Monthly Archives: March 2013

Let’s Make a Wedding Movie

Posted on by

1

This video above is the exact opposite of the kind of video we want to have and the type of people we want to be.

I have always loved being in front of the camera. I started taking acting classes around the 3rd grade which lead to going to a performing arts school, which lead to be majoring in Theatre at Ohio State, and which lead to me having my own show at Ohio State called “Music On Campus.” I always thought to myself when growing up that why were wedding videos so lame and cheesy. They had zero cinematic and artistic quality. These wedding videographers had to like some sort of film or art because they got into the business of videography.  But why were these wedding video so boring and didn’t tell any story.  I had this misconception of wedding videos until I stumbled on this video by Brinton Films out of Arizona. It was beautiful, romantic, and told a story of a couple in love. All of their wedding videos were amazing. At the time I thought if I ever got married I would want my wedding video to look like any one of their films.

Lex & Loren – Engagement/Save the date! from Brinton Films on Vimeo.

Fast forward to early 2012 and one of Phil’s friends from his church got married and posted her wedding video on Facebook. I had just watched my cousin Sarah’s wedding video and telling Phil about it and then he sent me her wedding video by Candy Apple Films . There it was a wedding videographer that made weddings look like a real artistic movie! Scott from Candy Apple (not Candy Apple Dance you Dance Mom fans) was the only videographer we wanted and interviewed and he had us instantly sold when he showed us a film of a Greek wedding he did and it made me teary eyed and I never get teary eyed watching wedding videos. So we booked him. Watch one of his awesome films below.

Candy Apple Films presents Desireè and Sean from Candy Apple Films on Vimeo.

We would like a Photographer who makes us look skinny and super hot and also is not afraid to use photoshop

Posted on by

0

This photo was taken after 4 attempts; Feb. 2011 Barrister's Ball

This photo was taken after 4ish attempts; Feb. 2011 Barrister’s Ball

I am really bad at remembering to take pictures. For a couple of years my New Years resolution was to take at least 3 pictures when I went somewhere. Like most resolutions that one would last only about 3 months. Also, Phil also got me a camera for Christmas one year and I love it. But, I still wished I used it more. So, when it came to looking for a photographer for our wedding we wanted someone that took modern and beautiful pictures and had a photojournalism style.  There is a lot of wedding photographers out there. Searching for wedding photographers is much more of a daunting task that it seems. In northeast Ohio there is a wide variety of wedding photographers and styles of photography. There is also a wide variety in pricing. You can expect to pay anywhere from $1,500 to $7,000 for a wedding photographer. You also have to sort through photo pricing and you have to decide if want an engagement session, the rights to the photos so you can make as many copies as you want, how many hours of coverage you want, wanting 1 or 2 photographers, and if you want fancy wedding albums. You also have to be careful to see if the photographer edits every photograph you get or you have to request for them to photoshop certain photos.  We knew that we wanted an engagement session in Columbus, 2 photographers, the photographer needed to have a blog, the rights to our photos, no cheesy poses or early 2000s , and no fancy albums. We contacted about 15 wedding photographers. Yes, you read that right fifteen photographers. Some were not available, some where too expensive, and some photographers I really didn’t like their pictures. We ended up interviewing 3 photographers. The 1st photographer was good. The 2nd photographer never photographed a Greek Orthodox Wedding, which was a deal breaker. The 3rd photographer InLux Photo we loved. There pictures were simple and beautiful, Heather and Jarred the photographers were super nice, and they fit within our budget. After our long search we were thrilled to have such an awesome wedding photographer.

InLux's wonderful photography

InLux’s wonderful photography Source

Crate & Barrel Registering Party

Posted on by

0

Me with our everyday dishes

Me with our everyday dishes

Our final registering experience we decided to go out with a bang. Before getting engaged Phil and I had never been to a Crate and Barrel. While doing our “research” on places to register we checked out Crate and Barrel in Beachwood. We absolutely loved it, especially Phil he was like a kid in a candy store. Phil and I love to cook so Crate and Barrel was like walking into cooking heaven, with the each end-cap devoted to different kind of cuisine, kitchen gadgets for everything you ever needed, and dishes that matched our traditional modern style. Phil and I instantly decided that we were going to register there and we were excited that we picked our everyday dishes, glassware, and everything else we really loved (which was a lot)

2013-02-24 09.13.04

Phil chowing down on some free breakfast

We signed up for Crate and Barrel Wedding Parties, which is an event that the store hosts where open the store just for engaged couples, serve you drinks and food, and demonstrate certain products. One of Phil’s co-workers went to one of these parties and highly recommended it so we thought why not? We RSVP’d to a Sunday morning event and showed up to the store bright and early. Now let’s note that Phil and I are not morning people; we both love to sleep-in, so getting up early was a challenge for . When we got there we took advantage of the “free” breakfast which included pastries, fruit kabobs, coffee, juices, yogurt, and mini muffins. Since it was our 3rd time registering Phil and I were pros. We started checking things off our list while the other couples were deciding between mixing bowls. Just like Macy’s, Crate and Barrel has an app that you can use as a scanner to add items to your registry. The Crate and Barrel app did not work as well as the Macy’s app, it actually kind of sucked. If we would have done it again we would have used a normal scanner instead of my iPhone.

As we were registering I was kind of paying attention to the other couples to what they were registering for and how they were registering. I figured out that all couples are the same. 1 person would be the person that was really into registering for things and would want to register for everything and the other person would argue and not want to register for the said item. When it comes to Phil and I, I am the person that wants to register for everything and Phil would be the person that would argue about many of items I was registering for. For example:

Alysse: Let’s register for these seafood utensils, it would be really nice to have them when we cook lobster and/or crab legs. Yummm, I love crab legs.

Phil: We don’t need that.

Alysse: It’s not that expensive and it would be fun to have them.

Phil: Um, no.

Alysse: Okkkkkaaay. (Then she registers for the seafood utensils 10 minutes later).

After 2 1/2 hours of registering Phil had enough of it. The free breakfast wasn’t enough for him and he was hungry, tired, and cranky. I couldn’t even get the guy to look at beer glasses he was so cranky. So I finished registering online. So check out our Crate & Barrel Registry, some of our favorite stuff is on it: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/Gift-Registry/Alysse-Shaheen-and-Phil-Giallourakis/r5009585 

This Blog Stole Our Wedding!?!

Posted on by

2

This fake couple stole our wedding…good thing Phil and I are way better looking than this two peeps. Source

When you get engaged and you’re a girl you tend to go a lot of wedding blogs to get ideas for your wedding. There are a ton of really good ones like Style Me Pretty, 100 Layer Cake, Green Wedding Shoes, and Ruffled. Back in November I picked my colors and my theme of my wedding. I swear I didn’t copy them from any of those blogs. I chose the colors below and my theme was going to be 1920s/Art Deco. My vision was that Nucky Thompson (from “Boardwalk Empire”) and Jay Gatsby (from “The Great Gatsby”) were throwing a movie premiere party for our wedding in the 1920s.  I love everything that has to do with old Hollywood glam and I love the decor and the style of the 1920s, so it was the perfect combination.

So during my lunch break at work I browsed my favorite wedding blogs including Ruffled and came across this blog post: http://ruffledblog.com/mint-and-gold-wedding-inspiration/  I was in shock. This photo shoot was my theme, my colors, and everything! I didn’t know if I should have been pissed or flattered. This blog definitely stole our wedding because it was posted in January and I came up with my theme in November. It was also very weird that my favorite dessert, salted caramel cake, was a featured dessert in the photo shoot. But, after thinking about it for a couple of hours, I was grateful to Ruffled for “stealing” my wedding theme and colors because now I have actually pictures to show our vendors what we want for flowers, linens, and decor, etc. So, brides out there let me know if you need a wedding theme and/or colors because apparently I’m a “trendsetter.”

See the Salted Caramel Pops! They are onto me!

Our Valentine’s Day

Posted on by

0

IMG_0877

Before Dinner Shot

Phil and I planned a pretty low key Valentine’s Day…just the way we like it. We went out to dinner to celebrate our love at Fahrenheit and it was awesome. It was the first time either of us had been there and we would both highly recommend going there. For an appetizer we had the Cleveland Nachos which is basically fancy potato chips with crack put on top  It was huge but Phil and I had no problem finishing the whole thing. Then we both had house salads, which was refreshing. For our entrees I had the lobster mac and cheese and Phil had the Kobe beef short ribs. The lobster mac and cheese is just as good or even better than it sounds. It was creamy, flavorful, and just plain good. Phil says that his Kobe beef was and I quote “outstanding.” Phil loves anything that combines meat with anything Asian so when he found out the short ribs was paired with lo-mien noodles he was instantly sold.

Our gifts to each other

Our gifts to each other…Yes that is Manti Teo on Phil’s card I made for him.

So after dinner we opened a bottle of wine and watched True Grit on Netflix (please note we fell asleep 3/4 into the movie). Yes very romantic I know, don’t be jealous of our lifestyle. We also enjoyed/ate our presents to each other. Usually Phil and I get fancy gifts for each on Valentine’s Day, but this we decided to stay “humble” and just get each other our favorite Valentine’s Day candy. Mine is Fun Dip and Phil’s is Blow Pops. Fun Dip is the best when you get a three flavor pack with 2 candy sticks and you can mix the colors; but now that I’m an adult the Valentine’s Card Pouches are very satisfying. Phil’s favorite Blow Pop is Sour Green Apple. I’m guessing 100% on this, but I think the reason why Blow Pops are Phil’s favorite candy solely because of this 90s commercial below.