. Barry and I headed to Hays the night before as the temperature started to drop quickly with a light mist on the road and the Kansas wind picking up steam. It was decided earlier that afternoon to move the wedding indoors to the Memorial Union. Even though the weather started to change the plans made months in advance, Desiree and Ryan did not let it dampen their spirits.

I started the day with the bride at a local salon (Salon 8) along with the bridesmaids and other family members documenting the events of the morning and preparations. As always, everyone looked great and we then made our way into the cold to meet the bridal party at the FHSU campus.

There, the men and the ladies got dressed and attended to the remaining details of the day. Desiree had a gorgeous classic white strapless gown that fit her to a T and the ladies looked stunning in red.

As guests entered the ceremony site, they signed the guest book and were asked to pour a bit of sand into a large vase at the door symbolizing the unity of friends and family. The couple then finished filling this during the ceremony in place of a unity candle.

The ceremony was personal with family and friends reading poems and singing songs as well as the parents being presented with flowers before the couple exited the ceremony as the new Mr. and Mrs. Ruth!

Guests were given balloons as they left for the reception site and formed a line outside, braving the cold for the couple :). As Ryan and Desiree left to get in the limo (as the horses were cancelled due to weather), the balloons floated away into the sky with cheers from the crowd! Then of course no one wasted anytime getting to the party!
The reception was held at the Schenk Building at Ellis County Fairgrounds. The couple had a great time greeting each of their guests, cutting cake and enjoying a catered meal. The couple shared their first dance and then in great Western Kansas Catholic Tradition, the Grand Wedding March started the festivities and I do not believe there was a single soul left in their seat! Needless to say, everyone had a great time that evening and we were happy to be a part of it! Desiree and Ryan, thank you so much for letting us share in your day with you, we were so very honored to have met and gotten to know you! Check out their prequel below!

Patton/Blair 9-27-09

2009-11-09T17:06:00.002-06:00

Hillerie found us on the web while she made wedding plans for a Wichita wedding while living in Las Vegas, Nevada. We corresponded via the phone and email about all the details and what type of coverage she wanted for the day. She settled on the new "Wedding Story" complete with voice overs of the couple's thoughts about the day. I had a friend, Deanna take my place that day with some unforgiving scheduling. The day started at the Hotel Old Town for John and his groomsmen, relaxing and having lots of laughs. The ladies met up at the Courtyard Marriott to get ready. Hillerie chose a traditional white gown with ruffled sleeves and sweeping train. The highlight, my favorite, was the peacock feathers in her head piece that matched the reception decor! Very unique! I must admit Hillerie was almost out-done by the two flower girls being pulled in a wagon for the processional. Although Hillerie was a little late getting going, it didn't rattle her and the ceremony went off without a hitch with a room full of family and friends in attendance at the All-American Indian Center.

During the processional the groom's sister prepared a special interpretive dance prior to the bride's entrance. The groom had also prepared a personal song to the bride but was so stunned with how great she looked and how excited he was, that he could not finish it all....A close family friend acted as officiant and without delay vows were exchanged, the couple was announced as husband and wife and the party was officially started! Dinner was served and the couple shared their first dance as husband and wife shortly after. The guests were eager to get the party started and they kept the music up loud until it was time to leave the building!

Thanks to Hillerie and John for asking us to be there with them on their special day! We appreciate that very much! I do hope I can meet you soon! Steph
The Blair's prequel is posted below. Please enjoy.

New Prequel online now!

2009-11-09T16:59:00.004-06:00

After much anticipation, the Crandall Prequel is now online, you can find it by scrolling below to the Sharshal/Crandall Wedding post or you can find it by clicking here . Please enjoy and let us know what you think. Stay tuned- still comig tonight is the Patton/Blair prequel!

In Memory of our Fallen Firefighters...

2009-11-08T10:47:00.003-06:00

Several weeks ago I was asked if we could film the 8th Annual Kansas Fallen Firefighters Memorial on South Braodway at the Kansas Fire Museum. It came as a two-part request; Fire Photographer Craig Hacker and the Sedgwick County Fire Chief, whom Barry and I both know through our many years of EMS work. I was available for the shoot and asked our friend Deanna to help out yet again, which she happily agreed to and did a great job! The Memorial consists of a gorgeous slate wall engraved with the names of those killed in the line of duty across the state throughout the years amidst a park like setting. The statue "Final Call" overlooks the reflection area and fountains dance in the background during warmer summer months. It's a very fitting memorial situated immediately next to the Kansas Firefighters Museum. The ceremony started with a processional of bagpipers and honor guard from across the state, guest speakers, the placing of a memorial wreath at the wall, and the reading of the names of the fallen firefighters with the ringing of bells. As each name was read, an empty antique fire bucket was filled one by one with a red rose honoring the firefighter. Family was later encouraged to take a rose in rememberance of their loved one. The video below is the Highlight of the memorial service.

Catching up to do!!!!!!!!

2009-11-08T10:25:00.003-06:00

As you can see the blog has pretty much been MIA the last few weeks and I do apologize to everyone for that! To bring you up to speed, our life has been filled with ups and downs recently and we've had to juggle multiple things.

As most folks know Barry is now attending nursing school full-time, and still working full time at EMS (now has 25 years on! YAY BARRY!) and amazingly finds time to help me turn discs in the business. Our awesome friends Jason and Deanna have helped us on more shoots than we can count during times Barry has had clinical work and we thank them SO much! Also, in thanks for them shooting for us, we try to shoot for them if they need help as well.

As for me, I've been finishing the last pre-reqs for nursing school which starts for me in January, I've gone back to work full time at the hospital and between homework, life, shooting weddings, and other events (school programs, montages, EMS videos, Speaker Jared Estes, and the firefighters memorial), have found it difficult to keep up with some of the edit queue lately! We have also had to find time to take care of our immeditate family members and other usual "life" happenings.

So, drumroll please....

Slated to be posted to the blog this week are the write ups for the missing weddings from October through this month! Wow, has it really been that long! Time really flies.

Later this morning, the memorial video for the Fallen Firefighters and tomorrow two prequels for the Sharshel/Crandall and Patton/Blair weddings. Sometime in the next two weeks we hope to build in the remaining prequels amidst the ususal edit queue for those waiting on updates to their delivered videos or those that are still patiently waiting in line for the finished product! We are told it's worth the wait, so we humbly thank you in advance! Bear with us a bit more.

Love and Peace to all as we enter the new Holiday season as Thanksgiving and Christmas SO quickly approach us! More to come- (Wow, do I have to work in Christmas shopping and housework into my to-do list now, ugh)....Ba Humbug.

White Love Story

2009-09-16T16:39:00.003-05:00

A couple months ago we had the pleasure of meeting Katie and Scott. They were interested in shooting a Love Story after seeing a friends at one of our recent weddings. We first filmed Scotts interview at his church and then set a date and off to Tulsa we went to film Katie's interview and also some b roll to fill in the story. What a great time! Scott and Katie were married over the Holiday weekend and we'd like to share their story with you. Scott and Katie, thanks for letting us share your story! Congratulations to you and many best wishes for years to come!

Pete & Erin Crandall

2009-09-13T13:21:00.005-05:00

Last weekend we were able to spend the day with Pete and Erin for their wedding here in Wichita. I started the day with Erin at Elements Salon with her bridesmaids, mother and mother in law. Everyones hair was pulled up and in curls and looked wonderful including bright orange fresh flowers in some of the hair arrangements. Erin was going for a sophisticated garden look and the stylists at Elements really nailed it. Erin's dog even joined in the festivities! After hair and make up, the ladies took a break for lunch and I met back up with them at Botanica where the ceremony was to be held. The bridesmaids all wore beautiful navy blue dresses, each a different style chosen by her friends and family. It was a gorgeous contrast with the bright orange floral arrangements and bronze accent colors of the day. Perfect for a fall wedding. Meanwhile the guys prepared at the Hyatt downtown, donning navy blue tuxes prior to heading off to Botanica for photographs. The photographer was the brides uncle, Jack Hartin, a professional photographer from California (hartinphoto.com) We had a great time working together and as soon as Jack has time, we will try to share some of his photos here from the day!

After photographs, the bridal party headed down the aisle in the meadow near the main fountain outside. Nearly sunset gave us some beautiful shots of light rays streaming through the trees! Erin's father and step father walked her down the aisle to Pete and they had a perfect ceremony.

They included family and friends and everything went off without a hitch. Prior to being announced as husband and wife, the guests passed small baskets down each row full of orange and white rose petals. When Pete and Erin were officially announced as husband and wife and exited the meadow, they were showered with the petals by their guests!

Cocktail hour followed for the guests inside the reception hall while the wedding party took sunset photographs. Ron Brown from Another Dimension DJ announced the couple into their reception and they were able to have dinner, catered by Corporate Caterers, cut the beautiful multi-tiered cake made by the bride's aunt and shared in their first dance together. Pete shared a dance with his mother while Erin shared a dance with both her father and step father prior to the start of the party! After a night of dancing and mingling with guests, the newlyweds were wisked away by Jack in a Hummer to start their new life together and have spent the past week enjoying the gorgeous weather in Aruba!

Congratulations to you, Pete and Erin, it was a pleasure to work with you and capture your day! We hope you had just as fabulous of a time in Aruba! We wish you the best in your new life as husband and wife! There will be many happy years to come!

The prequel is posted below, please enjoy!

SUMMER SPECIAL ALMOST OVER!

2009-08-15T18:04:00.004-05:00

If you are considering a wedding video and haven't jumped yet for different reasons, one being monetary, it always helps when you can find deals and specials! So a friendly reminder about our Summer Bridal Fair special that runs through the end of August for our wedding movie packages. Book now through August 31st and get the bridal show discount. If you wait to book until next month, during the month of September, the special decreases slightly. So grab a demo and contact us for our package pricing, we'd be happy to talk with you. Aside from the wedding movie specials, we do also offer wedding documentaries starting around $500-$1000. Give us a shout, it doesn't cost anything to ask! :) Steph

If you need more coaxing to get a video....

2009-08-14T21:26:00.003-05:00

I recently sent a copy of a wedding we did in Kansas City last year to the DJ of the event, Ron Ruth of http://www.ronruthweddings.com/. After I posted the note from our bride and groom, Jace and Melissa, recently I thought I would post a note from a vendor once I received this kind note back from Ron. I am sharing it with his permission.

"I finally watched the Hackler video and I love your style. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. The party collage was awesome. The guests best wishes over dance video was very clever and keeps those from becoming boring. I was particulary impressed with the way you captured the parent dances. Made me cry."

So, if you are still on the fence about getting a wedding video, jump off the side with greener pastures, and not just the one with visual appeal, but audio appeal as well. Video is the best medium to capture all the moments of your day. A florist told me recently "you don't even get to see your own wedding day". It's SO true. How many of the brides are hidden away from the groom and guests before the moment the doors to the church are swung open? There is so much you miss. Then it's a big blur after that. More testimonials to come; in the meantime check out the videos in our online gallery and in this blog (Sort to the right). Hope to see you all down the aisle! SG

A story of "It's so expensive, I don't need a wedding video"

2009-08-02T14:40:00.005-05:00

I received a note a couple days ago from a previous bride and groom from 2 years ago. It made me smile and blush at the same time. I asked the couple if I could share it on the blog and they graciously agreed. It is as follows:

"Hi Stephanie and Barry! Yesterday was mine and Melissa's 2nd wedding anniversary! Time flies, right? All is well with us. We're expecting a baby any day now. A boy, Dylan. In fact, Melissa was due last week so more like any minute now!Anyway, we watched our wedding video last night in celebration of our anniversary and we just wanted to let you two know how much we enjoyed watching and re-living that day. You both worked so hard on that video and it shows. It is so well done. We feel very fortunate to have had you guys shoot our wedding. That day is so beautifully preserved forever. Ourselves and our families will enjoy watching it for years to come!Just wanted to say thanks and that we hope all is well with you guys! Jace and Melissa Wilbert

After writing them to ask permission to post this note, they responded with the following:

"You can definitely use my words in your blog. And feel free to use us as references if need be. The video turned out to be by far one of the most important details of the wedding. Seriously, there were big things, seemingly major things that we would have done without rather than go without having the video. Tell people that no one remembers what they ate or what the bridesmaids' hair looked like, spring for the movie!"

I couldn't have said any words any better to convince brides and grooms how important wedding videography is. If I am able to get a file ready for the blog of the Wilberts wedding movie, I will post here for your enjoyment! Thank you Melissa and Jace for sharing your thoughts on the video with me and Barry- but also future and current brides. Good luck to you both- keep in touch and if we are able to do a baby announcement for you, we will post it proudly on the blog as well!

BRIDAL SHOW!

2009-07-27T11:48:00.004-05:00

Hi all, the Bridal Show was lots of fun this past weekend! Thanks to all who came out to say hi and pick up the demo!! It was fun seeing past and future brides! Don't forget if you are checking out the website and the videos on this blog (sorted by category to your right), the Bridal Show special is in full swing! Call or email for more details!!! Thanks everyone! It was fun! SG

John Deere Green

2009-07-15T22:29:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to the Estes family in Greensburg for achieving LEED Platinum status for the building of their new John Deere dealership! We have done both wedding and corporate work for the family and were excited to share in their excitement! You can check them out at http://www.btiequip.com/ ! More to come about our recent work with John Deere in the coming weeks! Be sure to check back! SG

BRIDAL FAIR 2009!

2009-07-15T22:20:00.004-05:00

Don't forget the next Bridal and Prom Expo is coming up quick! July 25th and 26th we will see you at Century II! Come one day or both and browse a great assortment of wedding and prom/party vendors -and of course stop by to see yours truly! :)

We'll have our newest demo on hand, pick one up and SEE THE DIFFERENCE!

Talk to past brides about how they liked their Fat Cat Experience!

Check out the Bridal Fair special as well! Dates for 2010 are starting to fill in, so don't delay!

Check out new trends including destination weddings- don't forget to take along your videographer and photographer! Check if your date is available for 2010!

We would love to meet you, stop by for your chance at some wonderful prizes at the show including a free Lasik surgery!! Talk about getting some great video on the wedding day without the glasses or those pesky contacts! Come on down to the show for more info. See you there!

Nikki and Andrew!

2009-07-15T22:08:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Nikki and Andrew! We spent last weekend documenting their wedding day for them! It was a very relaxed time and we met some new photographers, Becca and Jewel of Wirken Photography at http://www.wirkenphoto.com/ . The couple booked our new Documentary package, unfortunately no prequel to post this time. Thank you Nikki and Andrew! It was a pleasure meeting you both! SG

White-Brocato Prequel Now Online!

2009-06-30T23:12:00.004-05:00

After a long wait- the White-Brocato prequel is now online! Scroll down to find it! We do hope you enjoy Bridget and Ryan's Day, be sure to leave your comments! You also might be wondering where all the pictures on the blog went? We have requested photos of recent weddings from the photographers but they have become pretty overwhelmed with the season and not been able to follow up :( Boo. Hang in there, we'll get to them when we can! Stay tuned for more antics! SG

More gore and carnage!

2009-06-19T16:01:00.003-05:00

Ok, ok, so the gore and carnage wasn't real- but it looked like it! Was it REALLY that time again? Yes, it was. We just completed a long, hot, muggy, sunburnt, bug bitten, muscle-aching, and dehydrated two day long shoot this week in Yoder, Kansas for Hutchinson Community College's Paramedic Training Program- Field Operations 2009! This is now the third year we have helped with capturing the event! It is always terribly hot and tiring, but super rewarding. Not your average wedding-fare! This year we gathered additional footage and b-roll to be edited into next year's documentary edition. We are very excited for next year when the number of students grow exponentially and the scenarios get increasingly wild and realisitc! I was grateful again to my friends at Life Team Aeromedical Transport for the wonderful ride along again!!! Thanks guys! Thank you to Deanna for being on stand-by on Tuesday. Maybe next year- it's gunna be a wild ride! Footage is now being captured for edit in several weeks-lots on our plate right this very moment! If we are able to post video, we will- hang in there. But that's what we've been up to lately after a brief vacation to Grand Lake in Oklahoma and now back to school as well for the summer session. It really never ends around here! More to come- stay tuned! SG

New Prequel Online!

2009-06-15T21:21:00.001-05:00

The Mercader Prequel is now online! Scroll down to the Mercader Wedding Post to view it! Be sure to leave your comments! Stay tuned for the White-Brocato prequel soon! SG

Kind Words-

2009-06-07T20:50:00.006-05:00

As we gear up for our two newest prequels to be posted shortly, I ran across an older email while cleaning out my Inbox today. I'd like to share it with you. Chelsey Shackelford, married this past March, writes:
OH MY GOSH I LOVE THE PREQUEL! I have cried every time I watch it, because of how beautiful it is! I absolutely can't wait to see the whole video. All of my friends at work are so impressed. Two of my girlfriends even cried a little bit - You guys are just amazing! I am so impressed with everything. I am so thankful to have found you as my videographers! It's just so cool to watch the clip because I didn't get to see any of it! I know I'm rambling, but words can not describe how excited I am about this! You and Barry are the absolute BEST IN THE WORLD! Thank you SO much for everything again! I can't express my gratitude for how special you made my day! Chelsey and Ryan

I must admit I was blushing! It was such a wonderful day, we couldn't get anything but great footage! I'm always very humbled to hear these comments from our brides, but also very excited to share that excitement with others. If you are on the fence about getting a wedding video, jump off! What Chelsey said really hit the nail on the head- you miss so much, it's a wonderful keepsake of the day. Don't forget the summer special this month!
Thank you Chelsey for letting me share your note! Thanks for your patience in getting to see the rest of the video! We'll make it great!

White-Brocato

2009-05-31T16:42:00.004-05:00

We first heard from the bride, Bridget, after the January Bridal Fair and viewing our demo. She lives in Kansas City and first contacted us via phone and email asking about what we had to offer for her day. She was going to be getting married in her hometown of Salina. We talked quite a bit and finalized everything by phone, or online or in the mail. We had hoped to meet her a few weeks prior to the wedding, as we really enjoy meeting our brides and grooms prior to the day; it just helps everyone be more relaxed on the wedding day. Well, Bridget and I could never get our schedules to synch up and we officially got to meet the moment she strolled through the door at the salon on the wedding day! No worries though, Bridget is the type of person who you just feel like you've known for a long time. She was so realxed on her day even though the excitement was building. She and her bridesmaids met at Hair Affair in Salina for hair and make up. Bridget had chosen to put her hair all up in curls and in the back placed a unique hair clip adorned with gold and jewels that was simply gorgeous. She found it at a KC bridal shop. She waited until it was time for photos to put on her veil.

The groom had started getting ready at the Ramada with his groomsmen, both his brothers, prior to seeing his bride for the first time. Barry grabbed a few shots there prior to the big moment!

The bride snuck into her suite at the hotel as well to get dressed herself, adorning a gorgeous gown she also found in KC. Light weight material blew in the breeze and covered with a layer of champagne colored lace and a very elegant sweeping train. A strand of pearls from her new in-laws-to-be completed her look!

The photogaphers, Gary and Amanda McCool (also from Wichita), set up the first meeting near a fountain in the commons area of the hotel. One of the couples nephews, a candlelighter covered Ryan's eyes until it was time to see his bride for the first time. From my vantage point, Bridget sure had a huge grin across her face! They exchanged cards for one another and posed for a few photos before grabbing a quick bite to eat and off to the park for more photos.

Then the bridal party headed to the church, Sacred Heart Cathedral in downtown Salina. It was a very uniquely designed church. Concrete walls were engraved with the stations of the cross and huge stained glass windown towered to the ceilings. The ceremony started at about 2:30 pm and the newlyweds took part in the full Catholic Mass sharing communion together. After they were announced as husband and wife, they were congratulated by their guests who were outside lining the steps blowing bubbles as they headed to the limo to take them to the reception. Artisitc limousine came from Wichita to help the newlyweds celebrate in style!

The reception was back at the Ramada hotel so it was convenient for guests who had come from Kansas City and other parts of the country. Bridget had the entire hall decorated beautifully in brown, black, white and pink. DJ Rick Raynes introduced them to the room where they had a receiving line to personally say thank you to all the guests!

After dinner, the couple cut the cake, had their first toast and guests dove into dessert- wedding cake and the biggest assortment of cookies I had ever seen in my life. It spanned two 8-foot banquet tables and a large round banquet table. As I snuck a few to indulge in, I asked one of the guests if they knew anything about the cookies, were they homemeade or storebought? I was surprised to hear that a few people in the family made every last one. She stated it took about 35 pounds of flour to get the feat accomplished! All varieties except for two I believe were all Italian in tradition, from the groom's side of the family! They even had pink take home bags for you to fill up with goodies and enjoy for later!

Once everyone got plenty to eat for dinner and dessert, the couple shared their first dance and the party had begun! The DJ had plenty of fun planned for the evening and kept everyone on the dance floor and entertained, even a great dance contest!

The newlyweds are excited to head to SanFrancisco for their honeymoon this week and we wish them well in their future lives together.

Bridget and Ryan, thank you again for your hospitality throughout the day, we appreciate it very much- you had a wonderful day and we enjoyed ourselves! You are a wonderful couple with great families, please keep in touch! Good luck to you- have a blast in California!

Stay tuned for the wedding day prequel in the coming weeks! SG

Mercader Wedding

2009-05-27T11:22:00.006-05:00

This past weekend, we were able to spend the day with Trinh and Jun Mercader. We were pretty excited as we got to learn more about other cultures. Trinh is Vietnamese and Jun is Phillipino. What a great couple! We knew we liked them and the day would be a lot of fun when we first met. It was a bit surprising when they were ready to sign the contract when Trinh mentioned, "I should probably tell you we are already married"! The day was an official celebration of their past 5 years together! They were making it official with a big celebration with both their families.

On Saturday I was able to film Trinh's Tea Ceremony at her parents home. This was a great learning experience for me. Trinh was great making me feel comfortable and making me aware of what was to happen next as everything was in Vietnamese.

On Sunday, we started the day at Wichita Country Club for preparations with the bride, groom, and bridal party. Trinh chose a beautiful strapless dress made of the lightest material that blew beautifully in the wind for photos, lightly adorned with beads on the bodice. Spring colors in the bouquets were gorgeous with the bridesmaids spring green strapless dresses. Hair and make up artists help make all the ladies look stunning! Not that they needed much help!!!

Trinh chose to see Jun prior to the ceremony to get as many photos out of the way as possible. We had a fabulous day working with some new friends, Ryan and Paul of Versluis Photography out of Kansas City. We set up the first meeting outside under a large shade tree near the golf course. It was great to see ear to ear smiles from the couple! Photos followed and then it was time to set up for the ceremony that started shortly after 3 o'clock. An area judge acted as the officiant. He gave some words of advice for many more additional years of marriage and congratulations for the previous five as they renewed their vows in front of approximately 100 family and friends who traveled from far away as California, Hawaii and the Phillipines.

We were able to steal away the couple with the photographers for a few minutes on the way to the reception to get photos at Bradley Fair.

The reception was held at the Olive Tree Banquet Hall. It was very nicely decorated with bright spring greens and white and festive balloons. A cocktail hour allowed the couple to visit with each of their guests as they arrived prior to starting the festivities. Dinner was a fabulous family style 5 course meal consisting of a variety of great food, steak, salmon, chicken and more. Dessert of course was the fabulous wedding cake and lime sherbet. The maid of honor and best man toasted the bride and groom early on and later during the meal the bridal party accompanied the couple to each table thanking them for attending and in tradition, guests toasted the couple and presented them with gifts and cards.

Later the spotlight was again on the couple during their first dance before they cut loose to dance party music provided by the DJ. It took a bit to get the dance floor warmed up, but the guests had a great time once they were out!

Thank you to Trinh and Jun for letting us share in your special day. Congratulations on five wonderful years together, we wish you many, many more! Enjoy your trip later this year, what an incredible experience! Take tons of pictures! Check back in the coming weeks for the Mercader Wedding Day prequel!

This weddings vendors:

Ceremony and Reception Venues: Wichita Country Club and Olive Tree Bistro

Photography: Paul Versluis Photography, Kansas City

Catering: Olive Tree Bistro

Cake: Eleanor Belen

Floral: The Flower Factory

DJ: DJ Miko

RIFFEL-BEECH PREQUEL NOW ONLINE!

2009-05-23T09:47:00.002-05:00

After a long anticipated wait, the Beech prequel is finally online! Please scroll down to the "Lifes A Beech!" entry to find it! A perfect song chosen by the bride we think you'll enjoy it. We think it really shows this couple fun loving relaxed personalities! Be sure to leave your comments and let us know what you think! Enjoy! SG

SIZZLING SUMMER DEAL!

2009-05-21T21:49:00.003-05:00

Let's face it, the economy isn't what it used to be today as it was last year. More and more brides and grooms are being forced to cut wanted and needed items out of their budgets when planning a wedding. Fat Cat strongly believes that preserving your memories on video, no matter how much you spend on the wedding, or not, shouldn't be one of the items to be ousted immediately from the budget. It's still an immensely important day that should be well preserved for the future. That said Fat Cat knows brides need a wedding video and we'd like to help.

So if you or someone you know is looking to book Fat Cat as their wedding videographer, please contact us for our new special running now through the end of June! Take a gander at our samples in the gallery and pick up the phone and give us a call. We'd be happy to help!
SG

Pauly Prequel Online Now!

2009-05-13T22:48:00.002-05:00

The Prequel of Kristy and Nolan is now online, scroll down to "Kristy & Nolan" wedding entry to view it. Kristy gave us a sampling of songs she liked and to our surprise, I found a new artist that's soon to be one of my favorites! Take a listen, we think you'll like the flowing springtime romantic sound! Congrats to Kristy and Nolan, be sure to leave your comments! SG

John Deere "Green"

2009-05-09T09:41:00.004-05:00

Many years ago one of our first weddings was for a great couple Paige and Jared Estes. They always held a special place with us as they were the "first" to book the new guy in town at the time for their wedding day. We delivered the video (in now record time by todays busy standards) and they loved it. We were completely shocked and saddened to say the least when we heard Paige was killed in a drunk driving accident about 6 months after the wedding. We then got to know the family a little bit more from some private things we had done for them during this horrific time. Then last year we ran into Mr. Estes, Jareds father at Greensburg when we filmed the graduation with President Bush as the featured guest. They were celebrating the one year turning point after the tornado. Mike expressed to us he would like to have us film some things for the family pertaining to the rebuilding 'green' of his dealership that was destroyed in the tornado, BTI Greensburg John Deere. We were proud and honored to -and promised! Greensburg also holds an important place for us as well as I searched with my dog as part of the rescue efforts immediately following the tornado then again filming the graduation ceremonies when the school had been destroyed.

Well time passed and we hadn't heard alot about the project, until I received a call from one of the planners of the Grand Reopening, just a few weeks prior to the Beech-Riffel wedding. They had a date and it was on the wedding day. I scrambled to find a second shooter for each of the events so I could fulfill promises made to both parties! Our friend Deanna helped me at the wedding and our friend Alan was able to help with the corporate shoot with Barry. The bride was very gracious and understanding about my dilemma! (Thanks Jessica) and soon Barry and Alan were headed to Greensburg.

It was a big event during a whole weekend of celebrations and reopenings for many places in Greensburg trying to put their town "back" on the map. A celebration with ribbon cutting, tours of the "green" building itself, musical entertainment, prize drawings, and brief statements of congratulations from area and state dignitaries. We were there with Discovery Channel and other media outlets, but our focus of the story in the edit will be the celebration for the family, as a documentary heirloom piece. We are very excited to have the opportunity! We will also be going back to Greensburg in the coming weeks to finish up shooting for this project.

We were also able to get footage recently in Greensburg of the new Eco-Silo home for a building company out of state. Very interesting and exciting what they are doing in Greensburg.

What a weekend it was! Thanks to everyone from the Estes family for inviting us as well as our bride and groom (see below) for being flexible with us in order to help everyone! Not only are we told "Fat Cat Rocks" but we only rock because our friends, our brides and grooms and our other clients ROCK. Thank you.

Life's a BEECH! (AKA: The Riffel-Beech Wedding)

2009-05-09T08:58:00.016-05:00

Not exactly the kind with beautiful white sand, gorgeous sunshine or fruity drinks with miniature umbrellas- but the kind with two of some of the best folks in the world tying the knot last weekend! Last Saturday Fat Cat was pretty busy. We first met Jessica and Chris after Jessica saw our Baby Announcement on Facebook we did for a friend. They came to meet us and booked a wedding movie package that included a Love Story. It was great fun getting to know Chris and Jessica during the Love Story. We shot it at Jessica's fathers hangar in front of his awesome blue and gold biplane. Then we were able to get some great b roll shots the following week (after a snow/rain delay!) at Prairie Pines Tree Farm. We pieced the story together just in time for the wedding day!

Jessica chose to get ready at home where she was most comfortable, with her family and friends with her. Jessica was really calm and just ready to finally be down the aisle! No worries even when printing last minute programs. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. Jessica did hair and make up at the house then headed to the church (East Point Church of Christ), dress in tow to finish up there and meet Chris prior to the ceremony for all the pictures. The bridesmaids were dressed in black and carried an assortment of brightly colored bouquets that showed off a great contrast with the dresses for spring time. Jessica chose a Maggie Sattero strapless with souffle skirt (one of my favorites!) with accompanying tiara and veil.

In the meantime, the guys were being guys hanging out at the Alley and enjoying some friendly competition on the go-cart track! Our friend Deanna pitched in as second shooter at this wedding and got right in the middle of the action riding a go-cart herself to pull off some fun shots! (Thank you Deanna!) After letting off some steam the guys headed back to the church to get into their tuxes. Chris's son Kyler was ring bearer and just about upstaged the groom in his perfectly fitted tux!

Chris was admittedly nervous before seeing Jessica for the first time, but a big sigh of relief and relaxing smile covered his face when she finally came in to tap him on the shoulder!

Pictures followed, as many as possible dodging a quick rainshower and then the ceremony took flight at 6 pm. One of the neatest things about this ceremony I thought was the music. Chris is in a barber shop quartet and he rocks! He sang to his bride during the ceremony and had incredible back up! They didn't waste any time though, the ceremony lasted about 30 minutes and they were off with bubbles and cheers to the purple K-State bus and on to Exploration Place for the reception after being announced as husband and wife!

There we got to get some fun shots at the Keeper of the Plains prior to the grand entrance of the couple. The couple was able to sit down for a few minutes for dinner while guests watched the Love Story. There were plenty of laughs, but more hilariously gasps as the crowd reacted to the story when Chris dropped the bomb that they had already eloped in Vegas! You could see relieved looks on their faces shortly after when Chris then followed it up with a "just kidding!". They had completely punk'd their guests!

The couple then cut the cake and received toasts from the Maid of Honor, and Chris's Best Man, his brother, who stole the show with one line punches and stand up comedy!

The first dance quickly followed and special dances with parents prior to the party. The big hit of the party was the Flip Flop Bucket provided by Tinley with brightly colored flip flops so the ladies could ditch the high heels and cut loose! The newlyweds completely enjoyed their time with friends and family and at last Facebook check were thoroughly enjoying themselves in Hawaii!

To Chris and Jessica, thank you so much for having Fat Cat as a part of your day and being so flexible with crew changes for part of the day! We are very happy for you and your families, it was great to get to know them as well! We hope the long awaited trip to Hawaii was worth it and please do tell us all about it when you return! Hope you were able to partake in many fruity drinks with mini umbrellas! Keep in touch, we must do OC again when you are able to make it back to town. Chris, good luck with the remainder of school, you'll do awesome, must come see you for an adjustment when you are all done! :) Congratulations!
Come back to the blog in the coming weeks for the Beech Prequel!

This weddings vendors:

Venues- East Point Church of Christ and Exploration Place

Photographer- Milly Rose Photography

Floral- Stems

Catering- Corporate Caterers

Planning- Tinley Innes, Jubilations Events

Cake- Artistic Cakes

DJ- Scott Ward, Accent Mobile Music

Kristy and Nolan

2009-04-30T09:21:00.006-05:00

We met Kristy and Nolan when they also booked T&J Studios for photography when we were in the old studio last year together. Kristy had her heart set on an outdoor spring wedding. She settled on Botanica and we were all very excited to get some great outdoor shots. But the closer that the day approached, the weather looked as if it were going to be Kansas through and through - and not cooperate. Kristy held out hope.

We started out at the Hyatt downtown where both Kristy and Nolan were getting ready with their bridal party. The ladies hung out in the Sunflower Suite with some killer new remodeling, very modern and hip. The ladies hair and make up were awesome with some help from the ladies from the BeeHive Salon! While Kristy was getting her hair done, a special gift from Nolan came in. She was given an Opal ring, a family tradition in the Pauly family to the ladies on the their wedding day. After Kristy dried her tears, she had to laugh at the gift she gave Nolan "Mine wasn't as nearly sentimental!" When asked what it was, she admitted she gave him a gift certificate to drive a race car at the Kansas Motor Speedway! Still, it was a gift we all thought was pretty darn cool.

The men all wore black suits with lime green accents and the ladies wore black dresses of two different styles short and sleeveless, appropriate for spring. The weather was only overcast all afternoon and when Kristy got dressed, it was looking up for the weather to hold for a 7pm ceremony! Her dress was from Davids Bridal and very unique. Classic white, strapless, a very soft lightweight flowing fabric was perfect for an outdoor wedding with the slightest breeze giving it some flow and character. A few lace and ruffle accents adorned a short train.

They chose to see each other before the wedding since it was late in the evening and they wanted time to enjoy their guests. The first meeting was outside the Hyatt just in time for the sun to come out!
Afterwards, the bridal party headed down to a sandbar on the river and ditched the dress shoes and heels for some fun in the sand! Everyone in the bridal party were great sports with the photo and video shoot! As the afternoon went on with shots at Botanica, the sunlight hid behind the clouds and it was slightly overcast, but the set up continued outside in the meadow. At approximately 6 o'clock, Ryan Funck the DJ approached us and the groom worried about the weather, a brewing storm looking as if it were starting to cup around us. As we all dialed up radars on our iphones and blackberry's, then almost immediately everyone scattered like rats to the sound of "oh no!" and the large rain drops started in. Everyone ran for cover in the approaching darkness and took all electronics inside as fast as possible, the DJ's sound board, speakers, our cameras on tripods and mp3 players, etc.

By the time we all reached the overhang on the back patio, the sun was coming back out, the rain had stopped and it looked as if all the bad weather had cleared! Good ole Kansas. So another discussion took place with the groom and his family, consulting iphones and radars again. It looked as if there was a window of opportunity for the time of the wedding and another storm approaching on the back side. We set up again and were off and running about a quarter to 7.

The bridal party entered and lined up in their places, Kristy and her father rounded the corner of some trees for their entrance when the raindrops started in again. Not quite as hard, but guests grabbed umbrellas and used their programs to shield their heads. We leaned over cameras to protect them from water and the DJ spread his coat over the sound board and off Kristy went! I ran to the end of the aisle to get their expressions as they marched in, Nolans mother was very gracious and stepped out lightly to share her umbrella with me! When Kristy's father gave her away, the rain stopped, the sun came out and the rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch! Her father was also the officiant which made it quite personal and they wasted no time with a short scripture reading and went straight to the vows. Before we knew it, in less than 20 minutes they were announced as husband and wife! We took a few fun shots immediately after the wedding, and you guessed it, the thunder rolled and I apologized to Kristy and took off tearing down the rest of our equipment and headed inside to set up for their grand entrance. Just in time, too, the storm had arrived! It was pouring down torrential rain as we ducked under the overhang! Kristy had gotten her perfect outdoor wedding! Everyone was safe and equipment was saved!

The party was great fun with some unique twists, after dinner and the cutting of cake, the couple shared their first dances together and with parents but the bridal party dance was a surpirse with a mix of slow dancing and party pieces to cut loose and have a little fun. The money dance was also a surprise to those guests standing in line, Ryan would play the Jeopardy theme and then the guests were surprised by either a fast party song or a romantic ballad! No one knew what was coming next! It really was a great day and Kristy and Nolan had a wonderful time.

The newlyweds are spending their honeymoon in the Bahamas where I'm sure the weather is much nicer!

Thank you Kristy and Nolan for a great day, you are great sports, even with the rain it never "dampened" your day nor your spirits. We wish you all the best in your new life together, we know you'll do just fine! Take tons of photos in the islands and do share online soon! Thank you for having us, we appreciate it very much- stay in touch!
Now enjoy their wedding day prequel!

RUMOR MILL. . .

2009-04-06T15:56:00.004-05:00

Seems the last couple weeks I've been running into folks who have been telling me "So, you aren't doing Fat Cat anymore?" Needless to say I was somewhat shocked, but not surprised. Please let me clear the air for my past, current and future brides, vendors and friends.

Fat Cat is not going away.

Here is how I believe the nasty little rumor started and was contorted to the above statement: This past year and a half we were blessed to have the business doing well and we were very excited about a move into the studio in Valley Center with T&J Studios Photography. It was a great place. Wonderful friends and atmosphere, a killer media room we put together and lots of space to shoot when needed in the back studio. It was great to have the business out of our home where I didn't need to ask my brides and grooms if they were allergic to cats prior to coming for a consultation. During the end of summer of 2008 and well into the fall Fat Cat started feeling the effects the economic situation we hear so much about on the news. Bookings began to slow down for us and in order to keep serving our brides at the capacity we are and turn a great detailed product for them, we decided to move the business back home where it all began. This does not mean we are quitting. Quite the contrary. We are simply moving the location of where I do my work. There are pros and cons to this so bear with me as I readjust again!

Although many of you know Barry and I are both taking our pre-reqs for nursing school, but the business remains full time for me at this time. We are just going through those growing pains of life and business and moving back home was the best choice for us at this point in time. If you need to contact us, we are now moved back home and I can be reached via email or cell phone.
I continue to work to get the edit queue turned around eventually, but in the meantime for our current brides I am taking care on each wedding to assure it is the product you paid for when you booked us and not rush through them. My assitant editor, Allyson, continues to help me keep my head above water with the pile of weddings I have sitting before me :)

We are still booking into summer and fall of this year and are starting to book into 2010. So if you or someone you know are looking for a great wedding video, look no further than Fat Cat. If anything to do with our status changes, our customers, friends and brides will be the first to know. Thank you all for your support of Fat Cat and allowing us to do what we love, spending the day with the best brides and grooms on the planet! Until next time- Steph

Fun behind the scenes. . .

2009-04-01T01:04:00.011-05:00

So we shoot this wedding with our photographer friend Kevin Brown a few weeks ago right? Well, being the nice guy that he is, he decides he'll take a few pictures of us at work. It's a luxury we don't get too often and appreciate it when we do get it. T&J Studios has done the same for us too as well as a few other photographers. So we just decided to post a few to show you how we get some of the shots we do. A post just for fun, talk to you all soon! SG

Photo captions: The first shot is Barry getting the wide shot of the groom and groomsmen practicing the "Can't Touch This" choreograpehd dance at the Ludwig-Empson wedding.

The Glidecam rig at the father-daughter dance. I make Barry carry it- it's too heavy!

Kevin catching Steph at precisely the wrong moment :) when I saw the groomsmen "poledancing" on the Party Express Bus- what a riot!

Steph grabs a creative shot of the pole in the foreground of the bride and flower girl sharing a quiet moment together.

Don't ask me what Joey was doing in the next shot, I'm really not sure! I think it was a pole dance gone wrong!

Don't ask me what Barry is doing in the next shot either. I have no idea. I didn't even know he did this at weddings!

Robbin was kind enough to let us grab some cake at the reception and Kevin caught Barry during a moment of hypoglycemia! :)

New Prequel Online!

2009-04-01T00:54:00.003-05:00

It's that time again! Robbin and Richard's wedding prequel is now online! Scroll down to Ludwig-Empson to view it. Please leave us your comments and don't forget to subscribe to the blog to your right! It's free and we don't bug you or give out your email! :)

You will receive an automatic reminder when the blog is updated, nothing more, nothing less.

Have fun with it! More to come! Steph

NEW PREQUEL ONLINE!

2009-03-27T12:06:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone, while I listen to the sleet hitting my office window, I am trying to think about the beuatiful day we had a few weeks ago with Ryan and Chelsey! Their prequel is now online as well as photos from GP's Photography. Scroll down to check it out. Go to Eckerman/Shackelford. Be sure to let us know what you think on the commnets tab below and forward to your friends with the email link! Have a great day! Spring will be back before we know it! Next prequel due up some time next week! Steph

Ludwig - Empson

2009-03-18T09:18:00.006-05:00

This past weekend we had the pleasure of working with another great couple, Robbin and Richard. We first met Robbin about 4 years ago at her brother Rick's wedding, now it was Robbin's turn! Saturday we started the weekend early on Friday- I took time to go see the ladies at Fashion Nails in West Wichita where the bride, her mother, grandmother, bridesmaids and flower girls all received pedicures in preparation for the big day. I then met back up with them on Saturday morning at Eric Fisher Academy for the bridal party to have their hair done. All the girls had a completely different style and all of them looked awesome! They each got a thumbs up as well from Mr. Fisher. Robbin was very pleased. During this time, Barry met the groomsmen and groom at the church while they hung out playing guitar hero and foosball prior to donning the tuxes and taking as many photos as they could prior to the ceremony.

The ladies then arrived at the church, Glenville Baptist, and finished make up and got dressed. I was completely impressed by the spring green bridesmaids and flower girl dresses - ALL handmade by the brides mother. Had she not told me, I would have sworn they were purchased at a bridal store! Patti did an amazing job, plus she also made the brides dress, a very unique and striking design on Robbin. The bodice was covered in floral embelishments with a halter type top around the neck and a sweeping flowing train. So cool.

The couple chose to see each other prior to the ceremony, so after everyone was ready, their photographer, the talented Kevin Brown (http://www.kevinlbrown.com/ ) brought Richard into the sanctuary for the big moment. He faced the alter wearing a classic white tux and his ball cap waiting for Robbin's dad to escort her in. She then approached and tapped him on the shoulder. Big smiles followed and some private prayer time as well prior to getting some of the formal shots out of the way.

The ceremony started right on time at 3:33 pm. You have to understand the group at Glenville to understand the unusual ceremony times there :) We love it. There was also special meaning with the chosen scripture of Jeramiah 33:3. It was a great ceremony with the couple not only sharing vows, but pouring unity sand together, sharing communion together as well as a prayer circle with family and a solo by the brides sister in law.

The couple exited the church to the Party Express Bus through a barrage of bubbles from the guests. It was a crazy ride to Starwoods for the reception! Scott Ward from AMM was master of ceremonies and the DJ for the night. He introduced the bridal party and then the bride and groom, maid of honor and best man broke into a choreographed rendition of "Can't Touch This" to the roar of applause from their guests!

Dinner was catered by close friends Nate and Rochelle from Ohio whom also did the flowers- amazing work Nate, as always! There were toasts and the couple cut the cake after dinner and the events flowed nicely into first dance, parents dances and the party began.

Robbin and Richard had a great time but was a little worried at the end of the night realizing their keys were locked in their car for the getaway! All turned out well though and the couple left Monday for their new life together in New Jersey!

Thanks to our friend Kevin Brown for the use of some of his photos!

To Robbin and Richard, thank you for letting us be a part of your day, we enjoyed ourselves so much! Thank you very much for dinner as well and enjoy yourselves up north! Come home to visit often and give us a shout!

Click the file below to watch the Empson's wedding day prequel! This is a flash file and requires the most recent version of Flash to view.

Enjoy!

Chelsey and Ryan!

2009-03-09T12:36:00.007-05:00

We started off shooting this wedding season with a great couple! Chelsey and Ryan. It was great for us because we felt right at home right away. We knew alot of the bride and grooms family and friends already and had a great time all day! I started the day with Chesey at Urban Image Salon in Old Town. Chelsey and her bridesmaids were all getting hair and make up done there. Chelsey chose to style her hair all up with tons of curls. Add the tiara and she was ready to go.

After a quick lunch, we met up again at Olivet Baptist Church where she got ready with all her friends. Barry followed Ryan and his friends as they donned their tuxes and started pictures before the ceremony. The ladies enjoyed sandwhiches and were excited to get dressed.

Chelseys colors were very bright and appropriate for springtime; purple, lime green and bright orange! Love it! Moores Flowers did an exceptional job - as always! All the bridesmaids ditched the purple sweatshirts that Chelsey's Maid of Honor, Lauren gave to them and they donned their strapless purple dresses. They had a white bow around the waist. After they were ready, they helped Chelsey prepare. She chose a strapless gown with a souffle skirt by Maggie Sottero that laced up the back. She has such good taste! Then the ladies headed out to the sanctuary for their pictures with Greg of GP's Photography. Thanks to Greg for the use of his photos in the blog post!

The bride and groom wanted to wait until the ceremony to see each other for the first time. The ceremony started at 4 pm and it was very personal. From the music to handwritten covenants, Chelsey had planned it all beautifully. During the lighting of the Unity candle a song was played that Chelsey had recorded herself to her new husband, and what an outstanding job she did!!!! It was all a surprise to Ryan.

After being announced as husband and wife, the newlyweds hid out and then finished pictures in the sanctuary before heading to the reception in a stretch limo.

The reception was held at the Petroleum Club downtown and Kathy did a phenominal job of holding the large amount of guests that attended. Dinner had to be split onto two different floors of the building to accomodate everyone! Talk about standing room only! It was difficult for Ryan and Chelsey to get to visit with everyone!

They were then introduced by Mark Mazuur of Signature Sound and then cut the multi-level, multi-tiered and multi-colored cake, which covered the entire cake table and the groom even had one of the most awesome grooms caskes we have EVER seen, a Chopper style motorcyle resembling his own bike complete with orange airbrushed flames and a working headlight ! The bridal cake was made by Connie's Cakes and Cookies and the grooms cake was crafted by Cameo Cakes!

They shared their first dance together with Van Halen playing in the background! After the remainder of the traditional events the party went into the night and didn't let up. Everyone had a fabulous time despite the tornado warning looming outside! I always get nervous when the floor there starts bouncing to the beat of the music!

Ryan and Chelsey plan to spend their honeymoon far away from tornadoes in Aruba! We really think they should have had that trip documented on video too, seeing how that is the new big "thing" in wedding video- but no such luck Ryan said! Darn, maybe of our our future brides this year! Any takers?

Thank you SO MUCH Ryan and Chelsey for letting us share the day with you, we had a great time and we hope you did as well. We had a great time getting to know you both and hopefully we can always stay in touch! You guys are tons of fun! Please share those Aruba pictures when you return! Congratulations! Barry and Steph

Click the video file below to see their wedding day prequel!

Thank You!

2009-03-05T13:14:00.003-06:00

Spring has sprung! Is it not beautiful out today everyone?! It has definitely put alot of brides in the mood for planning their upcoming weddings and getting their videographer booked early.

I wanted to send a shout out to our most recent brides and grooms who have booked our services for this year or next and say thank you!

Jessica and Chris -Bridget and Ryan - Trish and Daniel - Emily and Luke - Bibi and Wade - We are looking forward to working with all of you. I do not mean to leave out our other fabulous brides who have booked earlier in the year or last year. THANK YOU!

If you or someone you know is getting married, pass the word along about Fat Cat, we still have some great dates for this year available. We are also booking into 2010!

The blog will start rocking again soon, so stay tuned. Robbin and Richard's wedding is this weekend, so we will be excited to get the prequels up and running!

Video Birth Announcement!

2009-02-10T16:21:00.005-06:00

Congratulations to Ivan and Ashley Moore on the birth of their first child, Tatum! We were happy to help an anonymous source (wink , wink) help welcome her to the world! This video was a gift from a friend, who asked to remain anonymous (just for fun!). When I arrived at the hospital to get footage of the new little one, I discovered that Ivan had some absolutely AMAZING footage of the moments immediately following his little girls birth. He asked if this could be incorporated into the video and I think I said "YES! I'd LOVE to use that!" before he even finished asking the question! What was awesome was that the footage was HD so it matched ours, thanks to his new Christmas present, used for the first time! :)

The footage Ivan was able to capture was amazing, as well as grandma and a nurse helping out to capture Ivan cutting the cord! We mixed it with footage we took the day after Tatum arrived, and this is what we put together for the happy new parents. Grab the Kleenex! Everyone says they get teary eyed!

If you are interested in a Baby Story, or Video Birth Announcement, please check out our sister site www.announcemychild.com and give Fat Cat a call! They make fabulous keepsakes and very unique birth announcements!

Fun to Share...

2009-02-10T15:40:00.001-06:00

Last October we helped T&J Studios when they hosted their second Keep'n it Fresh seminar featuring Corey McNabb. We followed along to capture some of the fun and Corey wanted to spice it up a bit by having all the attendees choreograph a dance together. He chose a song fitting for Halloween approaching and impromptu rehearsals began in between shoots :)
We got so busy with wedding edits, this video was late, but we thought we'd share it with you just for fun and something different other than weddings :)
More to come, enjoy...

Thanks to all who attended Open House!

2009-02-08T18:49:00.004-06:00

It was great meeting everyone today at the open house! Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to come and meet us, view our work and check out some of our friends businesses as well! We were flattered at the compliments we received from our guests- thank you so much. (Blush :)

If you missed the open house, you can still call or email for an appointment to meet us, view a completed wedding movie to see our style of work and what is included in the packages. We would love to meet you and give you more information. We love what we do and hopefully that comes across in our work!

Thanks again, have a great week, keep in touch!

Bridal Open House SUNDAY February 8th!

2009-02-07T22:06:00.003-06:00

It's not too late to stop by the Bridal Open House Sunday, the 8th!

If you are a bride to be and looking for your venors in videography, planning, DJ, floral and a photographer- look no further than Studio 142 in Valley Center.

Sunday the 8th, from 1-5 pm come by to visit vendors and talk one on one about ideas for your wedding! It's free!
Light refreshments will be served.

Pick up our latest demo DVD and pricing information, watch some of our wedding movies on the big screen in the theater! Check out photography decorating the halls of the studio and head to the shooting area to talk with some of the best DJ's in town and more!

We hope to see you there!

142 S. Meridian, Valley Center.

Whirlwind Start for 2009!

2009-01-29T14:42:00.006-06:00

Hello one and all, an update here on all-things-Fat-Cat! I have finally added pictures to the long year end post below if you care to take a gander at a few dog pictures :)

Things have been moving along here at Fat Cat, slowly gaining on some of our delivery times with a slower winter as far as the shooting schedule goes, so if you are waiting on your spring wedding, we are working on those currently. Editing begins when we receive the final payment scheduled. We will be in touch with our brides as soon as their video is up and ready for edit.

The bridal fair was insanely busy. We passed out 400 of our newest Demo DVD's, all hand made, very personal and unique. The calls are starting to come in for the remainder of the 2009 wedding season. We only book one wedding per day, so if you are waiting to contact us don't wait any longer! :) Dates fill on a first come-first serve basis.

Come join us on FACEBOOK! Fat Cat has a new group! FAT CAT ROCKS! We will be posting some info on the business from time to time and you can see what we are up to personally as well in our crazy lives! :) Thanks to our past and current brides who are logged in, we really enjoy seeing what you are up to! Also, a big congratulations to several of our brides on new babies arriving or learning that they are expecting and on the way! Wow! So many! So don't forget about our sister website http://www.announcemychild.com/! A NEW Baby Announcement will also be online this week, so check back!

You can finally see the complete 28-minute Broadcast version of the work we have done for Hutchinson Community College Field Operations at this link from Paramedic TV! The video is getting great playback and increasing a wonderful stir for the college, agencies from as far away as the Bahamas are contacting the college to try to participate this year and see what all the fuss is about! Thanks to our wonderful friend Chy, YOU are the Bomb-Diggity! We can't wait to film this years installment in June!!!!

We mentioned at years end that Barry is pursuing higher education and is finishing pre-reqs for a nursing degree. Well, now I have the bug, and I have also recently enrolled and am finishing my pre-reqs as well! So please be patient with us as we now work school into our evening schedules!

Don't forget our Bridal Open House is quickly going to be upon us Sunday, February the 8th from 1-5pm here at the studio. 142 S. Meridian, Valley Center. So if you've hesitated about why you need a wedding video of one of the single most important days of your life, come see what all the fuss is about. This ain't your Uncle Charlies wedding video! :)

Everyone have a great 2009! More updates are on the way!

OPEN HOUSE!

2009-01-23T14:34:00.004-06:00

Open House for brides and grooms who are still looking for their vendors for their 2009 weddings will be held Sunday, February 8th, 2009 from 1pm - 5pm at Studio 142 in Valley Center.

The address is 142 S. Meridian, Valley Center, 67147 for those google maps folks!

We will be having wedding movies playing in the Fat Cat Productions Blu-ray Theater and photography albums will be on display by T&J Studios, we will also have a few other vendors there for you to visit with one on one! Jubilations Events for all your event planning, Accent Mobile Music and Another Dimension DJ will also join us along with the Wild Geranium florist! Meet some previous brides of these vendors so you can ask them questions about how their special day flowed with these vendors!

We will provide snacks and of course, the best part being the admission fee- IT'S FREE! Just bring your smile and your questions for our vendors. There will be plenty of one on one time and all vendors will be available for booking for your event.

Hurry out! It's going to be a fun time! RSVP to openhouse at fatcatrocks.com!

Bridal Show Madness!

2009-01-10T23:40:00.003-06:00

We spent the last few days preparing for the Bridal Show that is happening this weekend. Today was day one of two and it was CRAZY busy!
It was awesome. Everyone was having a great time exploring all the vendor booths and striking up some wonderful deals with the vendors! We had a lot of interest for our open dates in '09, so if you haven't made it down yet, please come and see us Sunday, January 11th, 2009 at Century II. We are on the first wall aisle as you enter the building. Doors open at Noon and close at 5pm.

Sign up for prizes and have a great Sunday afternoon planning for your day! We would love to meet you! It's not too late!
SG

New Years Pulse Check!

2009-01-03T09:45:00.006-06:00

Hello one and all! HAPPY 2009!
We apologize for the slow blog at the end of 2008 but its been an extremely busy time just as it is for everyone. So we figured we'd better do a pulse check to let everyone know we are still here!

Just to get everyone up to date we'll fill you in briefly on all what's been going on the last month of '08.

After Tia and Tim's wedding in early November, we had no more weddings to shoot the remainder of the year and so are trying to take time to try and unravel the edit queue black hole.

In the meantime, home life has spun crazily out of control it seems with a new puppy arriving mid November from Florida. Rudy the Rottweiler is our newest addition to the canine pack and that made for 11 critters in the house. He was the replacement to the Rottie we lost about a year ago (Bruno) that we blogged about in the fall of '07. Having a new puppy around is always hectic, many nights of interrupted sleep and the usual chewing anything in sight and trying to keep up with NASCAR laps around the couch. Rudy gets to come to the studio with me since we are still potty training and he has gotten to meet many people! Stop in to see him!

Over the last several months, Hannibal, our German Shepherd had taken a turn for the worse with some health issues he had dealt with for some time. It got so bad that on a Friday, we had planned on taking him to the vet the following Monday to say goodbye. He didn't quite make it and we ended up making an unscheduled trip to the emergency vet clinic around midnight that Saturday to let him go. It was just horrible but the right thing to do for my best buddy. He was 11.5 years old and was an amazing animal. He was my first real dog when Barry and I were married and we spent insane amounts of time together training for Search and Rescue missions locally. Those are my fondest memories and I will always be grateful to him teaching me just about everything I know about dogs right now. He was always forgiving and always willing to do ANYTHING I asked of him. Never fearful, always a go getter and noble guy. So we are back down to 10 critters sharing our home.

So as the tears began to dry from losing my boy, the new puppy kept us so busy it seems we didn't hardly have time to grieve and then Clarice, the Australian Shepherd became ill and we spent more time at our vets office. She is slowly on the mend! :) Boy, when it rains it pours.

Then the Holidays arrived and it was time to finish up as many weddings as possible for delivery for the festivities! We had a nice time with our families and got to see my sister and her husband in town from North Carolina! Allyson is my Assistant Editor for weddings as some of you might remember and she's doing a great job. She works remotely for me from her home and it has been wonderful to finally start catching up in the queue a little bit. We are gaining a few months on delivery times this winter if all goes well! More info on her later and we will post some of her edits here (as time allows!)

Barry has been busy taking pre-requisite online courses for his nursing degree and hopes to be into full swing in the nursing Bridge program through Hutchinson Community College and the Kansas Board of EMS by 2010. 1 more year! He's holding an awesome 4.0! YAY! When its all said and done, I just may finish mine as well.

Speaking of Hutchinson Community College, we also finished a television broadcast version of the Field Operations Documentary we did for them in '07 and filmed the Pinning Ceremony of the Class of 2007 at the Kansas Cosmosphere! It was very impressive. The speakers took their places on a replica space shuttle wing high above the guests who were seated in the main lobby underneath the SR-71 fighter jet. Way cool. HCC rocks.

Just as the Holidays were coming to an end, we were busy helping Barry's mother downsize and move to an apartment at a retirement community. That has been an emotional stressor as well as physical, but we are very happy for her and hopefully the remainder of the move will continue to go well.

We are wrapping up time we spent with our college intern, Michelle as she returns for the spring semester. She helped keep our heads above water in the edit queue this fall. We have also updated the website for weddings and corporate work this fall and are also feverishly working on our new demo for the upcoming bridal fair.
It has been such a whirlwind last 2 months, its almost scary to think about! :)
We wish each and every one of you a prosperous, safe and happy 2009! Come see us at the bridal fair January 10th and 11th at Century II!!!

God Bless.

"GO FIND, HANNI!"

Benyshek Prequel Online!

2008-11-18T21:52:00.002-06:00

It's a little late in the evening, but the last scheduled prequel of the year is "really" up! I had a last minute corporate job slow me down this afternoon, but we're good to go now! Scroll to the Leach-Benyshek post to find it! I do need to make a slight correction. I stated in the post that Tia had about 5,000 rose petals scattering the aisle of the church as she decorated. And I thought for only a brief moment that it sure looked like alot more but didn't think anything of it (as I'd never counted that many petals before!) until Tia gently reminded me on facebook :) that there were really THIRTY THOUSAND petals scattered about! Wow! staggering, but it looked so pretty!
Enjoy! Be sure to leave us your thoughts on the comments link!!!!!!!!!

New Prequel Coming 11-18-08!

2008-11-17T19:36:00.002-06:00

Just a note to let you know the long-awaited Benyshek prequel will be online tomorrow! We'll post as soon as it goes LIVE! Thanks for the patience with all the anticipation! SG

Junior Reading Circle

2008-11-07T19:47:00.004-06:00

We had a fun afternoon yesterday. We were asked to host one of the meetings for the Junior Reading Circle from Newton. It's president, Barbara Bunting, is the mother of one of our brides, Molly Claassen. She had asked us a few months ago to speak to her group about how our business may be simialr to the theme they had for the year- Madonna. It was an interesting day, we were able to share some of our work, including Molly's Prequel and talk about how music influences our business and such.

The Junior Reading Circle I learned is a group of women that meet once a month to discuss a variety of topics -and they don't actually read! :) The group is 100 years old and it originally began as a reading group but has evolved through the years. There was an awesome variety of members with very different and unique backgrounds. Topics vary for their group and it is a learning opportunity for them, educational and social in nature. I believe the ladies had a great time, and we know we did :) After our talk Barry gave a brief tour of the studio and the ladies then had business minutes to tend to. One of the hostesses provided a great spread of refreshments- and the pumpkin bread was awesome! Thanks, Christine!

The afternoon really was a lot of fun, thanks to Barbara for having the group at our place! Stop in any time!

Leach - Benyshek

2008-11-05T11:03:00.003-06:00

This past weekend we had a wonderful time at the wedding of Tia & Tim! We met Tia early in the year when they booked our most popular package, a Love Story package, and we got to know them pretty well through the planning of that.
I met Tia at Eric Fisher Salon out east on Saturday morning where she was in the best mood! Not a care in the world- so relaxed. Some of her bridesmaids also attended to get their hair styled for the day. Tia chose not to do a complete updo, but rather pulling the sides up and back with a cool twist on the top. The rest of her hair was left long and flowing with lots of curls and just a little it of bling, a classy barrette, no tiara. Afterwards we met back up at the church, University Congregational in east Wichita. Tia was enjoying herself spreading out cream colored rose petals on the front steps and lining the main aisle of the sanctuary with 5,000+ pink, white and cream colored petals!
Tim was sequestered to the basement with the groomsmen while they got dressed and started their formal photos first so that he would not see Tia prior to the ceremony.
Tia waited with her bridesmaids in the bridal parlour getting dressed. She chose a gorgeous white lace-covered strapless dress and comfortable slippers! The ladies wore tan dresses which went great with the floral arrangements of cream and pink. The flower girls were so adorable wearing angel wings as they came down the aisle!!!
Aubrey Rowden from Missouri was the couple's photographer and she took as many photos ahead of time as she could.
The ceremony went off without a hitch and was short and sweet, or as Tia and Tim said "Was it really over that fast!?" After the couple exchanged vows and lit their unity candle, the guests seated at the inner aisle's found small sachets of rose petals to toss at the couple as they exited the church. They left the church in a black stretch limo but returned to finish photos as the guests left for Andover and the reception at Terradyne Country Club.
When the bride and groom arrived, they were introduced by John Graves of Totally Legal Sound and Lighting, who also did a fabujous job of adding some great ambiance to the reception. There was pink uplighting along the walls which added so much depth and character to the room and the couple had a monogram made to project onto the dance floor. There were so many special touches through the day and into the reception, Tia and Tim had thought of everything.
The cake was huge and had several long ribbons proturuding from it. After the cutting of the cake, the bridesmaids each pulled on a ribbon which pulled a pendant from inside the cake stating different fortunes for them.
A candy "bar" loaded with sugary treats kept everyone on a sugar high all night (including the videographer), the room of guests were split in half and each side had to sing for their dinner. Tim and Tia also had crossword puzzles about themselves at each place setting and baskets full of flip flops for the guests to take home.
Another special treat was the Montage and Love Story that was played that Tim and Tia kept as a well guarded secret up until the reception, which also led right into their first dance, which was a choreographed ballroom dance! Tia also had a choreographed dance with her father and a bridesmaid sung the song live. Tim danced a traditional dance with his mother.
The party soon followed and culminated with a send off with the biggest sparklers I'd ever seen! 4-minute sparklers which had to be a good two feet long ignited the night as the couple ran through the tunnel of sparks to their awaiting car.
Tim and Tia- What a fabulous day. We really had a wonderful time getting to know you, please stay in touch- it's so great when work doesn't feel like work! We are proud to call you friends and hope you have a fabulous time on your honeymoon.

Next Prequel Online Now!

2008-11-03T17:35:00.004-06:00

It's been a prequel day...Scroll down to find not only the Tierson prequel but the Kiesling's prequel as well! Lauren asked for their first dance song in the prequel, we rather like it! :)

Be sure to click on comments and let us know what you think and sign up for the blog to your right! It's free and we won't bug you (too often!)

Psst! Fat Cat. Pass it on.

New Prequel Online!

2008-11-03T17:10:00.002-06:00

The Austin-Tierson prequel is finally online now! Check it out at their post below. A fun prequel for a fun couple. Be sure to leave us your comments! Stay tuned for one more prequel due up today!!!

New FCP Website Goes Live Now!

2008-10-27T15:39:00.004-05:00

As promised, the new website for Fat Cat is now finally online! (Sorry it's about a week late as posted previously! We were very busy assisting at a photography workshop here all week!) Several weeks ago you may have noticed our web page taking a slight turn to corporate work, which we do also, and wedding information was a little tough to find- but rest assured we haven't forgotten about our brides! Quite the contrary~ the new web site, which you will need the latest version of Flash to view, can be found at http://www.fatcatrocks.com/ . Your browser will load a splash page allowing you to choose one of four options- wedding, our blog, announce my child or corporate.

The majority of our readers enter through the wedding site. Our corporate site, FCMG, will now be directed to http://www.fatcatmediagroup.com/ and linked through the main splash page. AMC resides on the splash page as well as http://www.announcemychild.com/ !

There are a few minor tweaks that will be taking care of in the coming days, and of course it will always be a work in progress! So go grab a cup of hot cocoa, curl up with a warm blanket and your favorite furry critter and check it out- we even have some new samples in the gallery! (Ya, for real!)

Palmer-Kiesling Wedding!

2008-10-22T11:33:00.010-05:00

Apologizing once again for a late post! This past weekend we had the amazing experience of spending the day with a whole group of wonderful people for the wedding of Lauren and Brad. Lauren lives in Washington DC and called us nearly a year ago to inquire about wedding videography and was referred to us by our friends, Eric and Neal, of Lemon-Lime Photography out of Kansas-City. We met tham last year at a wedding we did in Missouri and were excited to have the opportunity to work with them again! Lauren and Brad were an absolute DELIGHT to work with all day and Eric, Neal, Barry and I came away with some great pictures and fun footage. There were absolutely no worries all day and Lauren was one of the most relaxed brides I've seen. Even a hole in the veil, her something "borrowed" didn't dampen her spirits!

We met everyone at the Cathedral downtown and documented the bride and grooms preparations. Everyone looked beautiful! Flowers were provided by Stems and added that perfect touch. Lauren wore a fitted dress with a wrapped/pleated bodice that was quite elegant. She kept jewelry to a minimum but was given a surprise by her husband to be, gorgeous diamond earrings.

They chose not to see each other prior to the ceremony and took as many photos as they could in the courtyard and then headed inside about 2 pm for the ceremony. A close friend, Fr. John Koziol, from Washington DC came to celebrate the marriage ceremony. This made it very personal and special for the couple. Afterwards they made their way through a stream of bubbles to a waiting porsche which Brad zipped them away in!

After zipping around the block, they returned to the sanctuary for some group shots and the Unified Party Bus awaited them for a crazy downtown urban shoot in Oldtown! I went along for the fun. Eric and Neal had some great poses and candid shots they captured and I was amazed at some of the killer lighting techniques they used which seems to be one of their trademarks. After the bridal party stopped in to Heroes Sports Bar for a quick Brew, it was time to board the bus and head East to Tallgrass Country Club for the reception. The couple had hired The Mikey Needleman Band from Kansas City and they were a phenominal three man show all night long! A beautiful choreographed ballroom dance to "The Luckiest" was the couples first dance and all the traditions followed. Laurens sorority and Brads fraternity serenaded Lauren during the night and you felt as if you were at a concert choir, it was really something. It was such a great time, we didn't really want to leave!

Thanks so much to Lauren and Brad for trusting us with their special day, you are an awesome couple perfect for one another and we were so thrilled to spend the day with you. Thank you so so much.

Click below to see the Kiesling's wedding day prequel!! We'll try to swipe some photos from Lemon-Lime as well!

New Prequel Online!

2008-10-17T19:20:00.003-05:00

The newest prequel is up for your viewing pleasure! The Newby-Dugan Prequel is now online! Scroll down to their blog post to check it out! Congratulations Sarah and Brent! Coming soon, the Austin-Tierson prequel! Stick around!

Austin-Tierson Wedding!

2008-10-07T20:52:00.010-05:00

This past weekend we were able to film the wedding of Amy and Randy. What a neat couple. Down to earth, gracious and a lot of fun. We first met Amy and Randy many months ago when they scheduled their wedding locally but later found out the reception site was double booked so had to move their wedding and their party one week away from the origianl date and to a new location. They decided on a beautiful place we'd not been in 6 years of wedding work- The Belle Plain Arboretum. What a neat place. Very wooded and natural, quiet and secluded. The owner, Robin Macey was fabulous to work with and we had a great time with her, too. The wedding took place on a rustic log stage in an open meadow surrounded by huge pine trees and other fauna. Robin described it well, "this is a stage, its a classroom, and it's a chapel of God".

Amy arrived to get dressed shortly after lunch with her bridesmaids. The bridesmaids wore classic red strapless dresses and high heels, clutches of flowers were natural and deep fall colors from Brown's Botanicals. Amy's dress was white strapless with red accents across the bodice and down the train in the back. It was also unique in a sense that her neice, the flower girl, wore an exact replica, only smaller :)

After a few last minute jitters, Amy was ready to walk down the open aisle lined with red rose petals to her groom, Randy. Barry had been with the guys earlier as they prepared and got dressed and he said Randy was ready to go for sure! I think it was a big relief off Amy's shoulders when she was finally able to see her husband for the first time. About 150 close friends and family sat in rows of white chairs to witness their vows and support them as they started their new lives together. A string quartet serenaded them throughout the ceremony. When they were pronounced as husband and wife, the couple and the bridal party lined up at the rear of the meadow for a receiving line to thank all their guests prior to heading to the reception.

The reception was back in Wichita at the Beech Activity Center where Amy had great table decor with red accents and something I had not seen before, an all red wedding cake! The groom was not to be left out, the grooms cake was a tribute to a past canine friend, Jasmine, so very cool. The guest book took its place by the entrance door along with a handmade quilt which the guests also left well wishes with permanent marker.

All the usual activities followed, dinner, cutting of cake, the toasts, first dance, parents dances and the boquet and garter tosses. Then they were on to party and everyone had a good time, the DJ was great with playing as many requests as possible for the guests and kept the atmosphere lively and upbeat all night long. Amy and Randy enjoyed visiting with all their guests and were excited to finally be husband and wife. We share the sentiment as well. Amy had spent alot of time on other details of the day and party favors. The programs were hand made fans for the outdoor ceremony, they had homemade sugar cookies as snacks and passed out heart shaped cookie cutters with accompanying recipe and artsy boxes full of cinnamon discs!

Randy and Amy, thank you so much for choosing us to film your wedding, we had a great time, what a relaxing day for us. We enjoyed meeting everyone and hope we can work with your family in the years to come. Congratulations on your wedding and good luck as you start your new life together, we wish you both the best!

Thank you to Charlene Duncan of Charlene Duncan Photography for the photographs!!! Click the flash player below to view the Tierson's wedding day prequel. A fun prequel for a fun couple!

Pursley-Johnson Prequel Online Now!

2008-10-06T11:24:00.002-05:00

After a much anticipated wait, the Vanessa and Cory Johnson Prequel is now online! You can check it out by scrolling down to their post. Be sure to strike up the comments section, let us know what you think. Look for more stunning images of Vanessa later this month on T&J Studios website, as she will be one of the fabulous models for the Keepnitfresh workshop featuring Cory McNabb!

New Info!

2008-10-05T17:45:00.003-05:00

Hey everybody! A few bits of info...

Just wanted to drop a line to you to let you know the Pursley-Johnson prequel is complete but won't be online until tomorrow...one more day, boo.... hang in there!

And speaking of online and the internet stuff, after a year long wait and much anticipation, we wanted to let you know that a brand new web site is coming soon to the wedding division of Fat Cat Productions this weekend! You may have noticed our current homepage at http://www.fatcatrocks.com/ has taken a slight business/corporate twist. That's because we aren't just weddings! If you or someone you know owns a small business and needs video content for web, digital signage, in lobby videos, marketing or promotional videos, or otherwise, give them a shout and let Fat Cat do the rest!

Our sister site http://www.announcemychild.com/ also has a new look- check it out and pass the word on to your friends and family that are expecting that little bundle of joy! In the meantime, sign up to be included on our mailing list for blog updates to your right (it's free and we won't bug you or sell your email address!) Don't you HATE that?

Rumor has it that October is a busy month for spring and summer bookings for the upcoming year, don't be left out in the cold so to speak without a document of your wedding day on video- call us soon to check availability for your date!

We will post as soon as the new wedding site is up and running for you to check out- it's TOO cool. We are pretty excited.

Later!

Newby-Dugan Wedding!

2008-09-30T17:58:00.014-05:00

Last weekend, we were able to share the day with Sarah and Brent, a fabulous couple. When Brent popped the question to his girlfriend about a year ago, they decided to hire a videog-

rapher for their wedding and called us. We were thrilled to work with the Dugan's again and to get to know the Newby's. (We had filmed Brent's sister's wedding about 3 years ago) About 2 months ago we filmed Sarah and Brent's Love Story that they showed during the reception, and when we get two minutes to breathe around here, we'll try to post it! But that was a very fun day where we got to know Sarah and Brent a little better and so it was a fun, relaxing day when it came time for the wedding!

Sarah also hired Marcia Morrison and we had a good time hanging out together! Her photos are featured in this blog post. I started the day with Sarah at Sola Salons in west Wichita while she got her hair done and hung out with a few of her friends and bridesmaids. I don't believe there was a single hair on Sarah's head that wasn't curled! Before I left, Sarah shared a special story with me about her "something old" for her wedding day. An aunt hand made a purse for her made with replica lace of her wedding dress and a few pieces of Sarah's grandmothers wedding gown! It matched Sarah's attire perfectly and Sarah was able to "carry" a part of her grandmother with her during the wedding day. Afterwards, I met her at the church where Barry was documenting the grooms' preparations at St. Mary's Cathedral in downtown Wichita. Sarah was in good spirits as she and her bridesmaids got dressed and ready for photos. Sarah's gown, I can say, was one of the most stunning we've seen. Sarah found her dress in Oklahoma City. It was a Priscilla of Boston. Alencon lace with swarovski crystal beading adorned Sarah and fit her perfectly.

After everyone was ready, Sarah met Brent for the first time in the courtyard and took as many photographs with Marcia as they could prior to the ceremony. It was a gorgeous day, not too hot, not too cool. The ceremony started at 2 pm and it was a special celebration with Sarah's uncle being a priest, he was the officiant. Brent and Sarah had a full mass celebrating communion together with all their guests.

After they were announced as husband and wife, the guests made their way outside the main steps of the Cathedral and grabbed handfuls of pink rose petals to shower the newlyweds with. It was absolutely gorgeous and the ground looked as if it were colored pink after the couple exited on the trolley to take more photographs off site!

After photos, we met the couple at the Dugan Library at Kansas Newman College at a packed house for the reception and dance. All of the traditional events flowed smoothly with Mark Mazur acting as emcee for the evenings festivities. We were able to show the Love Story on two big screens the library provided and then Brent and Sarah kicked off the dancing with their first dance, special dances with their parents and then - PARTY TIME. I don't think the dance floor was ever empty- all night. Lots of happiness, laughter, smiles and hugs with family and friends proved to make a great combination for a wonderful night.

As you are reading, we might mention Sarah wanted to thank all of her friends and family that came such long distances to help her with pre-wedding day planning and also celebrate the day. You were an invaluable help and it showed with the day running so smoothly and beautiful!

Thank you to the Dugan and Newby families for having us be a part of the day, we had a wonderful time and enjoyed seeing old friends and making many new ones! Congratulations to Brent and Sarah on their marriage, new life together, and new home, what an exciting time, we are very happy for you!

Click below to watch Sarah and Brent's wedding day prequel!

Fat Cat Media Group and ExpoVenture 2008!

2008-09-22T22:11:00.003-05:00

Fat Cat's not just weddings! Come on out Tuesday, September 23rd to ExpoVentrue 2008 sponsored by the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce at Century II Expo Hall! We'll be at Booth 1315 10 am to 6 pm promoting the non-wedding side of our business and making some great friends along the way. You might catch a glimpse of Steph and Barry hard at work, we'll be capturing scenes of the day for the Chamber to share with you at a later date. Come on down! SG

Madison-Brinckman Prequel Now Online!

2008-09-20T15:08:00.003-05:00

Check out our newest prequel by scrolling below to find the Madison/Brinckman's video! Be sure to leave us your comments and sign up to receive information whenever we update the blog. (int he bar to your right) Click on "Subscribe". Don't worry- it's free! And we only bug you if there's something new online :) Enjoy!
Be sure to let your friends and family know we are booking into 2009 so don't delay in setting up a consultation with us before the popular dates are gone! There are some fall 2008 dates still available as well!

Pursley-Johnson Wedding

2008-09-16T20:30:00.012-05:00

We apologize for posting late with all of the projects taking flight here at Fat Cat, but we need to fill you in on the great wedding of Vanessa and Cory we filmed over a week ago on September 6th!

Vanessa and Cory are an awesome couple. Vanessa started her day at East Heights United Methodist Church in east Wichita. She and her bridesmaids had all their hair and make up done when they arrived, so they needed very little time to don their dresses, do touch ups and assist Vanessa into her own dress. Classic strapless and fitted with buttons down the back and pleated bodice. She was incredibly elegant.

Vanessa chose to see Cory before the wedding to get many of her photos out of the way so they could have more time to party afterwards and after a few minor delays, she had her chance. Tim Davis was the photographer and together, we set up the first meeting in the sanctuary, clearing everyone out for their private moment. The groom stood at the steps of the altar facing forward and Vanessa proceeded down the aisle to meet him. Cory had a huge smile on his face, and we can only imagine what he might be thinking when she tapped him on the shoulder to signal him to turn around! Cory read aloud the card Vanessa presented to him and it was simply a great moment.

Tim worked quickly to get all the group photos taken prior to the ceremony and had time to spare! The sanctuary soon filled with guests and was almost full shortly before the wedding. We all took our places and enjoyed a very special ceremony celebrating not only their new lives together, but family. The bride entered the church alone and her groom met her in the aisle and escorted her to the front of the church. After the vows and exchange of rings they lit the unity candle and then invited their children to join them to light a second candle nearby and share a private prayer. After everyone took their places again, the pastor wasted no time in announcing them as husband and wife and they left the church past rows of their guests lined outside showering them with beautiful rose petals! The limo whisked them away to the reception!

We arrived at the Cowtown Visitors Center shortly before the bride and groom and the guests were enjoying cocktails. We captured the details with Tim while Tyler from Another Dimension DJ Service prepared to announce the couple to the party. Thunderous applause welcomed them!

The couple spent time saying hello and thanking each and every guest who attended throughout the night. The traditional events followed, dinner, cutting the cake and toasts. Cory and Vanessa even had party favors of personalized koozies that read "I partied at the Johnson Wedding 09.06.08" Too cool!

It was truly a fun night and so relaxing with such a great bride and groom. Thank you Cory and Vanessa for allowing us to capture your special day. We had a wonderful time spending the day with you and wish you every happiness together and your absolutely beautiful family and gorgeous children! You are undeniably perfect together.

The Johnson Prequel can be seen below!

Christmas Bells are Ringing!

2008-09-12T12:06:00.004-05:00

Don't forget to plan ahead for Christmas with your holiday photomontages and VHS to DVD transfers of those old home movies! When you gather around the fireplace this December, make it easy to view those old Christmas memories by having Fat Cat transfer them to DVD for you! ...Yes, we do that, too :) Call us for more information! # 755.1389

Photo montages make great family gifts! What better gift than to give a memory.

Does your employer need the holiday Christmas party filmed to remember the awesome time you had? Are you the employer? Call us to schedule and we'll hook you up with a great party video you won't soon forget!

Geez, while we are at it, let's mention New Year's Parties, too! Fat Cat- we're not just weddings! :)

Meow.

BABY FARE!

2008-09-12T12:02:00.003-05:00

If you are expecting or know someone who is, don't sit around watching it rain this weekend. Grab a rain coat and head downtown to Century II and the 2008 Baby Fare! Fat Cat Productions will be sharing information about our sister site http://www.announcemychild.com/ ! This division of Fat Cat produces baby stories and video birth announcements to remember that very special time of a baby's new arrival to the world! ....No, we don't film the actual birth :) Check it out at the link above!!!

There will be many booths catering to moms and tots, so come on down!

Hills- Clark Prequel Online!

2008-09-10T09:05:00.002-05:00

The Allyson and Matt Clark Prequel is now online! You can check it out by scrolling to their post to check it out! Enjoy!

Madison/Brinckman Wedding: A Destination Wedding

2008-09-04T09:53:00.014-05:00

This past Labor Day Weekend, we headed west to Denver, Colorado for the wedding of Candace and Marcus. We first met Candace at a wedding of one of her friends here locally and she called to see about her own wedding video and if we traveled to Denver. Of course! She had also not picked a photographer at the time but soon chose T&J Studios here in Valley Center. Candace had been planning this wedding for quite some time and her husband wanted a wedding in the mountains. Although this did not pan out for them, they chose to add an eXtreme session in Rocky Mountain National Park the day after the wedding to get the mountain shots they had hoped for originally. So it was great fun traveling with our friends Tyff and Jeff.

We drove out Thursday and got a good nights rest prior to the Friday rehearsal we all attended. We reviewed the days itinerary with the bride and groom and headed off to bed for an early start on the wedding day. Tyffany and I plugged directions into my new favorite toy, my iPhone, and off we went to Broomfield, Colorado to follow the ladies at Anthony's Salon. They all had a great time. Three stylists worked most the morning to make them all gorgeous. Tyff and I cut out early to get to the reception site, the Chateaux at Fox Meadows, to get some establishing shots and haul in some equipment. The guys were already there with Jeff and Barry documenting. The ladies wore hand made dresses by the mother of the bride. It was very interesting to hear about how the fittings went as many of the ladies lived out of town and the fittings took place long distance and through the mail! But it was worth it- they were gorgeous and the most unique bridesmaids dresses I've seen, and classy. Red, Black and Gold bold sweeping stripes. The bride wanted colors to coordinate with fall colors she had chosen. The bride wore white strapless, with intricate beadwork and a gorgeous train.

After everyone was ready, the bride and groom wanted to see each other before the ceremony and Marcus waited at the base of the grand staircase and was greeted by all the bridesmaids coming down the steps. He was given a gift from the bride by the last bridesmaid and he opened this prior to seeing Candace. It was a framed engagement photograph for their home and a CD player. He was istructed to hit "play", the music started and Candace made her way down the staircase, tears filling both thier eyes. It wa a very touching moment. Photographs followed at the Chateuax and then everyone loaded up again to head to the church in Longmont, Colorado about 30 minutes away.

The couple was married at First Evangelical Lutheran Church. It was a small, historical church and full of character with large wooden beams and pillars inside and beautiful stained glass work.

A friend of Marcus' from KU officiated and added a special humorous flair for the couple. He pronounced them for the first time as husband and wife and the couple left in an antique car to head back to the Chateaux for the reception.

Jeff and I rode together and followed the bride and groom to a new developing area on the way for some urban shots while Barry and Tyffany rode ahead to get shots of the guests at the Chateaux. When the couple arrived, every guest was on the front steps to greet them iwth noise makers and streamers.

The couple exited the car and made their way to the front steps as well for a picturesque dove release. They first head one dove each and released it into the air. Next, a carrier full of 12 were released to celebrate thier new lives together and another carrier of 12 followed in remembrance of those friends and family who could not be with them in celebrating. It was truly beautiful and one of the mot fun things we have done at a wedding!

The couple then finished a few photos outside and were announced into the reception for the BBQ dinner buffet and toasts. They cut the multi layered cake with fresh berries and shaved chocolate and headed to the dance floor for their first dance and parents dances. Then it was time for everyone to cut lose! The couple thoroughly enjoyed speaking to all their guests and thanking them for coming. It was a fabulous day for everyone.

We captured as much dance footage as we needed for the edits and said good night to Candace and Marcus. It was going to be a short night for everyone, as we were all to meet back up at the hotel lobby at 7 am the next day for the eXtreme session!

We stayed at the Omni Interlocken Resort and had an absolutely fabulous time there, customer service was absolutely impeccable. But it was short night, we recharged all batteries and I don't even remember my head hitting the pillow! When we met in the morning, Candace's hair was near perfect as it was the day before! We all grabbed a snack and headed north and west to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park for an awesome photo shoot at over 11,000 feet!

Candace had orginally wanted to get into one of the waterfalls at the end of the shoot but after Barry grabbed some shots with our underwater housing that plan quickly changed! :) I'm kind of glad, because it would have meant I had to get in the water, too to pull off the shots I envisioned! :) Maybe next time! It was just way too cold. But it was a nice thought! We still came away with some awesome shots and Tyff and Jeff got some amazing photographs as well.

Thank you to Candace and Marcus for your trust in us to capture your day, we thoroughly enjoyed every minute we spent with you guys. We love your families and your friends and fabulous. Your hospitality is second to none and we were honored to be in the mountians with you, thank you.

Fat Cat & the KSPVA Tour

2008-08-27T10:40:00.006-05:00

We thought we would take a few moments to let you all know what has been happening again here at Fat Cat recently. Last night we hosted the Kansas Professional Videographers Association August meeting at the studio. About 20 of us met up at the Main Street Grill and Bar here in Valley Center for dinner, conversation and talking shop. Then we headed down the street to the studio to set up with our special guest, Larry Hatteburg, from the ABC affiliate KAKE-TV channel 10.

Mr. Hatteburg has spoken to our group once before earlier this year and everyone learned literally truckloads. Our favorite topic we wanted to pick his brain a bit more about was lighting techniques. So we invited Larry back and he graciously agreed to come back and share a sampling of his wealth of knowledge with us. Larry has been an award winning journalist for 41 years, so we will probably never know as much as he's forgotten over the years!

Larry brought alot of the equipment he uses on shoots for news and his series "Hatteburg's People" and explained how he uses each piece and how he works around difficult lighting situations. Then Barry hooked up a live feed from his camera to a TV monitor for us to view while he set up a typical interview setting for us see the differences in lighting set ups and camera settings and how they work together. It was amazing how such small changes in lighting can make a huge difference in your productions! We'll be sure to put to use many of his tips in future Love Stories, Baby Stories, and documentaries!

Thanks to the KSPVA for coming out for a studio tour, we enjoyed having everyone! And of course a huge thank you to Larry for being so willing to share with us and teach us, we appreciate all of the time you spent with us!

Fat Cat featured again!

2008-08-25T11:01:00.004-05:00

We mentioned earlier that we were featured in the August issue of the trade magazine EventDV for our out of market weddings, which make up about 30% of our business currently. We also mentioned that we were going to be featured again about the state of video and the economy in September's issue. As we await the print version of the magazine this coming week, we thought we would post the video version of the article for you to enjoy. We were one of six video companies featured in the article. Each company was asked to submit a short video showcasing their studios and work. We were thrilled to be featured with such great folks in the industry, especially our friends in Southern California, Steve and Laura Moses, who we've mentioned in the previous blog entry! :) Go Steve, Go Laura! Let me know where I can find one of those high tech rapid transport systems! Here is the link if you'd like to check it out!

http://halslifervideo.typepad.com/blog/event-dv.html

More exciting news coming to Fat Cat so stay tuned!

McNeil Prequel Online!

2008-08-20T20:49:00.004-05:00

We are finally happy to say that the McNeil Prequel is online now! Sorry for the delay with travel and all the things we've had going! Please scroll down to the Haines/McNeil wedding post to view the prequel, and be sure to drop us a line and tell us what you think! We think it definately shows the happiness and excitement of the day.

Hills-Clark Wedding!

2008-08-19T10:52:00.006-05:00

Wow. Another great wedding. We are so lucky to work with such awesome brides and grooms! This last weekend was no different. We first met Allyson a couple years back we think after doing some montages for their family events. When Allyson found out she'd be getting married, she called us up to see if we were available for her date, and luckily we were!

Matt and Allyson tied the knot here in Wichita at St. Mary's Cathedral downtown. But I first met up with Allyson at the downtown Hyatt where she and her bridesmaids prepared in the Suite, getting the hair and make up done. Even though it was a suite, the place was full of activity. Allyson was in a great mood and all smiles! The ladies met up again at the church to get dressed along with Allyson later in the morning. Allyson's dress was unique as many are. It was a Pronovias that she found in Tulsa when on the search for the perfect dress. She found 4 she loved, but the final pick was most unique and comfortable. I had not seen a wedding dress with such a collar.

After Allyson was finished getting ready, she took as many photos before hand as she could so she saved seeing Matt for the first time walking down the aisle. Matt and his groomsmen prepared at his home and Barry followed to get a little bit of the preparations and everyone met up at the Cathedral.

The wedding started right on time and a full mass was celebrated. We had a nice time working with the Clark's photographer from Kansas City, John Siebs. When the couple was introduced as husband and wife, the couple let the guests leave and head across town to the Wichita Country Club for the reception while they finished photos in the church. They also hopped aboard the Party Express Bus and made a few stops in Old Town for photos on the way to the party.

Once arriving at the Country Club, the DJ met the bridal party to arrange the announcements and the couple was welcomed with thunderous applause. They went straight to the cake table to cut the cake and then were given many heartfelt toasts prior to dinner.

After all the guests went through the buffet, it was definately party time. The DJ was Carbon Productions and he did a wonderful job of mixing the dance songs all night long. The dance floor was never empty.

The night ended with the Bride and Groom being escorted to a limo through a tunnel of sparklers outside the Country Club doors! It was a great time for sure.

Thanks to Matt and Allyson for allowing us to be your official videographers for the day! We really had a wonderful time, we are so happy you have stayed in touch, and we hope we can continue to stay in touch if you need anything else. And if you don't... who cares :) Stop in anytime, we have really enjoyed getting to know you both. You rock!
Just a note to the rest of our readers: Matt and Allyson honeymooned in London, where Allyson has been in touch with us via her cell phones email. Yes, we scolded her for not ignoring the world why they were gone :)

Click below to see the wedding day prequel!

Fat Cat Updates

2008-08-17T19:27:00.031-05:00

The last few weeks here at Fat Cat have been incredibly busy. We always say this, but recently, things have been flying at us at a whirlwind pace more so than usual. We'll try to catch you up on the happenings here and leave you with a few words of wisdon if we can.

As you all may have read we were recently featured in EventDV magazine, a videographer trade magazine. Not only were we interviewed for one of the stories, but we happened to make the cover. We received many comments about this and thank you all for your kind and supporting words! About the time the magazine came out, I had been under strict rules and agreements not to share one of my latest projects I was involved in. I had been asked to be a judge for WEVA's Creative Excellence Awards. WEVA is the Wedding and Event Videographers Association and has thousands of members all across the world. Each year they hold a competition to find the most creative videos produced this past year. There are 5 new judges each year and I was humbled to be asked to judge this year after receiving our very first CEA last year, a Finalist Award for The Lane Love Story we shot in Little Rock, Arkansas for Thomas and Jenny!

The judging involved receiving over 100 videos to view in various categories and judge on a point system in multiple categories, both technical and creative, and then choose my top 3 or 4 videos to bring to a final judging with the rest of the judges in Chicago, Illinois in late July.

After this somewhat daunting task, I flew to Chicago July 21st to meet the other judges and we all took nearly 4 days to review all the judges top entries in all the categories. WEVA Education Director John Zale treated us wonderfully and even took us to Navy Pier to hang out, gave us a great tour of the city including a trip up to the top of Sears Tower and I quite enjoyed the "real" Chicago style pizza! As soon as I returned home, there was no time to rest as we prepared for the Bridal Fair July 26th as well as Nate and Andrea's wedding the same weekend! Special thanks go out to our intern Michelle who graciously stayed at the office that week for a few 12 hour shifts!
It was the following week that really knocked the wind out of our sails. One of our very close friends husband had a sudden hospital stay over the next weekend. What was thought to be Crohn's Disease with an overnight hospital stay for evaluation suddenly took a shocking turn with emergency surgery and a resulting diagnosis of cancer. Needless to say we spent several hours with our friends in SICU at the hospital. Please keep our friends in your prayers as they start a rough road of treatments ahead.

Our friend also owns a small business so we travelled to Nebraska to help her with some things during the down time. We spent a day in cornhusker country and after a long drive that Saturday night, we arrived back in town and stopped by the studio at 2:30 am to grab a few items, head home, had enough time to run through the shower and then head out again to the airport for a 7 am flight we had to Florida Sunday morning. I hadn't pulled a 24 hour day in many years. But I wouldn't have changed helping our friend in a million years. (No need to say thanks, D- we love ya! MWAH! )

The Florida trip was for our yearly WEVA conference usually held in Las Vegas. The CEA winners are announced opening night and is followed by three days of various seminars and classes regarding the world of video, business and marketing, etc. When I was asked to be a judge, Barry and I were also asked to be on a marketing panel for one of the classes. We were very excited to be there and I was the judge who was able to hand over the winner of The Gold Award of the Theater Category to my friend and mentor, Danny Sayson from Vancouver, Canada. After attending several classes and gathering up more ideas to grow the business, we were able to take Thursday afternoon to hang out with our great friends Mike and Karleen of Starring You Productions in Richmond, Virginia at Universal Studios. That was definately TOO short of a night, but oh it was so much fun! We needed it. Karleen and I are so similar it's almost scary! We thoroughly enjoyed seeing all our friends from all across the country and meeting new ones! Congratulations To Steve and Laura Moses of Vantage Point Productions in Southern California for winning the Gold in Demo Category, you guys rock! (Thanks for the gift as well, I appreciate it! You are both so gracious)

After that late night at Universal, we headed back to the hotel and packed and had about 2 hours of sleep before heading back to the airport last Friday morning at 4 am to head home in time for a rehearsal that evening for Matt and Allyson (post to follow). Life just never stops, it keeps coming at you about 90 mph. The sleep schedule was eerily familiar to us already :)

In a nut shell it was fitting to end the whirlwind of emotions on a roller coaster at Universal, as this is how life has felt recently. In between all this trying to knock out the upcoming weddings that are due, film Love Stories and weddings and prepare for the upcoming wedding in Denver, Colorado with T&J Studios, Baby Fare and The Chamber of Commerce EXPOVENTURE! All I can say is "wow."

Until next time blogstalkers, take care of yourselves and those around you who you love!

(Pictures in order are: 2008 CEA Judges at Navy Pier, Chicago (that's me in the middle- haha :). Chicago's finest horsemen. Me and my mentor and really great friend Danny Sayson receiving his Gold CEA. Me and my homegirl Karleen from Richmond, Virginia- love you girl! Barry and Steph enjoying the Awards dinner at Expo. My awesome friends Belinda and Tom Young from Tennessee whom I met last year at a seminar in California. Tom, Steph and Rolando from Texas- we all met at the same seminar in California! Mike and Karleen getting a first hand look at a working green screen at the After Dark Party (was that not a fun night!? I need some more of that pink wine!) Judy Handley from the Wichita contingent, taking photos of the green screen fun! Me and Tyff in Victoria, Kansas last month in our scrubs before bed (we were watching the CEA entries, ya I know, this picture doesn't really fit, but I thought it was cute. We will be travelling together again at the end of the month to Denver for a wedding and eXtreme session in the mountains!! CAN'T WAIT!)

"A diamond is a chunk of coal that made good under pressure."

Bunting-Classsen prequel now online!

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The Bunting-Claassen wedding prequel is now online! Scroll down to their post to check it out! Be sure to leave us your comments on this fabulous wedding! The Fat Cats are currently out of the office helping a friend in need and we will post about all our upcoming adventures this week very soon so check back!