Forward // Motion | Video Journal

We’ve had the honor of being a part of two of the biggest days of the Maher family’s lives. Last October, we filmed Scott and Mallory’s wedding day at the Maher Farm. You can watch their trailer here: I love this guy // Scott + Mallory. 

After being a part of their wedding, we fell in love with this family! They were so nice and loving. The joy between this family was so contagious, we never wanted to leave! Thankfully, this year we were contacted by Mallory asking if we’d be available to film her sisters wedding - and we couldn’t pass this up! 

Ben & Shawna got married in downtown Des Moines, IA. They planned to get married at the Simon EstesAmphitheater. It’s a beautiful place, and we were so excited to film their ceremony here! Not to mention Ben & Shawna had over 400 guest attending their wedding, so they needed a lot of space! All day everyone was watching the weather to see if the rain would hold off, but it didn’t. About an hour before the ceremony it started raining, and it didn’t stop. Quick changes were made, fast rehearsals, we all helped move chairs and tables, and it turned out great.

Ben & Shawna are such a great couple, and they rolled with the punches perfectly. Their wedding day was beautiful, and we wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else!

Enjoy the wedding trailer: It Is Done // Ben + Shawna

The month of August has birthed a new idea of inspiring bides. Last month, vendors from the Central Illinois area put together mock table designs, flowers, hair do’s, and wedding gowns for brides to get a taste of some wonderful and new inspiration! We, Forward Motion, have been wanting to pour back into our soon-to-be brides and those who are just looking for inspiration by making blogs centered on designs, flowers, cakes, and others that we’ve seen at previous weddings of ours and online.

It just so happened that Pam Cooley asked us to be a part of this! Taking some of the top wedding pros in the area to do one thing: give local brides inspiration for their wedding, and to know they have all the resources to achieve this look at their own wedding; by the ones who made it!

Bride Inspired // August.
Modeled by the beautiful Robin.

Now time for our video:

Vendors:

Pam Cooley Photography
Heaven On Earth Floral Studio
Happily Ever After Weddings
Adore Bridal
The Loft Bridal
Duchess Bridal by CC Lovely&Lace
Bella Figura
Gemstone Confections

It was four years ago when Keith and I had the concept for a video just like this.
In fact, four years ago I had some of these very images dancing around in my head.
A day in the life of a perfect little family. A family going through life’s seasons as God directs their every move. From little ones sleeping sound in their beds, to the small twists and turns they face throughout each day. 
This idea was just waiting on one thing…  

It wasn’t until late April of this year that I received an email from a dear friend.
She gave me insight on their life story as the two had trouble in the beginning of their marriage trying to conceive.
With every new detail of their story, the idea I had four years ago began to unfold.
She wanted a film that would capture their lives during their season of having “5 under 5.”
I was ecstatic. I had no doubt in my mind that the timing for this was going to be completely perfect. A wonderful testimony of how God created things to work in such perfect ways. 

We showed up to film the Dakin family on a Wednesday. We filmed the small moments of just running around and being silly, to preparing for dinner and then eventually heading to bed once again. If you pay attention closely, you can hear the quiet breathing of a baby, and the soft prayers before dinner time. You can see the moments of a little boy battling with feeling “strong”, and the “pulse” of two ice cubes symbolizing new life. 

Watch the beautifully unexpected outcome of this video become a new season in this family’s life.

What a fun wedding this was! After walking away from filming this full day shoot, Tiffany and I couldn’t believe how much fun this couple was. And to top it off, Brian and Jodi contacted us only ONE WEEK before their Chicago wedding! Thankfully we were able to make it work with our wedding the next day and even an engagement shoot that night in downtown Chicago.

This was our first Chicago wedding as Forward // Motion Production, and it was a blast! Brian and Jodi got ready at the beautiful Hyatt Regency downtown, followed by the Ceremony & Reception at the delicious Carnivale Restaurant.

After the wedding we were able to get some more shots of the city and then killed some time down at the Navy Pier where Tiffany really wanted to go on the Farris Wheel, but didn’t have time before filming an live engagement at the River East Art Center.

Thanks to the incredible coordinator, Sharokina Pazand with City Girl Weddings for all the amazing work she did with this wedding.
Photographer: DMarie Photography

Enjoy!

The couples we meet are incredible. Emily contacted us not long before their wedding hoping we were still available, and thankfully we were. Tiffany showed me their engagement video Steve made, and we fell in love ( Watch Here ). Talk about being original!

As you can already tell, Emily and Steve are one of a kind. We met with them at a local ice cream shop to talk over their wedding, and to get to know one another. We learned that the two are both totally in love, completely in love with their dogs, and love playing video games together and hanging out.

The love between the two is incredible, and is such an inspiration to us and we hope to all of you. We had such a great time filming their wedding, and are so happy for the two of them!

Enjoy their wedding trailer!

Sara O’Shea has been talking with us for awhile about putting together a video for her and her business, So Chic Events. We obviously couldn’t turn down the opportunity to tell the story of her very successful business, and to get a small glimpse into what they offer for weddings and events. Sara has been in the business for a long time, and is also the founder of Behind Every Bride, who issue 2 magazines every year, host multiple bridal shows, and has a very useful website (www.behindeverybride.com) for brides to find the perfect vendors for their weddings.

So Chic Events is one of the only event & wedding planners we know who has a design studio, located on Main Street in Morton, IL. They recently just re-designed the space and changed their branding, which is part of the reason for this video.

Tiffany going far and beyond to get her shot :) Thank God she’s small.

We highly suggest to any client or friend of ours to look into wedding & event planners. They are often over looked, but are one of the best investments you can make. So if you’re in the market, make sure to check out So Chic Events and get them booked before it’s too late!

So Chic Events
www.so-chic.com
Ph: 309.696.7969
E-mail: sara@so-chic.com

Hair and Makeup done by B.Loved.Styliest (www.blovedstylists.com)

-F//M

This blog has taken awhile to be written, but all for good reasons. We’ve been super busy these past couple months, and it’s been tough to sit down and get to our blog.

Hoerr Nursery asked us to produced some online and commercial pieces. We’ve been talking since the beginning of this year figuring out all the things they want to highlight through video. A month ago we put together this video to showoff their AMAZING greenhouse they have at their store, which is currently in full swing. So many flowers, hanging baskets, water fountains, and more. If you’ve never been to Hoerr Nursery, you’re missing out. Tiffany went ahead and picked up a little something for ourselves while we were filming, too!

-F//M

Justin + Adrianne are an awesome couple. Before filming their wedding later this year, we got together to film their Love Story.

Justin + Adrianne both live in Chicago, so we met at his parents beautiful home here in Central, IL. We were wanting to film outside, but it was deathly cold and misty, but thankfully the weather cleared up a bit for us to get some shots outside of the couple.

We didn’t know of the relation between Justin and Dax Locke until a couple weeks before their Love Story. Dax had a huge impact on the community of Washington, IL. and even worldwide. Dax favorite Holiday was Christmas. The result was a phenomenon known as “Decorate for Dax.” local homes and beyond put up their Christmas decor even before that Halloween so he could experience Christmas. Dax lived to see Christmas, but passed away Dec. 30. The story of Dax became a film called, “The Heart of Christmas” that was just released late last year. It was a very emotional time when Justin talked about Dax, so we had to step away from filming for a minute for Justin to regroup.

We hope you love this couple as much as we do! We’re so excited to film their wedding this year!

-F//M

Oscar + Cassie are quite the couple! They counted everyday, and made notes of what days special events happened. From the first day they met, the first date, the first time they said “I love you”, the proposal, and the wedding day (day 554). This was the day they’ve both been waiting for.

Oscar + Cassie got married at the beautiful Imago Dei Church in Peoria, IL. with a full out worship service! This was our first time to experience a ceremony like this, and we fell in love!

The bridal party, the couple, and Deidre Lynn Photography were so much fun to be around. Also check out Bittersweet Floral (Bittersweet Floral Facebook) who did all the amazing flowers for the wedding!

Filming Oscar + Cassie on their photo / video shoot. (Photo Credit: Deidre Lynn Photography)

-F//M

Jared & Julie Photography came to us with an idea of putting together a short & sweet video for their website highlighting a new session they’ll be offering, “Bridals Undone”. We’ve become very good friends of theirs through filming their Love Story and Wedding Trailer, and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a part of this, too!

We’ve been blessed with great weather in march this year, and the water in the creek was quite warm! We just bought a new monopod, so it was the perfect time to put it in the water ;) We started off by filming the interview with Julie explaining the session and what she loves about it.

(photo credit: crappy iPhone)

Soon after, the model showed up to be a part of the shoot. You wouldn’t be able to tell, but she just had TWINS last year! Talk about impressive!!

(Photo Credit: Jared & Julie Photography)

We then spent about an hour or so down in the creek getting different shots, and filming Julie in action.

Using a steadicam in the water was quite funny, and it was even better listening to thecamera audio with all the water swooshing around each step.

(Photo Credit: Jared & Julie Photography)

(Photo Credit: Jared & Julie Photography)

We had such a great time filming this day, and couldn’t have asked for a better subject and photographer! Make sure to check out Jared & Julie Photography and the Bridals Undone Page