I was honored to serve not only as videographer, but as best man for this wedding. The groom, Aaron Gellos, and I worked together in our university cafeteria warehouse 30hrs a week for two years to pay for Bob Jones grad school. Together we drove forklifts, stacked pallets, and prepped thousands of boxes of frozen food. If you spend hours and hours alongside someone in a cave-like conditions, you might might not immediately expect to become great friends. But Aaron and I have shared some great memories together from volunteering for the Boy’s and Girl’s Club to art projects to taking him and Melissa to their first movie in a theater. Back in 2009 I had the chance to go to his parent’s house in Pensacola, FL. They both work for Pensacola Christian College. Check out this goofy video I made of Aaron playing his French horn almost four years ago. See it HERE.
This wedding was at Agnew Road Baptist Church in Greenville, SC. For his bachelor party I took Aaron, his brother and his groomsmen to Reedy River Park and Downtown Greenville to perform some wholesome but funny stunts and fulfill items for a scavenger hunt. All of us being responsible married adults, we were back to the Hampton Inn near Haywood Mall by 11pm. In the morning I conducted wedding day informal commentaries or interviews with Mel and Aaron separately in their hotel rooms. Here’s their engagement story:
They wisely set aside a lot of time for Davey Morgan Photography plus Ashley and I to capture their first look at Furman University’s rose garden. The rose garden was a great place for a First Look. Every plant was in bloom. There was color and greenery abounding. Mel and Aaron were so obviously in love that it made all the photos and video easy. Their ceremony was well done and Melissa entered to Gabriel’s Oboe. The day previous, I had delegated the responsibility of getting stuff to decorate their getaway car. But it turned out I still needed to go buy stuff! Ashley and I made a mad dash to Walmart for window markers, helium balloons and packs of other balloons to blow up and stuff inside their vehicle. I made sure the balloons and markers coordinated with the wedding party’s colors. We made it in time and the bride and groom took off to the Bahamas in style. It was a momentous day for one and all! This couple will be getting more time on tropical islands soon. Aaron plays French horn for an army band in Fort Lee, VA but will soon be transferring to Hawaii for a three year commitment.
They requested Edelweiss from the Sound of Music as their trailer backing track. The old timey nature of the string arrangement led me to colorize and stylize their trailer like an old technicolor film movie. I gave it a slight flicker, color graded and added in some vignetting, dust and some scratches. I should note that I only did this for the trailer. Their feature-length 1.5hr movie is congruent with our current work.