i love you owlways » a hoo films blog

A snowy, intimate Colorado wedding: Jeni + Ethan’s Feature Film from Hoo Films | Shannon Avery on Vimeo.

2013 was fast approaching and Jeni and Ethan were still in the very beginning stages of planning a 2013 wedding.  Ethan finally told Jeni he didn’t want to start the new year not having gotten married yet.  So mid December I get a call from Jeni asking if I could fly to Colorado to film their intimate wedding on New Year’s Eve.  I asked for details and she informed me the only guests would be family and they were planning on having the ceremony outside — hopefully in the snow.  This was also a surprise to Ethan as he had no idea Jeni was hiring us.  So NYE arrives and it started snowing in Boulder, Colorado!  I knew this would make Jeni happy and that we would all be in for a romantic winter setting.  We began the day at the historic Hotel Boulderado where we all met.  I headed to Ethan’s room to film him getting ready and he’s a little confused at first.  We then fill him in that we were hired a surprise for him.  He says, “Seriously?  Then he says, wait, what company are you?”  I tell him Hoo Films and he says, “OH, NO WAY, that’s rad!”  I then felt better about barging in his room unannounced with a camera on his private wedding day!  Then we headed over to the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House where the ceremony would take place outside.  At this point in the day, the temperate dropped to 14 degrees.  Yup… an outdoor wedding in the 14 degree snowy weather!  Jeni and Ethan exchanged the most heartfelt vows and then we took a walk around Pearl Street.  We landed for dinner, some champagne, and then a romantic outdoor first dance in the middle of Pearl Street that was lit up just perfectly for the newlyweds.  The extremely talented Chris Lind, friend of Ethan and musician, the flew in from New York and performed a cover of “Moondance” while Jeni and Ethan rang in the new year as husband and wife.  I just fell in love with Chris’ voice!  Chris was also generous enough to diligently record a brand, new, unreleased single ”Drive” for us to use in the piece.  Once you hear his voice – like me – I’m sure you’re going to want more, so you can check out his original music at chrislindmusic.com.  Enjoy this chilly, intimate piece that will leave you wanting your own wedding in the snow!  Jeni and Ethan, I’m so glad we were able to pull together last minute and document this special moment for you two!  We had so much fun in the snow and sharing NYE with you.  Although, I am happy to be home and thawed out now!

Christina + Sean’s Hoo Feature: A rainy day with emotional vows in a Sonoma wine cave from Hoo Films | Shannon Avery on Vimeo.

First of all, I’ve had way too much fun getting to know Christina and Sean as if they weren’t clients, but instead my new best friends.  We’ve had many, many laughs and that certainly continued through every minute of their wedding week.  Now, this wasn’t your typical destination wedding.  This destination wedding was a private, intimate one including only parents, their pastor, and well, photographers and us, who outnumbered their guest list.  We ran into the group the night before at a restaurant in downtown Napa and let’s just say I overheard some baby talk!  Before we get to that topic, let’s get the lovebirds through their wedding day!  They began getting ready at the Andaz in Downtown Napa where it was raining in the morning. We heard chances of rain and were told that it would come and go but “come and go” it did not.  It rained non-stop.  The ceremony was supposed be up on a hill at the Kunde Family Estate in Sonoma, but since the rain wouldn’t let up, a quick game time decision was made to set up for a candle lit ceremony in the wine cave.  About 100 yards past a line of wine barrels, there was a cute little stage perfectly setting the stage for Christina and Sean to share their intimate moment together.  These two wrote the most emotional vows giving all their grace to God for Him putting each other in their paths.  It was a beautiful story and an emotional exchange of words that had all of us reaching to wipe tears.  After Christina gets to finally call Sean “her husband,” we headed outside for some scenics with 8twenty8 Studios. Needless to say, it was still raining.  We all took umbrellas and shot as much as we could.  Kudos to Christina for sticking it out in a dress!  I’m glad we wintered through the week’s weather, though because we got some amazing footage of this couple just giggling and being romantic in the rain.  What’s more romantic on Valentine’s Day than to post a video with kissing in the rain!  Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!  We love you owlways!

Christina and Sean, it has been such a blast to enjoy your journey with you and most of all, to enjoy a week up north with you.  You two are so in love, it radiates and it’s couple like you that make my job so fun.  I know we’ll have more dinners and glasses of wine in the future!