Brittany Shaw and Anthony DeClue were wed on August 4th, 2012 in the Cliffs at Glassy Mountain Chapel. As is often the case in the Carolinas in the summertime, there were some scattered showers. However, overall the day was clear, no one was rained on and the venue proved a striking setting as always. Brittany and Anthony met each other when they were sixteen years old in high school drama class. Little did they know that about a decade later, they would end up marrying one another. Brittany completed a degree in musical theater and has been a part of the New York City theater scene for the past seven years. Anthony earned his bachelor’s degree and a MA in literature at Clemson. Now he is changing course and has just started pharmacy school. They were clearly both, intelligent, fun people who knew each other very well. We do not film that many themed weddings. Honestly, I wish we filmed more themed weddings. It helps me know how to best personalize things like their trailer, song selections etc. They were celebrating “Old Hollywood.” Their moms wore long white gloves, they had a red carpet at their reception, popcorn ball take-aways and Brittany sang Etta James’ version of At Last before she walked down the aisle. She sang it with a wireless mic just outside the chapel. Anthony was inside and clutched his mom’s hand, who was in the front row. He realized it was Brittany, but I do not know if he realized it was live until the chapel doors opened and he saw her in the dress finishing the song. This was a couple who practiced everything well for their wedding. They had their dip and kiss down perfectly for their ceremony. Their dance to Journey’s Faithfully was also well rehearsed ballroom style. A highlight was Brittany’s father-daughter dance. They did an Evolution of Dance style piece complete with a record scratch and a bunch of renditions of disco, MJ, the Twist, Cotton Eyed Joe and the hokey-pokey and many more. I don’t think the guests would have expected anything less from Brittany. As is probably the case in real life, she lit up the room with her star quality and the Hollywood theme fit well. I particularly enjoyed the helium balloons with the blinking LED lights at the end for their grand exit. We had never seen this before and it was a nice change from sparklers. Balloons looked good on video and we would recommend them to another couple considering their options. The final shot of the trailer is of their balloons high above Indigo Hall in Spartanburg.
This wedding, beyond looking good throughout, had one big mishap. The Cliffs at Glassy were beautiful. Her dress and broach matched the theme. Her song went off really well. They danced perfectly. However when they got in their limo to drive away, the limousine driver opened his door to get in. Apparently he had been running the A/C for five hours during the reception to keep the limo cab nice and cool. Doing that can lock up a car’s ability to start or respond to brakes. He opened the door and the stretch started rolling backwards. 100+ people were still there for the grand exit and this happened in full view. People yelled, brakes. The driver was definitely squashing the brakes but got no response from the vehicle. Indigo Hall is positioned on a slight incline and this limousine was rolling backwards downhill fast. He started trying to steer, but quickly hit a parked pickup truck and the car stopped rolling with the sound of crumpled metal. Anthony and Brittany jumped out of the car and Anthony yelled, “Back to reality!” with a big smile on his face. After filling out an accident report the limo driver took them safely on their way to their destination. So the lesson learned here, is to be wary of reception venues with inclines in front if you are going to let your car sit idling for five hours. I am definitely glad Ash or I were not behind the car this time for the exit.
I liked writing that exit story, but be assured that this wedding was flawless in it’s execution. The bride and groom had a great time and I really enjoyed making this trailer to share. Note the opening of Nancy Sinatra’s “You Only Live Twice” – one of the best James Bond themes. Finding a backing track for Brittany’s vocals proved difficult too. I downloaded three versions of At Last to find the one that they broadcast through the church. Really liked using Frank Sinatra’s “This Town” for the ending off the Ocean’s Thirteen soundtrack. I had been saving it for this wedding to use. Hope you enjoy! One final note, we did enjoy working with Seasons Photography for the very first time.