The perfect birthday gift

This week marks the return of my annual birthday bonanza season. My mother, sister and husband all happen to celebrate their birthdays within a week of each other and every year I find myself brainstorming to find the perfect presents for all of them. All of this hair pulling has reminded me of a great birthday present we were able to provide for one special lady. It is one of our favorite films that we made last year in honor of this lovely woman's milestone 75th birthday commissioned by her children. And in honor of this birthday bonanza,I thought this to be the perfect moment to share it with all of you!

This film was actually one of three films we created for our client's birthday celebration in January 2009 at Del Posto restaurant (yum!) in New York City. In addition to the tribute film, we also created a photo montage that ran silently through cocktail hour and a video medley of musical numbers performed by her grandchildren to top of the night. By debuting the films at different points in the evening, they provided a distinct way to involve the guests in paying tribute to the honoree throughout the celebration.

We were thrilled to attend the event as we also filmed the beautiful speeches that were given throughout the night. It was a true gift for us to see our work in action!

Now we all know that a tribute film isn't attainable as an annual and frequent present, but when a special milestone birthday for a loved one comes up, there is nothing that beats a tribute film honoring him/her!

We're on the list!

Rewind Pictures is honored to be listed again in the ever illustrious New York Magazine Weddings and Online Directory Vendor Listings for Summer 2010. For those that live here and elsewhere, you can always count on this resource to give you the best of the best advice and vendor recommendations when planning your wedding or special event. We are honored to be in the company of so many other talented event professionals!

See our listing here

Mapping out a great wedding montage

We have been busy little bees over here at Rewind Pictures recently...and we couldn't be happier! Do you hear the bells ringing? It's wedding season!

Recently, we had the chance to work with the sister of a groom who scoped us out searching for a clean, creative montage to be shown at a rehearsal dinner before a grand destination wedding in Mexico for her brother and his adorable soon to be wife!

Our client put a lot of thought and work into her vision for the montage before even contacting us (we love that!). She gathered and sorted 100 of the best photos that represented several stages of the bride and groom's journey separately and together. She also consulted with the bride and groom on music selections that might be appropriate for the film. By the time we met with our client for the first time, she was completely ready to go, giving us a clear direction and a feeling for the style she wished to have in the montage. What was missing was that personalize touch that would separate the montage from the rest... that Rewind Pictures touch!

We asked our client to share the bride and groom's love story knowing that this would be key to finding the missing element for the montage. Turns out that the bride and groom have known each other since they were children, were friends throughout high school, even went to each other's prom, but never dated until several cities later when both ended up in Los Angeles. We detected a theme and created a graphic element to represent it and the results are below...

We think it's super cute and results are in from the married couple...apparently we hit a home run! What do you think?

Urban Chic @ UrbanWed

I had the pleasure of attending the first annual NYC UrbanWed last night at Hatch Creative's Nest Event Loft at 920 Broadway. Vane of Brooklyn Bride gets my applause for putting together one of the most well organized, creative and inspiring wedding event shows of the season. As a vendor, I attend a lot of these shows and find commercialism more than the creation of a valuable resource for upcoming brides and grooms. This show actually made me want to turn back the clock and be a bride again! I could have planned my whole wedding right in that room. Check out some of my favorites below.

I have been a big fan of Hatch Creative Studio for a long time. But last night, I thought I saw my dream come true! Barb had the inspired idea of using old photos as a table runner and plate centerpiece to inspire conversation amongst the table and pay tribute to the bride and groom's family history! No need to tell you how much we at Rewind Pictures stand behind that!

My wedding professional buddies* gathered around to take this awesome photo booth photo by StudioBooth with the funniest props (thanks to Whisker Works and Paperfinger) that I have seen in some time ! You can't go wrong with one of these at your event.

Bravo, UrbanWed. There is still one more night left, so brides & grooms run, don't walk, to check it out.

From left to right: Andrea Blau: Rewind Pictures, Beverly: Capries Wedding and Social Events, Lisa Barr: Bridalease, Tammy Golson: Tammy Golson Events, Ana Dolan: Invitations by Ana, Lisa Green: Anderson Green Events, Laura: Blue Canary Events, Heather: Gifts for the Good Life

In Case of Emergency

Recently, I was faced with hours to evacuate my home. In the face of adversity, I had to quickly decipher my most necessary belongings and coveted items. Clothing, valuables and important documents topped the list for immediate survival needs, however, it was my photo albums and home video that made my heart skip a beat and dash to my closet and retrieve.

Thankfully, I was not faced with fire, water or gas, therefore, I knew I could return to my home at some later date and take all my precious items that make up my home. But it got me thinking, if that were not the case, what would I grab first or worse than that, what if I couldn't take anything at all?

Since then, I have vowed to digitally archive all of my most precious photos and home video, copy them several times and disperse them amongst family and friends. You never know what is going to happen in life, but you can be as prepared as possible.

Shoah Love

Recently, we have been receiving several requests to digitally archive Holocaust survivor interview testimonials conducted by Steven Spielberg and The Shoah Foundation.

In 1994, Steven Spielberg founded and established the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation to record testimonies in video format of survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust. Between 1994 and 1999, the Foundation conducted nearly 52,000 interviews in 56 countries and in 32 languages.

A VHS copy was given to each participant.

Participants are now faced with a problem: they no longer have a VCR to view their testimonials and/or their VHS copies are slowly deteriorating and no longer serve as a means to preserve their Shoah Foundation video testimonials. Most people don't know that manufacturers rate the life expectancy of video tape from 10 to 12 years (on a good day!). Every time you play the tape, press pause, or insert it into your machine you risk damaging the VHS tape at a great rate.

Needless to say, it is no surprise that families who participated in The Shoah Foundation video testimonials are scurrying to transfer their VHS tapes to digital formats such as DVD. Once in digital format, one can be rest assured that the interview testimonial will be preserved forever and passed down from generation to generation.

The Shoah Foundation participants can order VHS copies through the organization that is now based at UCLA. However, it can take a long time and be costly. We are happy to help those Holocaust survivors preserve their very important accounts by transferring their video testimonials from VHS to DVD for only a small material cost. We will take care of the rest. This is just another way we are dedicated to helping preserve people's stories one at a time.

Please contact us for details.

Looking for cool Brooklyn vendors?

Wedding season is upon us and if you are engaged, you have the exclusive first chance to meet & greet with some of the coolest, most talented, innovative vendors this Sunday, March 7 at the Here Comes The BROOKLYN Bride event at BAM.

Looks like an exciting day of food, cocktails and events are planned. So stop by or check back here next week for a full report!

2:15pm-3pm
Brides.com, Lauren Matthews: “Bridal Etiquette”

3:15pm-3:45pm
Blossom and Branch: Wedding Florals - “How to Make an Impression without Breaking the Bank”

4pm-4:30pm
Kelly Guenther: “The Insider’s Guide to Finding the Perfect Photographer”

4:45pm-5:15pm
Anne Chertoff, Editor-in-Chief of AisleDash.com: “From ‘I Will’ to ‘I Do’”

5:15pm-5:45pm
Stellina Events, Amanda Diamondstein-Cieplinska: “Creating Your Wedding Vision”