New Year, new day, new blog. We would like to thank all of our customers and clients who made 2014 one of our best years to date. Our job is quite varied as we get to travel around the country to see a lot of venues, experience different Weddings, get a front row seat to many events and meet some great people along the way not to mention liaising with some of the best professionals in the entertainment, events and media industries. So just for fun we thought we would put together the Colbridge Films special mention awards for 2014….
Most Entertaining Vicar of the Year goes to The Rev David Tudor from the Parish of Canvey who made everyone laugh throughout the renewal of Jean and Brian Sleap’s vows at Red Brick Barn in August with his charming wit, slick delivery and warm repartie sounding more like a stand up comedian at times than a Vicar, especially when he told the congregation to sing 3 lines of Amazing Grace and anyone caught not singing would be made to stand up and do a solo. Humour can of course calm the nerves and be a welcomed relief to the formalities. At other Weddings this year we heard another Vicar encourage a couple to use Twitter to keep the lines of communication open and another who compared the groom to Homer Simpson in his talk about growing old together.
Most Impressive Venue of the Year has to go to the 16th century Tudor manor house Hengrave Hall near Bury St. Edmunds. It has an impressive driveway leading up to the house, a Catholic Church set within the grounds, magnificent architecture, lawns and a courtyard. Not many venues have taken our breath away but this one did and we felt honoured to have been commissioned to film the Wedding of Elizabeth and Michael at the venue.
Most Original Soundtrack for a Wedding Film was chosen by Stuart Provan when we came to edit his Wedding to Martha. We usually ask couples to put together their own soundtrack to go with their Wedding film and choose songs that mean something to the both of them. While a lot of couples go for the tried and tested popular ones (at the moment it’s Ed Sheeran ‘Thinking Out Loud’, John Legend ‘All of Me’ and Ellie Goulding ‘How Long Will I Love You’) Stuart surprised us with a refreshingly electric mix of new and old tracks such as Louis Prima’s ‘Just a Gigolo’, Josh Ritter ‘The Curse’, Paolo Nutini ‘Pencil Full of Lead’ and TV On the Radio ‘Family Tree’ to name a few.
Most Impressive Wedding Cake in our opinion was the Beauty and the Beast cake made by a relative at Ellen and Glenn’s Wedding, with it’s fine attention to detail it fitted in nicely with the Disney character themed reception.
Best Original Speech has to go to Mr. Jowett, the father of the bride at the Wedding of Stuart & Martha, who captivated the audience with his eccentric wit and unscripted comments producing spontaneous roars of laughter from the unsuspecting guests. This made a refreshing change to the many speeches we hear at other Weddings that sound almost identical as the groom and best man all too often lift their speeches directly off the internet word for word and, although it isn’t always apparent to the gathered crowd, we know who the culprits are having sat through many (but we won’t be naming any names!)
Most Impressive Bridal Suite is undoubtedly the spacious and opulent room, complete with pillars, at the Grade I listed mansion house Gosfield Hall. It certainly has the wow factor and never fails to impress guests who get to see it at the end of the evening when we usually set up our cameras in there to record personal messages from guests.
Our Bucket List Moment this year was filming at the world famous London Palladium for the first time in the heart of London’s West End for Theatretrain. We’ve been lucky enough to film at some of the largest and most famous venues in the country but this one, now owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful group, really resonated with all it’s history and a who’s who of the entertainment industry who performed there going as far back as Laurel & Hardy. Having watched the Royal Variety Performance and many other shows being broadcast from the Palladium on TV over the years it was a real thrill to be able to film there ourselves.
Most Touching Moment for us at a Wedding this year was when the Groom’s best man, who was just 15 years old, made a heartfelt speech about how much the groom, who was also his Uncle, meant to him growing up and how he missed him when he was away in the US Air Force. Earlier in the day he had forgotten his Air Force blue trousers to match the uniform he and the other members of the groom’s party would be wearing that day. Luckily the Wedding photographer Stephanie Cara was on hand to call her other half and instruct him to buy a pair of blue trousers from Burtons Menswear asap. Within half an hour they were promptly delivered and matched the rest of the uniform just in time for the ceremony, so Stephanie wins the person who went Above and Beyond the Call of Duty award.
Talking of awards thank you to all those who voted for us in the Wedding Industry Expert Awards for 2014 in the Best Videographers in Essex category which we won.
There were many more memorable moments that we could have mentioned and it would of course be unfair to single out things like the best bride, or best performance or best dress, etc but it’s true to say that every Wedding, celebration and event is unique and special to those involved. It’s all about making memories, being part of memories and capturing those memories. We are looking forward to 2015 and continuing to do more of the same whilst meeting some great people along the way. To book us for your Wedding, celebration or event call 01206 860090 as we are getting booked up fast.
Colbridge's Blog 