Sweet Pea Events

One of my favorite aspects of being a Wedding Planner is that I'm able to meet with some incredibly talented and fun vendors. I recently had the chance to meet up with Dave and Corbin Baxter of Soulbox Productions (pictured above), a husband and wife videography team in Dallas. I love it when I meet with people and have an instant connection - that's how I felt with Dave and Corbin! We sat and talked about the wedding industry, our businesses, and got to know each other and before we knew it 2 hours had passed! They are both super down to earth, and are extremely passionate about what they do. Not to mention, their film making capabilities are unparalleled - they are one of the few to offer Super 8 film to create that unique vintage look. I had an opportunity to ask them the following questions about their business so you could get to know them a little bit better - enjoy!

1. How did you get started in the Videography business, and specifically with weddings?
Corbin and I started capturing weddings after filming and producing our first feature length film, Beyond Doors, in 2001. We quit our “corporate jobs” and started filming weddings fulltime in 2004.

2. What is your typical day like as a Wedding Videographer on the day of the wedding, and also on a non-wedding day?
On a wedding day, our coverage is typically 8 hours, which includes 2 hours of pre ceremony, ceremony and up to a 4 hour reception. We film every wedding, whether it’s a Super 8mm Full Film or Digital Coverage with two cinematographers, which allows Corbin and me to work together the majority of the time. We are extremely lucky that the majority of our clients have Professional Wedding Planners, which makes our day so much easier. A non-wedding day we’re in front of our computers editing and replying to inquiries. Corbin and I pride ourselves on the quality of our wedding films (the real magic happens in post production, which is anywhere from 40-60 hours) and our customer service. We reply to all our inquiries within 24 hours.

3. What would you say makes your style or personality unique from other Videographers?
We offer Super 8mm as a highlight or a Full Film wedding. Capturing a wedding in super 8 is incredibly freeing creatively, and it also provides our brides with a completely unique Wedding Film. We also provide Bonus Features (add-ons) that know one else offers. The most popular is the Honeymoon Highlight. We provide the bride and groom with a one-time use, portable video camera to take on their honeymoon. We then create a Honeymoon Highlight by also incorporating their photos, which allows our brides and grooms to have their honeymoon conveniently on their Wedding DVD.

4. What are some of your favorite video highlights from your portfolio?

One of our favorites is our most recent Highlight from Christina and Clay’s Full Film Wedding:
http://www.soulboxproductions.com/blog/?page_id=41

5. Favorite tips or advice for the bride and grooms to be?
Hire a Professional Wedding Planner! Corbin and I got married 10 years ago, we were the first of our friends to get married and I so wish we would’ve had a wedding planner. Not only do they make everything easier on you and your friends and family (and vendors) day of, but you learn etiquette, budget planning and they are a wonderful resource for vendors beforehand.
And then hire a Professional Wedding Filmmaker. It’s astonishing to us that over 60% of weddings don’t have professional filmmakers as a part of the day. Your friend or Uncle Bob will not provide you near the quality of work: they won’t have a wireless mic to capture your vows, the knowledge of what to capture or how to work with your vendors. We have actually had clients that didn’t book us, contact us upset that they didn’t have a way to remember their wedding. Along with photography, your wedding film is the only way to relive your day.
We also tell our potential clients, if everything else is equal, always select the vendors that you connect with the best.

6. When you aren’t working, what are some of your favorite things to do?
Watch movies, listen to music, travel and work on our side-projects. We are currently developing board games. We have two working prototypes:
I Quit! – Beat Corporate America At It’s Own Game
I Know Why… The craziest, wackiest card game ever (which is a children’s card game that allows them to use their imagination while learning fun facts)
We are also developing a wedding/honeymoon card game, which is currently titled It Takes 2!

7. What are some of your favorite venues in the DFW area, and why?
* Royal Lane Baptist Church. They allow one of our cameras to be in the front without being seen. (Being unobtrusive is one of our main goals of the day.)
* United Methodist of Dallas is an extremely ornate and beautiful church.
* Arlington Hall is a wonderful location for both a ceremony and reception (we find that same location weddings make it so much easier for everyone).
* Hickory Street Annex is a recently new location for both ceremony and reception that has an amazing urban chic feel.

We also love destination weddings, which allow us to be inspired by locations we’ve never experienced before. Destination weddings also fit perfectly with the Super 8mm Full Film Coverage!

Thanks so much Dave and Corbin - looking forward to working with you!!