She Said…
I am nowhere near where I thought I’d be at 27. I mean, by 27 I’m supposed to be like a real adult, right? By now, I’d always imagined myself with a steady income, maybe on my way to owning a home, hosting dinner parties with pretty tablescapes, and already married with at least one or two kids popped out.
But instead, I decided to start a business, which – for me at least – has made obtaining those kind of things by a still rather young age a bit more challenging to achieve. Fret not, because I am filled with gratitude for the things this lifestyle does give me, like the ability to work from home in my yoga pants and take Netflix breaks, an extremely flexible schedule, and creative freedom. I could never image actually taking another path, but every now and then, an opportunity comes along for me to pretend I’m at a different place in life and it’s always a ton of fun.
So, when Shaun asked me to pretend to marry him for his music video, of course I wasn’t going to say no. Especially because modeling wedding dresses is one of my FAVORITE things to do (here’s a past bridal post!). I bet somehow wearing all these wedding dresses is bad karma and probably contributes to why I’m not married yet, but whatever.
Photo Credit: B.J. Smith Photo (BJSmithPhoto.com)
My experience as an imaginary bride didn’t start the day of the shoot, but rather about a week earlier when I visited One Enchanted Evening, a bridal and formal wear shop in Zelienople, PA – just a bit outside of Pittsburgh. After walking through their expansive selection of stunning evening dresses, my jaw dropped even further when I found my way into the bridal room. Even though I wasn’t a real bride, I certainly got the full OEE experience. The roomy bridal space is painted a calming sky blue with glimmering crystal chandeliers, and features an endless collection of luxurious dresses.
I would be delighted to wear any one of the many dresses I tried on, but the moment I put on this dreamy a-line gown with romantically draped tulle and jeweled belt, I knew it was “the one”! I’m so very thankful One Enchanted Evening let me borrow it for the shoot.
Playing bridal dress-up aside, the day I got to wear this gown was significant because 1) I’m glad Shaun liked me enough to have me be his pseudo-bride and 2) it was an honor to play a role in something that is a step to his musical dreams coming true, which I’ll let him tell you more about…
He Said…
Through all my years of playing shows, recording songs, and filming live videos, there was always one thing in music that always eluded me: a music video. I had the opportunity a few years back with a band I was in, but that fell through. We even started filming, and it was a blast, but it never got finished.
So, when my good friend, BJ Smith, asked if he could use one of After 87’s (the band I was in at the time) songs for a music video idea he wanted to try out, I couldn’t wait to get started. The one problem that I foresaw when he told me about the idea was acquiring a wedding dress. I immediately turned to Allyn for help (I mean, she was going to play the bride in the video anyway), because she always seems to have connections in high places. I won’t lie; I was slightly worried about asking her to do all of this, because her feelings about her current position in life are no secret to me.
Fortunately for me, she was a good sport about the whole thing, and, of course, came through with the wedding dress, thanks to One Enchanted Evening. As for the video shoot, the weather could’ve been a bit more kind (it was unnecessary cold and windy for a lot of it), but we powered through. The rest was in BJ’s hands. See, this wasn’t an ordinary music video; rather than being a whole video comprised of smaller video clips, the whole thing was shot with photos at approximately 8 frames per second. I don’t remember the final photo count, but it was extremely high. BJ did a wonderful job editing and putting the whole thing together, in my opinion. You can check out the final product and form your own opinion here.
The bottom line: I have always been in love with the idea of a music video because I thought it would be fun to act and play pretend. As it turns out, I was right. The whole experience was great, and I was fortunate to be surrounded by close friends and family for this project. I really couldn’t have asked for a better first, full video shoot. I hope it wasn’t my last.
Photo Credit: B.J. Smith Photo (BJSmithPhoto.com)