Timeless Memories

A wedding day can come and go so quickly. Being the center of attention for the day can really make you miss out on a lot of the little moments. Sometimes, the little moments can be the most beautiful.

The most beautiful moments happen when you least expect it. The gold is really found in children though, they always pull off something so cute such as being shy to go down the aisle or waving around in a field with their puffy dress. Grandma and Grandpa can surprise you as well, but it's hard to catch them swing dancing their behinds off in a crowd. Your family pet is probably wandering around wondering what's going on-- in a very cute way!

So even though your eyes might not catch everything, luckily there's a wedding videographer who can kind of act as your second pair of eyes to catch these moments. Otherwise, how will you ever know what happened? We tell him to specifically focus on the timeless memories and emotions, which actually show through the most in nice closeups.

That's how we define our style of shooting, close shots defined by the right action. It's not about how much money you spent or the decorations even so much as the people you love and capturing them to hold onto forever.

The most important thing? Smile! Emotion is what we look out for. The tears behind the smiles, we try to catch those too. How many of these timeless memories can you catch in this film?

Timeless memories Wedding Film from Jon Gangwer on Vimeo.

The "Perfect Wedding" may not exist

What is your relationship based on? Is it fun and games, or maybe more sentimental? What if the couple is more fun and laid back? Then they won't fit into the traditional wedding theme, right? Weddings are many times elegant, serious, and classy.

Sometimes while editing our wedding films, we come across some really unusual couples that OBVIOUSLY are far from traditional. So what if their idea of a beautiful wedding is the equivalent of a 13 year old boy's bar mitzvah party- complete with funny glasses, games, funny dancing, etc. This just represents their personalities; more power to them!

A wedding is a day you can proclaim your love and share your love with your families. Why try to mask that love with the old stereotypical ways if that's not who you are?

Sometimes brides focus on the perfection of the wedding day. They have to remember, their wedding day will never be perfect. In my opinion, they should focus more on bringing their personalities to the table than the idea of perfection. A wedding day is just another day in life, and life isn't perfect! Have fun and enjoy, rain or shine!

Untitled from Jon Gangwer on Vimeo.

Asian Tea Ceremony During a Wedding

One of the most mesmerizing moments to watch is an Asian tea ceremony. There are very particular customs the bride and groom do and it's completely surrounded by a family oriented philosophy-- something I really respect.

So what exactly is the meaning of a ceremony, what does it achieve? Generally, what happens is a low table is set up with prepared tea, and before the groom arrives, the bride serves her parents tea to thank them for raising her, as a sign of respect. In a way, the parents accepting the tea is a sign of them accepting the daughter's decision and that they are ready to embrace her new life.

Next, the groom enters and they both kneel on pillows, holding a cup of ready tea with particular seeds called Lotus seeds, which the ancients believed would help the bride and groom have children early in their marriage. It is a very sweet tasting tea, which portrays an embracing future and sweet relations between the families.


Next to them is someone called a Lucky woman, who knows the customs in and out and helps them serve the tea, and helps them if they forget their positioning or any of the steps. She is also there to wish them luck and happiness.

Typically, the bride is in front of her father in law and the groom is in front of his mother. They are addressed by their formal names. After the groom's parents, the ceremony proceeds in order of the oldest family members to the youngest. These typically can include grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings.

At the end of the ceremony, the bride and groom are offered money and other valuables in red envelopes.

The vintage wedding film below is of a Korean tea ceremony, where the bride and groom wear outfits of the noble class. The groom's outfit represents fidelity and faithfulness to the bride, showing her parents that he will stay with her until the end. The bride's outfit is to ward off evil spirits.

Untitled from Jon Gangwer on Vimeo.