Manolo for the Brides

Swine flu has been big in the news of late. What does this have to do with weddings? I’m sure it’s factored into at least a few couples’ plans…but I know for certain that it’s altered Seal and Heidi Klum’s annual vow renewal ceremony. Each year since they married in 2005, they’ve gone back to the site of their marriage in Mexico to renew their commitment to one another. This year, however, with worries about swine flu, three small children and another on the way, they’ve decided to play it safe and stay home. They will hold their annual ceremony in Los Angeles rather than skip the festivities.

Yearly vow renewals: what do you think? Me? I think I would prefer to save up an idea like that for a major milestone, but if it makes Heidi and Seal happy (which it seems to do), I say more power to them.

Changing plans for a vow renewal, however, is not nearly as traumatic as calling off an entire wedding, as Megan McAllister and Phillip Markoff did two days ago. The reason for the change in plans? Phillip is preparing to stand trial in the infamous Craigslist murder of masseuse Julissa Brisman last month. McAllister maintains her belief in Markoff’s innocence, but her lawyer, Robert Honecker said in a public statement on her behalf that “…she has to take steps to do what she has to do on her life.”

Whatever the truth in the legal case now pending, I wish McAllister well. This is obviously a difficult time for her. She has my sympathy.

On a more practical note, I’m loving a feature of the website Project Wedding. They feature a vendor review section. Simply choose the area closest to you (choose from urban centers throughout the US as well as several major cities in Canada, England, Australia, and the catch-all section ‘other’), pick the service you’re looking for, and read promotional materials and reviews from customers both satisfied and un.

If you’re looking for a vendor, you might want to read up on how different ones in your area do. If you’ve recently used a vendor who is listed, take a moment and let potential customers know how you felt about the services provided.

We’re always looking for holes in content here at Manolo for the Brides, and I just realized today that a search for videography produced zero results. We didn’t even have a category for it until just last weekend! Wedding videography is one of those things that people have strong opinions about, like whether charitable wedding favors are rude or wedding cake is a must-have.

This is due in part to the fact that many people can’t think of wedding videos without thinking of those grainy, badly lit VHS tapes from the 80s. But the fact is that today’s wedding videography can be lots of things, from slickly produced journalism-style wedding documentaries to old school Super 8 films with serious retro flair.

Cake and Lemonade is one of the companies working with Super 8 to produce bright, saturated (and, yes, grainy) videos that are mercifully short and sweet. And silent, though they do set their films to music after editing.

Present day nostalgia doesn’t come cheap, however. Packages start at $3,500 for a video much like the one above.