Neda + Sati’s Wedding Week Highlights

You read that right folks. My team and I have been following a week-long wedding event for Neda Rahimian and Sati Hillyer. My, what a week it has been. Take a look, I don’t think this could be more epic…

I shot this with Rob Bagot and Nick Markham. The week began with a Persian Wedding, thrown by the bride’s family in Beverly Hills. We had a great time filming with the family and I was very impressed by the beauty of the Persian ceremony. Up there we got a chance to meet Augie Chang, who absolutely rocked a photo shoot on Rodeo Drive. That night we got to experience the meeting of different cultures. The reception had many elements of a traditional western ceremony, but with the energy and enthusiasm of the Persian and Indian families.

We then headed down to San Diego where it was the Groom’s turn to host an event. Most of the guests were booked at the Westin in downtown San Diego, where my team also had the pleasure of staying. Because everybody was staying in the same hotel, both families had a chance to hang out all the time and really open up to each other. I felt like I was the luckiest wedding filmmaker in the world… seeing this occur over the week. What a story to tell!

On the day of the elephant parade, we pretty much choreographed exactly where our cameras would be and when we would reposition. I happened to be grabbing a shot while hoisting my monopod to Sati’s level when a photographer snapped this picture of me. It just so happened that the picture made it onto the front page of the San Diego Tribune.

I chose the song because it had a very energized, but also sentimental, mood to it. I felt like, at the end of this week long experience for these families, something of a bittersweet mood would be appropriate.

There is so much to tell you guys about this wedding. I’m stoked to be a part of it. Major props to Jason Dean, the event planner, who really took care of us film guys and made sure we were able to get our shots. Here is an awesome article about the wedding.

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Neda + Sati’s Love Story

Neda and Sati are having a week long event in Southern California where they are flying in a bunch of family from all over the world. The first piece of Neda and Sati’s wedding saga was to make a Love Story Film to show at their first wedding reception (they’re having two weddings). Here is that love story, we’re very proud of it.

Neda and Sati are an amazing couple. I’m actually blogging this from a hotel room in San Diego where I am staying to shoot the rest of their wedding week. They really are as beautiful, happy, and friendly as this film makes them out to be. Even more so. As we continue to work on their wedding film, I will continue to share my experience.

For the Love Story there were three shooters. Myself, Robby Bagot, and Vitalie Ungureanu. We met Neda and Sati in Marin at around 7AM and shot until about 1pm. The weather was absolutely spectacular… perfect for the look that Robby and I were going for. He and I had met a few times prior to the shoot to figure out how we were going to tell their story, and we also did a location scout for all of our locations.

I’m so excited to be a part of such a wonderful wedding. Above are some shots of our video playing on the screen for an audience of over 400 at the Beverly Hills Wilshire.  More to come!

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Morgan + Charlie’s Save the Date

Morgan and Charlie’s story is really quite amazing. The two of them first met in elementary school, and they have grown up together. I’m talking elementary school, middle school, high school, and yes… college. When I talked to them about their relationship, they emphasized the idea that no matter what’s going on, there is always something that is pulling them back together.

When we were shooting their Save the Date, we talked about TV shows that we both liked. I was happy to hear that they both really liked Friday Night Lights, a show with a style I love. When I started editing, my goal was to give it the same kind of vibe as the tv show. We were also EXTREMELY lucky with the weather. The forecast was rain ALL week. On the drive up, I was absolutely astonished at how beautiful the day was. It was a sunny day with extremely defined patches of clouds; very crisp. It really could not have been better.

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