September @ Alpenglow - Keystone, CO
Click the photos (by DeAnna) below to expand each image
DJ, Live guitar, Up-lights, photography, and videography…
Beyond weddings, our team focuses on producing music, practicing camerawork / lighting, and editing techniques. This experience and knowledge is then shared with weddings. For this reason, we consider our clients patrons of the arts.
Though we are happy to book individual wedding vendor services (DJ, photography, videography, etc), bringing our multi-faceted team together is our favorite. The chance to work with friends is an honor plus our close-relationships yield free- flowing communication that facilitates an easy-going wedding day.
We work you play.
This autumn wedding at Alpenglow Stube in Keystone, CO shared one of those days.
In addition to a longer highlight reel, ceremony & toasts video, many couples add an additional minute long version of their wedding video to share on social media. Filmed by Scott M. and Jimmy, edited by David DiGioia.
Preparation - Behind the Scenes
When booking multiple vendors often different team members will arrive at different times. Each of our packages cover up to 6 hours though music doesn’t start until 30 minutes prior to the ceremony.
While our DJs/musicians will arrive at least one hour before the pre-ceremony music to set up, our photographers and videographers often arrive up to 2 hours earlier and leave earlier (if there isn’t a send-off scene to be captured, more information in the send-off portion of this blog).
This way they our media team can capture the behind the scenes preparation.
The groom adjusts the bow tie of the officiant - a close friend.
Our bride flaunted a unique array of jewelry and accessories.
Mountain weddings lend to cinematic shots like this candid moment inside the gondola. En route to Keystone’s wedding deck, this is where the First Look and Ceremony were held.
Some notable preparation scenes include:
Details - decorative jewelry, engagement rings, invitations, and other wedding accessories.
The groom adjusting cuff links
The mother of the bride or maid of honor bustling the bride’s veil
Groomsmen / groom & bridesmaid / bride dynamics
Lead-in to the ceremony
Anticipation of a memorable day
First Look
He hasn’t seen her in her gown yet! This shot captures the emotion before his first glance upon his gorgeous bride adorned in her wedding gown.
Many weddings save the “first look” for the moment the bride walks down the aisle. Our photographers and videographers will be sure to capture the groom’s reaction when seeing their bride all dolled up during the ceremony - an emotional moment.
Couples have the option of turning this moment into its own ceremonious occasion before friends and family take their seats. If so, our media professional(s) will coordinate with the bride and groom to ensure the groom doesn’t sneak a glimpse before the cameras are ready to snap that exact moment and the gorgeous backdrop of their wedding venue.
No peeking!
Almost there…
Wow.
Pre-Ceremony Portraits
The bridal party, bride, and groom posed on Keystone’s chairlift - yet another epic mountain wedding moment.
Timed just after the first look, some weddings schedule time for a few portraits before the ceremony with close family and the bridal party.
Mother, father, and bride.
Bride, groom, and Colorado’s famous landscape.
Ceremony
Full bands can add a vibrant live aspect to your soundtrack. One drawback is that paying each band member to confirm availability and bring their talents / equipment can be exponentially more expensive than hiring an individual musician or a DJ. We at Aisle Finesse pride ourselves with a team full of multi-talented musicians / DJs. This way we can provide a live performance without the costs of bringing a full band.
For this particular autumn mountain wedding in Keystone, CO David DiGioia provided the soundtrack as a DJ / guitarist. Starting with acoustic guitar 30 minutes prior to the ceremony, two song requests were learned for the bridal party and the bride’s entrance following the pre-ceremony soundtrack. Our DJ ceremony planning form helps guide song selection and timeline.
Heard below, John Legend’s “All of Me” was arranged as an acoustic fingerpicking composition for the bridal party’s descent down the aisle.
Officiant
Ceremony sound is included in our DJ package:
speakers,
music,
a wireless handheld microphone,
and a clip-on lapel microphone.
The lapel is typically adhered to the officiant (tucked in under his button to the left of his corsage in the photo above). With the officiant standing near for the bride and groom’s vows, their voices are amplified using this same microphone.
An additional lapel microphone may be provided by the videographers and placed on the groom for crisper audio during the vows to be used in their ceremony video seen below.
Captured from 3 cameras / 2 videographers - 2 cameras were on tripods while the third was on a mobile stabilizer.
This video allows the bride and groom to relive their ceremony as it happens. Given the intimate nature of the occasion and the length of the video, this video is paired with a highlight reel and sometimes the one minute social media edit. This way a few clips from the ceremony can be shared with friends and extended family in the highlight reels while the ceremony video may be kept private.
There are great options for professional officiants though it has become increasingly popular for a close friend of the bride and groom to be certified online. This way they have the legal merit of a professional officiant while conducting the ceremony with sentimental anecdotes and a personal touch.
Amanda and Greg’s close friend / officiant kept his words heartfelt, chock full of inside jokes.
Formalities, signing the contract takes an officiant, the couple and a witness - in this event, the bride’s brother.
Mountain weddings lend a scenic backdrop to vows and a first kiss as husband and wife.
Post-Ceremony Portraits
After the ceremony your DJ may announce for close friends and extended family to stick around the altar for post-ceremony portraits. Your photographer will then direct an array of photos.
Bride & Groom alone and then joined by…
Parents
Siblings
Bridal Party
Close Friends
Group photos
and more…
1-2-3 release the veil and snap!
6 years! That’s how long Amanda and Greg dated before they were married, hence her hand gesture.
Cocktail Hour
While post-ceremony portraits are accommodated at the ceremony site, your guests will be invited to a cocktail hour near the reception space. Following this timeline, the bride, groom, and close friends / family will join the cocktail hour after most of their guests have had time to mingle and relax.
Typically this the cocktail hour is accommodated with a soundtrack, hors d’ouvres, and, you guessed it, cocktails!
For this wedding, Amanda and Greg’s guests made themselves at home inside Alpenglow Stube as well as outside around a fireplace on the deck while the sun set. During this time, as well as during dinner, the DJ / Guitarist for this event, David DiGioia, picked up his electric guitar and accompanied the playlist.
Sunset Shoot
Our bride requested an impromptu in-the-moment shoot of the last remaining light before the sun set beyond the mountains. Though timelines are appreciated and followed, we offer flexibility while coordinating with the caterer and other wedding vendors. This is offers a chance for our team of close friends to exercise our practiced communication - another advantage with booking Aisle Finesse for multiple wedding vendors.
Grand Entrance
Our DJ / MC will announce for everyone to take their seats one song before the grand entrance. Once seated, they will build excitement in the room, first announcing members of the bridal party individually, coupled up, or in groups. Most commonly, there will be one song for the bridal party and one for the bride and groom. Both cued to a moment of excitement in the song (ex; first chorus, etc).
Sometimes there are songs for each bridal party member’s entrance. Some introverted couples opt-out of this rockstar moment.
“Ladies and gentlemen, entering the room for the first time as husband and wife….
please give a warm welcome to our bride and groom!”
Toasts
Our DJ / MC will announce each speaker provided and provide them with a handheld wireless microphone. Our photographer will have some off-camera flashes positioned to light up each shot - the speaker, the crowd reaction, the bride and groom, etc.
Groom’s reaction to his best-man’s speech
A hint of pink provided by our up-lights can be seen outlining the wooden column in the background of this shot. This color was selected by our bride from an iPad app moments before this photo was taken of the bros-maid’s speech
Father of the bride’s speech
On the left-side of this photo you can see one of the two videographer’s booked for this event as well as an off-camera flash.
Our videographer(s) will have at least one camera on a tripod to turn into a toasts reel so that you may relive the moment as it happened. Amanda & Greg chose to include an additional videographer with our “Deluxe Package.” As a result, the toast reel show below is cut from multiple angles. More toast video samples available on our videography tab.
Cake Cutting
“Ladies and gentlemen, please turn your attention to the side of the room
for the cutting of the cake.”
Once announced by the DJ, this key moment’s song selection will be cued. Feel free to review our DJ reception planning form so that you may brainstorm the song selection for your key moments.
The photographer(s) and videographer(s) will already be in position as the bride and groom make the first slice into their ceremonious dessert. Though most slices wind up on a plate in front of guests, the first slice tends to wind up on the faces of the bride and groom, courtesy of one another.
Special Dances
Our team will coordinate with other wedding vendors involved before announcing the first dance. Referring back to an advantage of booking our team, each of our wedding professionals are prepared to follow a timeline though they will also coordinate with one another to ensure each key moment goes off without a hitch.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our bride and groom as they may their way to the dancefloor
for their first dance as husband and wife”
First dance
Father-daughter dance
Dance Floor
“…and now we welcome everyone to the dance floor.”
Our DJs have decades of music to choose from. Even without a single request they can rock a dance floor with tried-true tunes that have been proven to rouse a crowd. That said, we offer our clients to share Spotify playlists of sentimental songs, inside jokes, and more. Our DJ reception planning form also invites requests to be shared.
David DiGioia, seen in the background, mixed wedding classics and throwback rock n roll for this event.
Our DJs come with at least two speakers. For events exceeding 150 guests we encourage including additional speakers and/or subwoofer(s).
The blue backdrop in this photo is illuminated by our up-lights. During the dance floor portion we changed the colors to fit the mood of the music.
Glow-stick party favors encourage guests to let loose and enjoy the moment.
David DiGioia played acoustic guitar for the ceremony as well as electric guitar during the reception.
Send Off
As mentioned in the preparation section of this blog, often the photographer(s) and videographer(s) will leave an event earlier than the DJ. If so, the media timeline will may shift to include more preparation shots as well as cover the key moments while leaving before an extended dance floor portion.
Simply put, a day of drinking lends to more humorous shots. Aside from the send-off, the key ceremonious moments happen earlier. As a result, the timeline for our cameramen/women allows them to be present for these planned occasions (prep, first look, ceremony, portraits, toasts, cake cutting, special dances, etc).
If planning a send-off like this mountain wedding, the videographer(s) and photographer(s) should stay to the last moment so that they may capture this scene. Seen below, Amanda and Greg’s guests lined up on either side equipped with fiber optic wands for a symmetrical, cinematic exit.
Our Team’s Exit
Our videographer(s) / photographer(s) won’t take long to pack their gear though wedding DJs bring a significant amount of equipment (speakers, lighting, mixer, microphones, etc). This event warranted a travel budget which afforded our whole team to spend the night in Keystone where we celebrated a good day’s work with a few cocktails.
Big thanks to Amanda and Greg for having us!