Murray Wedding on 9/18/15 at Main Chapel Post on Joint Base Lewis - McChord
This is by far one of the most personal video projects I've ever had the pleasure of working on. When Arlene first approached me about this project about a month and a half ago, I was immediately drawn to her story. Hearing about the hurdles that she and her now husband Dennis had to overcome to find themselves together today is truly remarkable. It is a story that must be experienced either first hand (by Arlene's emotionally charged words) or by viewing this video (in which I hope I did an adequate and worthy job of conveying her and Dennis' story).
First meeting in High School, Arlene and Dennis attended prom together although they never considered themselves "boyfriend and girlfriend." When Dennis (who was 2 years older) graduated High School, he decided to join the Marines and honestly thought he would never see her again. When the letter writing stopped, they both slowly started to drift apart although they never stopped thinking about each other. When Dennis moved back home he discovered that Arlene had moved and he had no way of contacting her. Through a lot of detective work on Arlene's part (talking to a friend of a friend of a friend) they finally were able to regain contact with one another and set up a dinner date some 25 years after they had originally met. After meeting at the restaurant and spending 4 hours catching up, they decided to never leave each other again, and thus we find ourselves here today with their beautiful marriage at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
My brief words here don't do their story justice however, and I sincerely encourage you to click the link above and view their story in its entirety. I remember sitting in the hotel room with Arlene the night before her wedding after we had just wrapped filming her interview. The emotion in the room was strong and there were tears in both of our eyes. The love and admiration she has for Dennis is truly remarkable, it's a love that has stayed strong in her heart her entire life as she traveled the world never knowing if she would get the chance to see Dennis again.
Dennis shares as much commitment for Arlene as any husband I've ever seen. He wants to be a rock for her, someone she can count on when times get bad or laugh with when times are good. Hearing his story about being in the Marines and the horrors he experienced while never losing sight of his past love with Arlene is inspiring and something I hope is conveyed well in the video.
This is certainly a more personal and in depth wedding video than I normally do, mostly because of time and participation from the client. Arlene told me over and over again how important it was for her to make sure her story was captured and shared, she sees the importance of stories like this being preserved and also shared with people everywhere. We need a little inspiration in our lives sometimes, something that shows us that eventually everything will be ok. I only hope I did justice sharing her and Dennis' story with you.