Custom Best Man Speeches

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Custom Best Man Speeches

Q and A with Patricia from BestManSpeechWriter.com

 

Today we are catching up with Patricia, the owner of Best Man Speech Writer. As one of our new trends for 2015, we wanted to start a dialogue with fellow industry professionals. This way we can bring thoughts, ideas and a little more fun to our blog so you can look to us not only as a Wedding Cinema site, but as a valuable resource. There are so many things going on in the preparation of a wedding day, and we wanted to spend more time focusing on those little things! So to start the New Year off right, we're going to talk about speech writing, specifically, Best Man Speech writing! Here’s our interview with Patricia:

Q: So Patricia, you’re living our fantasy - writing in New York! Specifically, you are writing Best Man toasts, how did this happen?

A: For once, I can actually blame my brother without getting into trouble! I’m kidding. But my brother is the inspiration behind my business because a few years ago, when it was his first time as best man, he reached out to me for help with his speech. Our collaboration went so well that we did this same song-and-dance number once again. It was after his second best man speech, when the DJ and wedding planner congratulated him on a job well done, that I realized the existing need for best man speech help and that I was pretty good at helping best men with their speeches. So, all thanks to my brother, the proverbial seed was planted in my mind and here we are.

Q: It’s been said that the best speeches are from the heart.  We've been in the industry for bit of time now and have noticed that the best man usually does a killer job, in fact, their speeches are often the soundtrack of our films. So why should a best man want to hire you if that’s the case?

A: Best man speeches are, indeed, often used as part of a wedding film’s soundtrack which is why a great best man speech benefits not just the best man but also the clients of wedding cinematographers. And great best man speeches almost always come from the heart. But the problem for many of our clients is taking what's in their hearts and putting it into words. Add to that that the average best man will spend about 15 minutes to prepare for his 15 minutes of wedding fame and you have a recipe for disaster. We are speechwriters but in a lot of ways you can consider us interpreters. We take the stories, feelings, emotions, and everything else the best man shares with us and we help them to put it down on paper in a way that conveys the message they want to send. We recognize not every best man requires us in their corner. However, there are a great many others who would significantly benefit from our help and expertise. If a best man is unsure of whether or not he needs our help, we suggest that he asks himself certain questions. For instance, best men who are on the fence about hiring us should consider the following:

  • Have you spoken in front of a large crowd before?

  • Do you know with what, or how, to start your speech (often times the beginning of a best man's speech sets the tone for the entire speech)?

  • Is this your first time as best man?

  • Are you confident in your writing ability?

  • Do you think it would be helpful to have a professional speechwriter review your speech?

Regardless of the best man's answers to these questions or choice to retain our services, we're always rooting for the best man.

Q: Do you write the entire toast?

A: Yes. Typically we're hired to write a best man's entire toast from start to finish.

Q: If the best man has trouble writing a speech, wouldn't he also have trouble presenting it? You might be able to write a bang on speech, but what about on the big day, when the best man is alone in front of 200 people? Does your company provide coaching or any performance help?

A: Let me first say this: A good presentation/performance can make an average speech a good speech, but a bad speech will always be a bad speech regardless of the performance/presentation.

Stage fright is a valid concern for even the most confident best man and it can only be resolved through practice and coaching. Our services often include coaching (along with the great best man speech we've prepared, of course) and the main goal of our coaching sessions is for the best man to become comfortable with his speech and, therefore, be confident presenting it. The sessions involve the best man mock-presenting his speech to us and we coach him on what improvements, if any, are needed. Our advice is tailored specifically to each client and we make certain to arm them with the tools they need to deliver an exceptional best man speech. A list of some of the tips we share with our clients are available on our website here - please feel free to share with your clients and readers.

Q: How involved does the best man need to be? In our experience, the best man is pretty busy, so how does he find the time? Do you do it over the phone or email?

A: We require very little from our clients because we understand that they hire us for our expertise and to remove from their already-filled plates the task of writing their speech. Therefore, besides answering some questions, responding to follow-up questions when necessary, and practicing their speech with us, we ask for nothing else from the best man. In addition, so as not to disrupt their busy schedules, we communicate with them virtually - email, text message, Skype, FaceTime, telephone, etc. We believe these virtual methods of communication are less obtrusive and better suited time- and geography-wise for our clients.

Q: What has the general feedback been from your speeches and do you see professionally written speeches as an upcoming trend in weddings?

A: We've received positive feedback for the speeches we've written and wedding speech writing is still a fairly unknown service in the U.S. However, given how best man speeches have rapidly grown to become an integral part of receptions, I believe that our services will become a wedding industry staple. Furthermore, as more and more best men seek originality for their speech, they’ll look beyond Google for speech help and turn to us for a speech written especially for them.

 

We wanted to say a Big Thanks to Patricia for her time, we thoroughly enjoyed learning about her company and what she does to Capture the Story!

COMPANY: Best Man Speech Writer

 

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Wedding Dress History 101

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Wedding Dress History 101

Looking for the perfect white wedding dress for 2015? Well, wait a second, I said white right? How did that trend even manifest? In Victorian times, women just wore their “Sunday Best” dresses and that was that! It wasn’t until 1839 when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert that a new style was set. As you may have noticed this style has lasted more than 170+ years, leave it to the Brits! Queen Victoria’s dress was made of white satin and was trimmed with orange blossoms. The train was 18 feet long gals- I’m glad that that trend didn’t stick or we’d have a rather dull reception. Just imagine the time it would take to bustle that up- geesh! All in all the white gown was a hit and we are improving on the idea ever since! 

If you haven’t found that perfect dress yet, fear not it’s out there for you! But in case yore getting desperate and before you fly off to Filene’s Basment in Boston- Oh wait they aren’t there anymore- maybe look to Pasadena! After all, it’s the city that starts the New Year off for everyone with their gorgeous Parade- why not look for a gorgeous dress there! I was filming a wedding with Sean Mason and he told me about his wife’s dress shop- the Ivory Boutique. I checked it out- a fun place! It’s at 803 Meridian Avenue, in South Pasadena. So go for it and maybe you’ll have you’re Steve Martin Father of the Bride moment- heheh. Gotta love Pasadena!

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Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year!

Hello Everyone! This Year we are starting a new trend! On our Blog we are going to start a chit chat about wedding fun. Every weekday we are going to have a post, the posts we write will offer meaningful ideas, products, suggestions and of course a lot of fun! We are Wedding Cinematographers, but also realize that there is a bigger picture here and we want to be a part of that. Maybe a DIY idea of ours will spark your interest or a joke will make you laugh, or maybe not! ;-) But we intend to roll with it and see what happens. Because, it is a New Year and Charles Lauren Films wants to continue to inspire, delight and excite you for years to come! So let’s begin!

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Alina and Clint // Wedding Highlight Video - Sierra Lakes Golf Club, Fontana

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Alina and Clint // Wedding Highlight Video - Sierra Lakes Golf Club, Fontana

Clint and Alina had a love story wedding. It was a picture perfect day, the family and friends gathered for a joyous event of love, laughter and happily ever after. The day was off and on rainy, and although they had planned to have their wedding ceremony outside, it became an indoor ceremony! Thankfully, Trina Schmidt of Trina Schmidt Weddings and Events was able to create a gorgeous indoor ceremony that still gave Alina and Clint the wedding of their dreams! The reception at Sierra Lakes Golf Club in Fontana was a blast, not to mention the dance moves during the father daughter dance and mother son dance- truly epic! Congrats once more Clint and Alina!

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Lindsay + Davin // The Wedding Highlight // The Ebell of Los Angeles, 7.5.2014 (Official)

This Highlight Film is just a small part of the complete epic wedding movie they received - because it was so much fun shooting and editing their wedding! They got engaged on July 4th, so celebrating their wedding on July 5th, with red, white and blue everywhere was just perfect. Their fun, love and theme carried through from beginning to end, with the perfect socks, programs, challah, cake, lighting, just spectacular! Watch this and get pulled into Lindsay and Davin's own personal world....wink ;-)

 

Venue: The Ebell of Los Angeles

Event Design and Planning: Sterling Engagements 

Photographer: Callaway Gable 

DJ: Dash Entertainment

Strings: Pacific Coast Strings 

Floral Design: Shawna Yamamoto Event Design 

Cake: Fantasy Frostings 

Cinematographer: Charles Lauren Films

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