THE VENDOR: 

We met Mike when we decided to do a site inspection of our wedding venue (Dreams Cancun) a year before our June 18th 2011 wedding.  He was professional, yet personable and we felt very comfortable with him from the beginning.  His services came with our package, but we still wanted to do our research and “shop around”.  We made our decision to keep our videography package when we saw his website and were blown away by Katie and Jason’s highlight (also had their wedding at Dreams Cancun).  Not only that, but we also decided to upgrade our services.  Aside from choosing Mike, I think upgrading was the best decision we made.  I think the package gives you 90 mins of coverage and 30 mins of video (enough to cover getting ready, the ceremony, and maybe a small amount of the romantic portrait/after-shots).  We wanted more of our wedding covered, so we were able substitute things in our package we didn’t use for another hour of shoot time.  We wanted coverage throughout the night as well, so we added two more hours of coverage.  We also added a highlight video and upgraded to Blu-Ray and were so glad he had those options (not all videographers do).  The price was not only incredibly reasonable, but was more than we could have ever hoped for at home in The States.  We ended up having Mike and his assistant for my getting ready session, the ceremony, the after shots, and the reception.  I am also positive that Mike stayed longer than our contract stated; which we were incredibly appreciative of.  A storm and a bunch of mishaps ended up having us start our ceremony/reception late, so I was worried we would lose time, but by the time our reception was winding down, he was still there!! 

My in-laws couldn’t stop raving about how professional he was and that every time the ring bearer did something cute or the flower girl took control of the dance floor, he was there.  For myself, I just loved that I could ask him to cover something and he would be there in a flash (of course, he would finish the amazing footage he was working on first).  I had heard horror stories of other brides and their videographers/photographers taking complete control and not honoring the bride and groom's wishes.  This was not the case with Mike.  He always made me feel like I was priority and never made me feel like I was being bossy for asking. 

Communication was phenomenal.  As I said, we met him a year before our wedding, emails were responded to in a reasonable amount of time, with more frequent communication as we drew closer to the event.  Once we got to Dreams, all I had to do was leave the CD with our song choices with my wedding coordinator at the hotel.

All in all, it was the most wonderful day/night of my life, and my husband and I feel that Mike captured it perfectly and catered to us as high priority clients.  I feel he is like family now!

THE VIDEO:

Like I had stated before, I fell in love with a highlight video Mike had done before.  It had impressed me so much that I had wanted my own in addition to the full video.  After talking with Mike, I had found out that particular couple had purchased the highest available package (I think it was the platinum package), which I think had more cameras staged than my package, giving more footage options and allowed for more special effects in the video.  So he promised that he would make the best video possible with what our packaged offered and give special attention to my requests, but it may not be exactly the same effect as the video on his site.  Well, I waited for our video to come (which in my opinion was relatively quick when you figure in how much of his artistry needs to go into it).  The Highlight came first.  It was on his website and I couldn’t wait to watch it with my husband, just like we had done with Katie and Jason’s video the first time we saw his work.  I was so nervous, because after our conversation, I was expecting some things to be different than the video I fell in love with.  I was also nervous because the songs we choose had a different pace than the faster, more upbeat songs on Katie and Jason’s video and I feared I had made a mistake in choosing those songs and our video would be more traditional and slow than modern and exciting.  Well, I had absolutely nothing to worry about.  The Highlight was phenomenal!!!!  Not only was it what I was hoping for, it was better!  I loved this video more than any of his other videos (which is not saying that his other videos aren’t great, but what bride wouldn’t want to say her video is the best and truly believe it!!).   It was highly stylized like the video I had previously watched, but completely unique and nothing like any of the other videos.  It was truly our video.  And because it was a Highlight, it was only around 8 minutes long and easy to show to all our friends and family.  Everyone loved it!  I have one friend that works at the News and she told me Tony Romo’s wedding video came out the same time as ours, and in her opinion ours was ten times better!!!!  And she deals with celebrity quality all of the time being with the News.  It also made the wait for the full video easier, because I watched the Highlight almost every day!

As for the full video, when I received it we had noticed some small issues with song placement (not at all his fault, just something I assumed would be done but never I fully communicated).  I emailed Mike and he got back to me super quick.  We communicated and he got straight to work fixing and changing things to my desires and expectations (a lot of videographers/photographers won’t let the clients have their own artistic input, because they feel that they know best because they are the professionals.  But Mike understood that this was our video and that it would remind us of our special day for the rest of our lives, and he had no problem making adjustments.  Plus, he didn’t even charge us for the shipping or the Blu-Ray and backup DVD’s the second time around).  When we received our re-edited video, I was completely satisfied!  It is such a precious memoir of our wedding and after seeing our Highlight, many of our guests have requested to watch the full video when they've come to visit. 

I would recommend Mike Cantarell at Cancun Wedding Video to anyone considering a wedding in the Cancun/Rivera Maya region of Mexico (and I’m sure he would go further as well).  He is just the type of professional that would go the extra mile for his clients.  Sadly, Dreams Cancun decided to start using their own vendors for wedding video and photo, but if you are considering a Dreams Cancun wedding, you can still request him as an outside vendor.  There may be a small hotel fee, but believe me, it is completely worth it if Mike’s is the style you prefer.  He will go above and beyond for you and your wedding. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH MIKE (for your time, dedication, patience, and your wonderful craft)!!!!

See for yourself!  Our Highlight! - http://cancunweddingvideo.com/rivieramaya/chris_chris/

Mike in action!  :-)