Alderbrook Resort

It seems like we are always so busy with running our business, shooting and editing that the only “getaway” time we have is when we are traveling to shoot a wedding or corporate video. And we certainly don’t seem to get out of town with our kids. So since we didn’t have a wedding this weekend, and it’s our only weekend with no wedding until mid-September, we decided to take the weekend off with our boys. I forgot to mention that Saturday was also our 17th wedding anniversary! So we decided to head out to Alderbrook Resort in the Hood Canal.

Mind you, I grew up in Hawaii so my idea of a vacation doesn’t usually involve pine trees and hiking…more like palm trees and boogie boarding. But we had SUCH a great time this weekend that I wanted to share it with you. We also saw two weddings taking place at the resort and of course that means we bumped in to other wedding vendors who we know too, which was cool.

We got a two bedroom cottage which was perfect for me, Chris and our two teenage boys. There was a full kitchen with all the utensils, plates, etc. so we took some food with us since we knew we would be very active and the boys would need to eat constantly. The cottage was so much nicer than I expected it to be! I was imagining a rustic, semi-bug filled place, but it was like a big hotel room but with lots of privacy. I felt like we were staying in a small house. It was great!

We arrived about noon on Saturday and were able to check in a little early, so we put our bags in our cottage and explored the grounds a bit. The resort is beautiful and we seriously could not have picked a more beautiful day to be there…perfectly sunny and 76 degrees…ah!! The tides at Alderbrook are amazing to watch…they go out so far! And there are beautiful views of the Olympic mountains. We decided to rent a pontoon boat and we saw herons, seals, jellyfish and let the boys take turns driving the boat while we sunned on the deck. Afterwards, we hiked the short trails that give a great view of the resort, water and mountains. Then we headed to pool to play a hysterical game of “beachball volleyball” and then relaxed for a while in the hot tub.

Next was an amazing dinner at the restaurant where they had a nice “Happy Anniversary” card waiting for us at the table. The food was incredible! I highly recommend the Tenderloin Gratin which they sell as an appetizer, but honestly that alone could be a meal! We were super stuffed and couldn’t stomach any dessert until they brought out a special Anniversary creme brulee…the boys attacked it and it was gone in about 35 seconds! Then we walked off dinner for a while and watched the sunset on the dock before hitting the gym and the hot tub again. When we got back to our cottage, there was a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries from our friend and wedding planner Ellen Peterson from Serenity Weddings with a sweet card. We managed to eat them all then fell in to bed tanned, full, tired and happy.

We slept in a little then made some eggs in the kitchen before heading back out to the dock to do some sea kayaking. Now, I’ve never been in a kayak before and I was a little worried that I might not even fit in to it! But David at Hood Canal Adventures reassured me that I’d be fine and would have a great time. We rented two tandem kayaks and paddled around for about an hour and a half. I was instantly in love with kayaking and can’t wait to do it again! After that we had to check out but then we headed back to the gym, pool and hot tub again.

My overall impression of Alderbrook Resort as a getaway location, is that it is top notch! Great staff, incredible food, neat cottages and plenty of activities. We can’t wait to go back again and explore some more…and maybe even check out the spa next time! My impression of Alderbrook for a wedding is also great. It’s like a mini destination wedding but still local. Having a ceremony on the lawn with that gorgeous view is stunning. A unique thing I liked about the reception room is that there are large windows that can be opened to the courtyard and guests can flow in and out and gather around the sofas at the outdoor fire pits. There are so many places to take pictures and video….I just can’t wait to shoot our first wedding there…so if you are getting married at Alderbrook Resort, make sure you call us about having the day filmed because you won’t regret it and I already have ideas flowing in my mind!

Erica Madera recently moved to Seattle after being a makeup artist in the L.A. area and I asked her to do my hair and makeup. I was a little worried because I’m one of those people who can’t stand it when someone touches my eyes and I’ve never had someone else do my makeup. Erica did a great job making me feel comfortable and she did my eyes super fast so I didn’t get all teary…I was even able to tolerate some fake eyelashes!

Laurel McConnell took our photos and she was great! It was REALLY cold and windy out and we didn’t have much light left but we still managed to go to a few locations in a short period of time and she made us feel comfortable in front of the camera. Afterwards we had some Mexican food and Margaritas and chatted about wedding and business stuff. Then it was back to our home-studio where we shot the video for nVidia. I’m not sure where or when it will show up, but hopefully we were able to give them something useful!

I want to give both Erica and Laurel some public thanks and love! If you are a bride still looking for the perfect wedding makeup artist in Seattle, please consider Erica. And of course Laurel is an amazing photographer who has also become a good friend to us over the past few years.

Let me know which photos you like the best!

Images by Laurel McConnell Photography

Winter and early spring in Seattle is an interesting time in the wedding community. Many vendors have a few free weekends since it’s the “down season” and there are several wedding shows and loads of small “Open House” events at local venues. Edit 1 Media was asked to shoot many of these events so we’ll be posting some short videos from a few of them over the next several weeks and months.

The Pan Pacific Hotel is a chic, luxury hotel boasting incredible views of South Lake Union and the Space Needle with unique modern architecture, design and art pieces throughout. The concept for their “open house” was super fun….a mock wedding! If you are still looking for a stylish, modern place to have your wedding that has a real Seattle vibe, consider looking at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

The amazing vendors who participated were BreeAnn from Pink Blossom Events, Aria Style, Barbie Hull Photography, Bamboo Beats, All About Weddings, Bella Cupcake Couture, Salon Azur, Vida Spa, La Belle Elaine, NW Totem Cellars, Hollywood Hill Vineyards, Creative Ice, Kellie’s Creations, Brocklind’s, Pederson’s Rentals, Gifts by Design and Stella & Dot.  Events on the Edge provided the amazing actors!

Of course Edit 1 Media is raffling off a Love Story/Engagement Music Video. It can be romantic and lovey or hip, fun and funky. This is an awesome video to showcase your love for each other and the fun you have together. Chris and Laura are available to shoot 2 locations for up to 3 hours on a mutually agreed upon date. This package is worth $2000 and expires on October 15th, 2010.

Urban Unveiled is put on by Travis and Jesse of True Colors Events and Sharlane Chase of Sharlane Chase Photography. They work so hard to make this event one of the best in Seattle. They select each vendor on an invitation-only basis and are limited to no more than four per category. Urban Unveiled partners are the most talented, innovative, and passionate wedding vendors in the industry. That means that brides can show up, eat some delish food, sip some rockin’ cocktails AND plan your wedding all in one night.

What else are you doing on a Thursday? Set your DVR for Grey’s Anatomy and the Office and come to Benaroya Hall on October 15th! Doors open at 6pm. See you there!

For a taste of what this event is like, check out the video that we did last year:

– Julie, Edit 1 Media Studio Manager

–Julie, Edit 1 Media Studio Manager

This particular wedding was in West Palm Beach, Florida and since we were heading out that way, Chris and I decided to take a short 4-day cruise to the Bahamas prior to Dalia & Mitchell’s wedding. Motion picture film is not supposed to go through xray machines and I had no problem at SeaTac having a hand check. It was actually quite entertaining to chat with the TSA guy about how he grew up shooting Super8 and he was curious what we were doing with it. But when we got to the cruise ship, it was a whole different ball game! The guy there forced us to xray the film even though there were “DO NOT XRAY” stickers all over it! Then on the way home it got xrayed again at the airport in Miami! I was really stressed that the film would be ruined. So I wound up waiting a long time while until I finished shooting some rolls at a few other weddings before sending it in for processing.

Unfortunately, some of the film was damaged from the xray exposure (and probably some user error too!) but I had enough to put together a cute littler opener for Dalia & Mitchell. I love it because it shows just enough of a glimpse in to their day that you want to see more…and yet it doesn’t ruin the surprise of the rest of their video. Yes, that’s me getting all artsy on you! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and if you like it enough to add in a little bit of  Super8 to your wedding video, send me an email!

The last few months have been a complete blur with a ton of travel for corporate shoots (7 cities in 3 weeks during February!!) with every spare second dedicated to editing weddings and running the business. I’m proud to say we are NOT experiencing the recession at all and in fact are thriving and may need to hire more staff!

Anyway, the real reason for this post is to show off Chris’ new hobby.

I wish I could say we videotaped a lot of stuff, but the truth is we didn’t. We were just having fun being together. Maybe on our next trip we’ll be better about that! Anyway, got to get back to editing….I have TONS of stuff to work on and a wedding this weekend!

By the way, if you want to follow us on Twitter, we are @edit1media or look us up on Facebook!

Special thanks to my brides and one groom who helped us at the wedding show. I don’t know what I would do without such awesome clients who are willing to help! Dalia, Vangie, Diane, Mindy & Brian…you guys ROCK!! Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to talk to other people who are still planning their wedding on how important having a good video is.

I’m tired, but happy and content. With all the scary economic talk about 2009, Chris and I really feel blessed to have such a great business and clients who are willing to trust and invest in us.

Thanks to Tania at Azzura Photography for taking these photos! I totally forgot my camera and she came to my rescue! You and Ken ROCK!

Today we filmed Dalia & Mitchell’s blessing from the Rabbi and tomorrow is the big day! We are working with Craig Larsen Jr who is a photographer also from Washington. It’s great for Dalia & Mitchell to be able to meet with us back home in Washington both before and after the wedding and have us here for the events.

Since June marks our 15th wedding anniversary, Chris and I decided to add on a few days to this trip and take a short cruise to the Bahamas. I’ve never been on a cruise nor to the Caribbean before so I was really excited! Now the day after the cruise is over I have to say I was NOT disappointed! We snorkeled, jet-skiied, and did something really cool called snuba and got pretty sunburned! A videographer who previously purchased our training DVD picked us up in Nassau and we went to his studio to check out his work and give him some tips. Now he is hoping to come to Seattle for some one-on-one training which will be fun! While on the island he gave us a personal tour and turned us on to conch fritters and Kalik beer! Yum! Thanks, Rodger!

I’ll post some photos when we get back home since I can’t figure out how to do that from my phone! In the meantime, I hope everyone joins me in wishing Dalia & Mitchell well in thier new marriage! Mazeltov!!

wedding video + destination wedding

We did the shoot on Friday in downtown Tacoma. It was bitter cold and rainy and we had no clue what to do! But Scott and Laura made us feel comfortable and we actually wound up having a fun time!

So here are the two we have narrowed it down to. These are obviously really low res for the web and I also included two individual headshots too, just for fun! But out of the two headshots of the both of us, which one is your favorite? Help us chose!!

wedding video + photography