Hey friends -
We are off to film for the 47th Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas March 29-April 2. We’re headed from there straight to Puerto Vallarta for a beautiful destination wedding with one of our amazing couples and can’t wait. All that being said, our schedule for the ACMA’s is insane 14-16hr days of filming and then our connection with outside world may be a bit sketchy depending on internet and phone in Mexico.
If you are inquiring about a wedding for 2012 we only have a couple spots left open, but the great thing is they can’t fill up while we’re gone so just know that we’ll get back to you Wednesday April 11th when we’re back in town.
If you’re a country music fan you can follow me on twitter for photos & quick updates about what’s going on at @mikevarel or @ACMawards – Also you can check out www.acmcountry.com for some of the videos we’re filming for as well as packages for the show itself airing on CBS Sunday night, April 1.

Thanks for stopping by!

last year’s shot: copyright Mike Varel 2011

Hey friends, if you email me this week 3/12-3/15 I’ll be out of town filming with very little time for communication.
I’ll return all emails & calls on Friday 3/16.
The 2012 Wedding Season is about to begin and nearly all dates are full. Please contact me right away if you’re looking for a 2012 date. I am currently booking for 2013.

Thanks!

Jeni + Brandon had one of the most emotional weddings I’ve ever filmed.
Their story is quite incredible in itself that Brandon left his home and life in California to move to Kansas City to pursue Jeni.

Before their wedding Jeni’s dad was diagnosed with cancer, only to find out within the same week that Brandon’s stepdad was also diagnosed. Add to that Marley, their 3 year old flower girl that had been battling a brain tumor. It felt as though every moment of their day was truly soaked in as the day unfolded.

The notes you hear in their highlight were written to each other and played aloud during their ceremony during the time that their vows & rings were shared.
I point that out because it’s important to me & my couples to be truly authentic and genuine all day. I will not set up anything or direct anything. I don’t ask people to read notes aloud. If it happens, it happens because in that [moment] that’s what my bride or groom felt like doing.

The time of worship they shared in their ceremony was incredibly powerful as each person there knew the gravity of enjoying that moment together, being thankful for what God had done in not only Jeni + Brandon’s story, but also in the health of their family members.

Sadly, Marley passed away just over a week after the wedding. My favorite moment in their film, as well as Jeni & Brandon’s is where Marley looks up at Jeni raising her hand in worship and then raises her own.
Her family knows she’s safely in heaven today.

The gravity of moments I get to share with my couples and families is staggering sometimes. It was a true gift for me to be a part of their day. Jeni + Brandon have become friends that I look forward to sharing life with in the future.

Thank you guys for trusting me and choosing me to be a part of your incredible day.

Photos by MainStreetStudios.net
Reception: Screenland Armour

Eric is an architect and an amazing photographer.
Laura works at Hallmark, is incredibly creative and an amazing baker.

Eric & Neal make up Lemonlime Photography - blog.lemonlimephoto.com/
They’re one of my favorites. I’ve had the pleasure of shooting with them a few times, and have become good friends with them over the last couple years. They push each other towards excellence, and I’m grateful for them doing the same for me.

Eric loves things that are out of focus, or placed in the frame in a different way, like the corners for instance. He also loves lines and can shoot them like nobody else. He also tries to show what it felt like to be there in his images.
He approached me about shooting their wedding film and said, “I want an mp3 of the vows and the toasts; anything above that is gravy”. He went on to say “it can be out of focus, upside down, edited in reverse, whatever you want to do – you have complete creative freedom”.

That was a scary thing for me. It’s also why it took so long to complete it. The fear of cutting a shot or not including something kept me stuck for a while. In the end, I kept coming back to the core of it; the vows, what the pastor said, the relationships, the moments.

So this custom film is what I did with it.
Knowing what I know of the two of them, I shot scenes compositionally in the corners, out of focus and played with moving things around in time.

Two weeks before the wedding I went over and filmed them creating the table numbers, “reserved” signs, placemat chalkboards and centerpiece boxes that held the confetti you see in the dance scenes.
(I love when my couples create things and make their weddings uniquely project their personalities.)

Side note: Eric & Laura got each other the same style Herman Miller vintage chair as a gift.
The chalk writing “hello” and “forever ever” were also on the walls of Eric’s house where they made lists and notes to each other. I knew right away how their film would open and close, just no clue what would go in the middle.

Thank you Eric & Laura for letting me be in your lives, and share this amazing day with you guys!

Photography: the incredible Becca Spears & Jewel Anderson w/ beccaspears.com

Music: “Prettiest Thing” by Oh Darling + “Perth” by Bon Iver

Rachel has been one of my dearest friends in my life. The kind of friend that challenges and calls me up to be the best I can.

I met Rachel at church and after a Dumb & Dumber movie watching party (where we both showed up with Big Gulp cups) I think we were destined to be great friends forever.

I shot this film by myself, but still managed to catch everything I wanted to for them. Each portion of this was important to them, from the gifts they exchanged, to Rachel’s relationship with her dad, and him having to let go of her at the end of the aisle. Their pastor flew up from Nashville after having met Patrick in Focus Seminar where Rachel and I have spent a lot of time together as well.

The quote at the beginning of this is from the movie UP. Rachel and I used to go to midnight movies all the time and usually wound up seeing something animated or from Pixar. (We’re basically big kids) When she moved back to NY I gave her the Ellie Badge, which is the grape soda bottle cap that Ellie gave Carl in the movie. “Adventure is out there”. Her adventure with Pat has gone on for 7 years now, and I couldn’t have picked someone better for her than him. Rachel put her Ellie Badge on her bouquet and we got one for Pat to wear on his boutonniere.

This is just a 5 minute version of their incredible day. I hope your enjoy it.

music: “Always Be” – Holly Maher licensed through themusicbed.com
Reception: Pearl Street Grill: pearlstreetgrill.com

Mistie + Creighton’s film is full of so many things that are important to them.
They are big fans of sharing a bottle of wine, so much so that all the wine bottles around the Art’s Incubator you see in their film are from their time together.
Their family and friends came to help them set up for the reception so it was important for us to capture that as well. Their ceremony was absolutely perfect in the Rose Garden at Loose Park near the Country Club Plaza.
I’ll let their film tell the rest of the story…

Photos by: Photomementos
Locations: Rose Garden @ Loose Park / Arts Incubator

Ashley + Rich’s film speaks for itself. Their story, and the moments they shared together. I hope you enjoy it!

I recently flew up to Holland, MA and got to spend the weekend with Dick & Rick Hoyt of Team Hoyt. They are the father & son team that have completed over 1000 races including 29 Boston Marathons and 6 Iron Man competitions. Rick has been a quadriplegic since birth so Dick pushes him in a special jogging chair and also pulls him in a small raft & bike attachment for Triathlons. They know the importance of mobility, and what it means for Rick to feel like he’s free from his disability when they run together.

My past work with Variety Children’s Charity here in KC has meant a lot to me. I never would have guessed it would have led me to Massachusetts to meet such an incredible group of people. Dick, Rick, their amazing assistant Kathy, along with a whole slew of people from Team Hoyt Virginia Beach made it an incredible weekend. We shared a cookout at Dick’s house and ran a 5k the next day. (More on this story to come in another video)

So, what do you need to know?
Variety is teaming up with the Royals and holding a 5k at Kauffman Stadium on August 28th. Ok, before you stop reading, you really can be a part of this too. Come out and run or [walk] for kids who can’t.

Variety mobilizes kids with special needs through adaptive bikes, wheelchairs, van lifts, walkers, hearing aids, you name it; their mission is to give these kids a more active/normal life.

After watching this video I hope you see what mobility can mean to kids and will be a part of it.

During my weekend I watched a 12 year old girl push her younger sister in a jogging chair the entire way. I realized at that moment that there is absolutely no reason why I can’t also get out there and run. I signed up as soon as I got back to town. I hope you will too.

visit: http://www.royals.com/run

There’s only 3500 spots, and I’d love to see us sell this event out. Normally I’d be filming an event like this for them, but I’m getting out behind the camera this time and running myself.

see you out there.

So my friend Sara Swenson not only has an awesome album out, but also has a song from it featured on tonight’s Season Finale of Private Practice on ABC. If you watch the show be sure to listen tonight for “Time to Go”. The other day we got together and put together a little video for her talking about the song:

Be sure to stop by her site and her album on iTunes

In the midst of non-profit organizations and wedding films, I occasionally shoot music as well.
My background, for those of you that don’t know, is in audio engineering. I graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a BS in Audio Engineering (basically) – it’s got a much longer title that mostly means I know how to make records and mix sound.
It was my start in the Nashville area that led me to doing video work in the country music industry.
Over the last few years I’ve had some connections to the Academy of Country Music, producing a video for Chuck Wicks, then a series of “Road to the ACM Awards” for Josh Thompson, and finally in April working directly for the Academy documenting the fan experience of the weekend.

It was an incredible weekend full of 16 hour days filming everything from rehearsals for the show to Freemont Street concerts, a show at the Nellis Air Force Base, the Red Carpet and a great fan party at Mandalay Bay.

It’s funny.
When I was originally talking with a guy at the Academy I was somewhat afraid to mention that I’m a wedding filmmaker. In the grand scheme of all the video work in the world, weddings sometimes seem to be lower on the credibility level compared to “feature filmmaker” or “documentary filmmaker”. The funny thing is, most of those professional directors wouldn’t touch a wedding with a stick.
We work with conditions we can’t control, some of the worst lighting situations, no re-takes, and often not being able to control what happens at any given moment. Moments happen before our eyes all day long. In split seconds we make decisions of composition, lens choices, who to film, how to get the best audio, and if that moment is more important than the one happening right behind us.
It’s years of making weddings that actually qualified me to go film something like the ACM Awards. After mentioning I make wedding films it turns out he does too. One of my “bosses” actually said “you were hired because you shoot weddings and I know you won’t miss anything”.

It was a complete blast.
There’s really nothing like it, for me anyway; the best sound engineers, the best lighting and set designers and some of the best performers all coming together in one place. It’s a culmination of artists, and there I am getting to use my craft, my art, to capture what they’re doing.

Ok, enough talking from me: Here are some photos…

My new friend Sara Kauss is an amazing photographer from Florida: www.sarakauss.com – we shot the Freemont Street shows and red carpet together – she also took the red carpet photo of me at the top of this post.

The “Fan Jam” party was held at Mandalay Bay. Fans could watch this huge HD screen of the awards show happening live over at MGM, then CBS would cut the broadcast over to us where performers like Sugarland, Eric Church, The Band Perry and Rihanna with Jennifer Nettles performed on our stage.

Here are a few from Sugarland’s performance. I’d like to point out the incredible lighting design by Nate Cromwell:

Blake & Reba opening the show on our side:

Eric Church:

Sugarland introducing the next performance:

Rihanna and Jennifer Nettles:

These are all images pulled from video I shot from the Fan Jam. My job was to show the fan experience so I filmed everything from in the midst of the crowd each time with an occasional high & wide shot to show the whole room. The whole weekend was an incredible experience and I’m looking forward to heading back next year.

You can swing by the Academy’s site or YouTube page to see some of the videos we put together of rehearsals, the Nellis Air Force piece, and the red carpet: www.acmcountry.com There really wasn’t time to edit. My piece for Freemont Street included 12 acts, audio bites from their interviews and performances. It was a minute and half long and took around 5 hours to put together. Unfortunately most of my best shots weren’t able to be included because of the hours of footage we need to go through to pull them all. Next year we’re bringing a bigger team to pull it all off.

Thanks for coming by and checking this out – back to weddings now for me… the 2011 calendar is full and I’m already booking for 2012 so contact me soon!