Kayla + Danny | Engagement Session | Colt State Park
We’re pretty late with this one, but better late than never right? Their wedding is next weekend so we thought why not share some photos from Kayla and Danny’s engagement session last Summer at Colt State Park in Bristol, Rhode Island!
Fun fact: this shoot was supposed to be a week prior, but the weather put a damper on that. Luckily we got amazing weather for this one and it was a great shoot!
Another fun fact: Mike Neilan met Kayla at the Apple Store in Providence about a year and half ago when she was working there. Mike N. and Mike McDonough were at the Apple store buying a new iPhone and Kayla was helping them out with their purchase. Through conversation Kayla mentioned she was engaged and would be getting married in 2021, and Mike mentioned that he does photo + video for weddings. They exchanged information and sure enough a few months later, Kayla reached out!
Kayla and Danny are both such kind people, so friendly, and we were so excited to shoot their engagement session never mind their wedding day!
We walked around Colt State, doing some photos along the water as well as on the bridge. We’ve actually shot several engagement sessions here so we’re very familiar with the park. We love the variety it has to offer; the water, the bridge, the path with trees on the other side of the park, and more.
We finished the shoot with some awesome sunset shots on the water! We had a blast on this shoot with them and we love how their photos came out.
On May 22, 2021 we’ll be at the Century House in Acushnet, MA shooting photo and video of their special day and we can’t wait!
If you’re looking to find photo or video for your wedding, or you’re interested in an engagement session, fill out a form on our contact page and we’ll get right back to you! :)
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!
The Best Wedding Venues in Massachusetts
Wedding season!? Yikes! It’s right around the corner! With close to 40 weddings already booked this year, our team has been busy scouting locations to prep for our 2021 Big Days. This week, we hopped in Mike’s Equinox and headed north to scope out a few upcoming locations in Massachusetts. Each destination has its own appeal and charm, but our quick trip resurfaced memories of some of our favorite places to shoot. Here are our top three favorite venues in Massachusetts.
Lakeview Pavilion – Foxboro, MA
After arriving at our first stop: the newly renovated Lakeside venue, we’re treated to not one, but two grand ballrooms. Having been recently rebuilt nearly from the ground up, the team at Lakeview spared no expense when bringing their dream venue to life.
The expansive windows of the Lakeview & Lakeside ballrooms stretch from the ground 20’ up towards the vaulted ceiling, giving the guests a stunning, floor-to-ceiling view of the lake and surrounding woodlands. The dark, hardwoods artistically accent the brilliant white walls and uplighting in the ceiling. Both rooms center around a crescendo of crystals in a pair of jaw-dropping chandeliers.
We step outside to the serene scene of nothing but the quiet forest and lake as a beautiful gazebo sits elegantly at the water’s edge. A perfect place for a first look or even just a photo op, this quaint yet dazzling gazebo is the cherry on top for this perfect location!
Grand View – Mendon, MA
Situated on the scenic shores of Lake Nipmuc in Mendon, MA, Grand View boasts spectacular waterfront views with the privacy and elegance you’d only dream of on your wedding day. The 85-acre lake is dotted by maple and pine trees that reflect in the water creating the most charming New England setting. This single-event venue boasts multiple locations to celebrate on your wedding day.
With panoramic views of the lake, the cocktail room centers around a 35-foot oak table beneath oak shelves and decorative glassware, (and lots of liquor, too).
The lavish crystal chandeliers hang elegantly from the ceiling as you enter the contemporary Grand Ballroom. You can hear the echo as your soles tap across the beautiful hardwood dancefloor graced by the wall-to-wall views of stunning Lake Nipmuc. Oh and the 12-foot long (WOW!) fireplace really accents the room!
Stepping outside, there’s a couple choices for your outdoor ceremony. Walking down the steps from the ballroom, you’ll come across a beautiful stone patio much like one you’d see along the fine Italian shores of Lake Como. Aptly named Bella Vista, this stone patio hugs Lake Nipmuc’s shoreline where words can’t describe the beauty your guests will be subject to at the moment when you say your ‘I do’s’.
The last location at Grand View that we scoped out was the Terraza. This beautiful terrace adorned with Doric columns sits parallel to the lake where guests will be blessed with unrivaled views of the sparking waters. Guests will be graced with the beautiful view of the lake to their left while they watch you tie the knot under a sophisticated pergola.
The Barn at Gibbet Hill – Groton, MA
Continuing north, our next stop was the rustic Barn at Gibbet Hill in Groton, MA. This gorgeous property houses a few different options for wedding settings. First and foremost, there’s the barn, of course! With a 220-person capacity, this immense barn and property is more than suited for any sized gathering. Once you step inside this immense post-and-beam, turn-of-the-century barn your eyes are immediately drawn to the sophisticated chandeliers suspended from the ceiling artfully accented by a backdrop of antique exposed beams. This charming, but immense barn is the heart of the property but there’s much more to gawk at here at Gibbet Hill!
The lawn at Gibbet Hill is a sight to behold. At the height of wedding season, this pristine greenery rolls on for acres, dotted by the black Angus cattle roaming the hills. The blue sky, fresh air, and serene setting build a prime setting for a relaxed and intimate ceremony.
Topping off our list of locations at Gibbet Hill is the Top of the Hill. An exclusive, outdoor tented venue is just a few minutes’ shuttle ride from the Barn. Located at the summit of Gibbet hill sits the ivy-covered ruins of a stone hunting lodge built by General Bancroft in 1906. This unique setting are sure to offer one-of-a-kind experiences and it’s an especially amazing place to shoot!
But wait there’s more!
There’s hundreds of spectacular venues across the state and we couldn’t stop at these three. With just enough gas in the tank for one more stop, our team headed west towards Harrington Farm!
Harrington Farm - Princeton, MA
Harrington Farm, an expansive New England farm located in Princeton, MA was our last stop on the trip. The venue has a host of marvelous settings - spread across their sixty-acre property – whose antique charm meets modern design through stunning renovations. The farm is home to a beautiful barn (honestly, is it even a farm if there’s no barn??), a charming farmhouse, sprawling meadows, and a peaceful Goshen stone ceremony garden.
Stepping inside the barn at Harrington Hill, we are immediately hypnotized by the intricate woodwork of the hammer-beam trusses holding the massive, lofted roof high above our heads. The engineering that must have gone into the architecture of this venue is astounding. What’s more, a massive fireplace warms the room as its brilliant bluestone chimney clammers its way up the back wall of the barn. This picturesque beauty is sure to be a tough setting to turn away from!
The sixty-acre property has a plethora of stunning scenes that make the property perfect for tying the knot. The farm – which is situated on Wachusett mountain – faces west; gracing its guests to remarkable sunsets that dance across the golden meadows, no matter the time of year. From the outdoor fireplace patio where guests can enjoy a nice drink, to the Goshen Stone Patio garden, and the spanning meadows, Harrington’s outdoor spaces are second-to-none.
With wedding season heating up these are four venues our team at Neilan Media is pleased to recommend! If you are still searching for photography or video for your wedding day, we would love to talk! Fill out a contact form to get in touch :)
Paige + Will | 10.12.19 | Newport Beach House
It’s now been a year since Paige & Will got married in Newport, Rhode Island. (Happy Anniversary, you two!) What an awesome day filled with amazing events! We wanted to share a recap of their wedding day with you.
The newlyweds chose Neilan Media to document their Special Day with both photo and video highlighting the day’s events. From a production point-of-view, choosing us to shoot both the video and photos of their big day allowed us full creative control which enabled us to produce the top-notch content we delivered to them. Read on to get a glimpse into their stunning special day!
We started the day getting ready with Paige and her bridesmaids at the East Island Reserve in Newport. Champagne bubbles tickled the bridesmaids’ noses while they sipped and prepped for their extravagant afternoon. Will and his groomsmen suited up at Gurneys Hotel on Goat Island. Both locations were absolutely beautiful and provided a picturesque setting for great photos of everyone getting ready.
Paige & Will rolled around Newport in an antique Rolls Royce for their big bay. It was definitely a unique sight for us, and we loved it!
The couple said their “I do’s” at the iconic St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Broadway in Newport. Did you know? – St. Mary’s is the same church where Jackie and President John F. Kennedy got married back in 1953!
After being pronounced husband and wife we followed the newlyweds to Newport Beach House to take photos with the bridal party and family outside on the lawn. We had a lot of fun with the whole party and got through these photos very efficiently!
We had a 4:30 reservation at Ochre Court – a mansion on Bellevue Avenue – for photos with Paige & Will. This imposing historic mansion on Salve Regina University’s campus is often used for photography for weddings and engagement sessions. We were lucky enough to have a chance to shoot inside the mansion as well as across the entire grounds outside! We got some amazing photos with these two before heading back to their celebration!
Once we arrived back at Newport Beach House, Paige & Will got to enjoy cocktail hour and party the night away with their friends and family. We know 2020 hasn’t been the easiest year for most, but we hope it was filled with happiness and love for these two! Happy Anniversary!
Venue: Newport Beach House: A Longwood Venue
Photo/Video: Neilan Media
Makeup: Jennifer M. Viveiros
Hair: Styles By Stephani
DJ: Luke Rechnan Entertainment
Caroline + Mike | 9.28.19 | Old Sturbridge Village
We truly had a blast working with Caroline + Mike on their wedding day. The weather was great, the day ran smooth and we all enjoyed ourselves.
Caroline + Mike got ready at the Old Sturbridge Inn before heading to Old Sturbridge Village for their ceremony and reception. They did some family photos outside of the Tavern and then headed over in horse-drawn carriage to the ceremony. They read their vows, said I do, and the party began! Greg Bedard DJ + Entertainment kicked the party off and kept it going all night. Caroline had some desserts from a local bakery as well as some that she actually made herself, we tried a few and they were absolutely delicious! Caroline + Mike danced all night and really enjoyed their wedding. Check out their highlight video here and let us know what you think!
To inquire about your wedding date, email mywedding@mikeneilan.com! Thanks for reading!
Vendors
Venue: Old Sturbridge Village
Photo: Heather Fuller Photographer
Video: Mike Neilan Media
DJ: Greg Bedard DJ
Desserts: Francesco’s Bakery
Ashley + Steve | 9.27.19 | Mount Hope Farm
Capturing the love between Ashley + Steve on their wedding day couldn’t have been more fun! On the morning of September 27th, 2019 these two love birds prepared for their big day at the picturesque Wyndham Newport Hotel; an idyllic setting situated at the base of the Newport Bridge on Narragansett Bay.
After a quick commute off Aquidneck island over the Mount Hope Bridge, rumbling above the boats dotting the sun-soaked bay below, Ashley + Steve arrived at their beautiful venue; Mount Hope Farm. This gorgeous 127-acre farm in Bristol boasts uncontested views of Rhode Island in early Fall.
After their first look, we had some time to shoot the bridal party photos before the ceremony.
Ashley + Steve’s ceremony took place in the lush, sunlit lawn of the Governor Branford House on the Mount Hope Farms grounds. The couple said their “I do’s” smiling in the sunshine with their friends and family.
What’s a wedding without a proper reception?! The party got started in The Barn, a charming 160-year-old building nestled among the fields and trees of Mount Hope Farm. Warm colors peppered the rustic tables garnished with a summer harvest of local greens. Surround by their loved ones, Ashley + Steve dined and danced into the night.
With weather as warm as their smiles, we enjoyed every moment of capturing this special couple’s big day! Congratulations Ashley + Steve!
To inquire about your wedding, whether it’s for photo or video, fill out this contact form here and feel free to look around our site to see more. Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Vendors:
Hair/MU: Glam By Cori
Photo: Mike Neilan Media
Video: Fast Track Media
Venue: Mount Hope Farm
Catering: Russel Morin
Cake: Bella Confections
Jackie & Mike | Small Ceremony In Boston
A little over a month ago I got a Facebook message from someone I met back in high school. She was getting married; having a small ceremony for their close family in Boston and she was looking for a photographer. It was not your typical 8 hour wedding day, but I was available and I happily agreed to do it. It took place at the Old City Hall in Boston, which is now Ruth Chris’ Steak House. The outside is awesome and makes for a great spot for photos.
We took some right out front of the steps as you see above, and we took some in this smaller area off to the side as well. It was pretty cold out as it was February 23rd, but Jackie and Mike were troopers.
Jackie & Mike braved the cold for almost an hour, props to them honestly.
Funny story about this photo right above here; I didn’t think I was going to like it when I took it. The light coming from outside was obviously daylight and the light inside was very yellow, but I ended up really liking it in black and white. Anyway, once we did the family photos and their portraits outside, we went inside for a few more family photos and for the ceremony.
That’s all! Hope you enjoyed this set and this article, let me know what you thought.
If you or someone you know is searching for a wedding photographer or videographer, have them reach out, I’d be happy to talk.
Email mywedding@mikeneilan.com to inquire and check out other videos on the site!
Thank you.
Wedding Videos: What Happens After The Wedding
A wedding video can be 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 8 minutes, 10, 20, 60, 120. You might get 1 videographer, you might get 2. Some companies even offer 3 videographers. You might need 6 hours of coverage, you might want 8, maybe 10? Some couples even just want 4 hours. You get the point; a wedding video can really vary depending where you go.
One thing you might not completely think of is just how much time is spent after the wedding to make your video. Whether it’s a short 5 minute video or a long 60 minute video, there’s a lot of work that happens behind the scenes to make your video come out the way it is. Here are a few samples.
I’ll spoil this article and tell you how many hours it takes now. Nah, maybe not. Keep reading.
So after the wedding is over, the first thing I do when I get home is take the memory cards and back up all the footage to a hard drive at my desk. All the videos, the audio, everything. Depending on how long the wedding day was and how much we shot, this takes about an hour. That night I might even back it up to a 2nd hard drive so I have it in two places. If I do that, it’s another half hour. Other times I’ll back it up again the next day instead of that night. Point is, I want to make sure all the media is safe and on my hard drives so I can clear my memory cards and have it stored properly. Now it’s ready to edit.
The next thing I do is sort through all the video. Every clip we shot gets looked at, every single one. We are usually at a wedding about 8-9 hours. Now, we aren’t recording every second of the day but we are shooting a lot, and we have multiple cameras, so there is a lot to go through. I go through all of it and pull out the best pieces of every clip. Some clips have nothing I see that I want to use, some have 3 or 4 good parts, it all varies. This process takes about 10-12 hours. Now I have gone through all the clips, found the best pieces and I know what I like. The next part is putting the ceremony and reception together.
We usually shoot the ceremony with 3 cameras, sometimes 4. We also have audio from wireless mics. This needs to get synchronized so we can easily switch between camera angles when we want, and see the ceremony all put together with each camera angle. Depending on how long the ceremony was and how many cameras we used, this takes an hour or two. Then there’s the reception. Now we don’t record the entire reception but we have the introductions, the formal dances, and the toasts that need to be synced up. Similar process to the ceremony so this takes another hour or two to organize that and get it put together. Now we’re at about 12-16 hours.
Now the footage is sorted through, ceremony and reception are organized. Time to find music! No joke, sometimes this takes me 30 seconds, sometimes it takes me 2 hours. I might find the song that sounds right the second I start looking, and I’ve also had times where I played through songs for almost 2 hours and didn’t find the right one. It’s one of the most important pieces.
Next up, edit the video! Now it’s time to take that music, and put some video over it. What I’ll do is listen through the vows and the toasts for the best pieces and I pull those aside so I know what I want to use. That takes about and hour or two. Then I start putting clips over the music, and I mostly go in order of the day. I’ll put in some clips of the bride getting ready, her bridesmaids, getting hair done, makeup, etc. Then I go through and put in pieces of the toasts and vows that match and make the most sense to me. I might show the actual footage from the ceremony or the reception of them speaking or I may keep it on them getting ready. Then I do the same thing for the groom. The way I edited my videos is basically two halves; I show the bride and groom getting ready, go into their first look if they have one, then to their ceremony, and that’s the first half. If you’ve never seen my videos, it might seem like the video is over at the end of the ceremony. But it’s just a short 2 second pause and then I go into the 2nd half of the video.
The 2nd half of the video is the reception; so I show some footage of decorations, the cake, the venue, then the introductions of the wedding party, and then the bride and groom getting introduced. Then some clips of them dancing, then their parent dances, the cake cutting, and then the video is finished off with a 2-3 minute montage of people dancing and having a blast at the reception. This whole part takes about 10 hours. Now the video is edited from start to finish.
Last but not least, similar to the icing on a cake, I do the color correction. Throughout the day of the wedding we are changing settings from indoor to outdoor, changing lighting settings, etc. So the footage might look off in color, or be dark in some areas, too light in other shots, things like that. Color correction is where that all gets fixed. We brighten up things that are too dark, tone down areas that are too bright, and fix colors that are just not set right. For a 5-10 minute highlight video, this takes about 1.5 hours. For a 20-40 minute video it takes close to 2-3 hours. Now the video is done! About 25-28 hours later, the video is ready to send to the couple.
(If I’m doing a longer video in addition to the highlight, it’s another 6-8 hours of editing. This is the time of adding more ceremony footage, removing certain parts and adding more in other areas, adding more to the reception.)
It’s quite the process. When I first started doing wedding videos, it actually took me 35-40 hours to edit the video. That’s a whole work week for most people, pretty crazy. But after many times of doing it, figuring out better ways to do things, getting more efficient, I got to where I am now.
I hope you enjoyed this article. This is a craft we as wedding videographers take our time to perfect and we really put our heart into it. At least speaking for myself, it’s something we do because we love it. Getting the reaction emails of “OMG this is amazing I cried! Thank you so much!” or “Thank you so much Mike, we are truly grateful we had you capture our day this is more than we could ask for” is something that really means a lot to me. It makes it all worth it and it truly brings me joy. I actually did a screen recording and voice over of me editing a wedding video once, if you would like to see it, go here. If you have any questions for me or if you are looking for a wedding videographer, reach out to me at mike@mikeneilan.com and check out my work on my wedding video section.
Thank you for reading.