DIY Wedding Entertainment: Create Your Own Wedding Slideshow With Movie Clips

Let’s face it, the world of wedding-based entertainment is filled with a ton of options, some might actually say that there are too many. They range from DJs and bands to dance instructors and audio/video specialists. The only thing that seems to be consistent among these many options is their hefty prices.

In the last 5+ years, wedding budgets have begun to drop when it comes to your typical wedding. Income limitations or the current economic environment had made it difficult to realize the dream wedding outside of a reality show script. Because of this fact, brides and grooms have started realizing one important aspect of their special day: creativity. If they can’t book their favorite band, load in the perfect DJ or serve the fresh lobster, they have opted to add in certain style elements and personalization that have turned out not only making the event even that much more unique, but also keeping the overall costs well within reason.

One of the most debated aspects of your typical wedding is the dreaded wedding slideshow. Why do I call it dreaded? One word: boring. Nothing stops a party dead cold than the typical couples slideshow. A string of 100+ pictures of the bride and groom dating, traveling or frolicking. That’s right I said frolicking. Now there is definitely something to be said of the short string of childhood pictures towards the beginning These pictures usually border on entertaining, but they never end up lasting long enough. The main body of the presentation in one star wipe and one dissolve into another forcing that much needed extra trip to the bar by your average wedding guest. And we wonder why Aunt Sylvia is already two shots to the wind just minutes before the tossing of the bouquet.

The good news is for those out there ready and willing to make just one extra step in producing something quite memorable, there are now options. Thanks to the ease of current technology and some simple digital know-how even the most basic creative type can sit and create a masterpiece that will be talked about for years to come. In fact, some people out there already have some of the digital skills necessary for what needs to happen.

STEP ONE: Figure out your style

Figure out what you think you want. It could be a series of clips from your favorite TV show, a clip from a live concert or footage from your home movies. Take a moment and decipher what successfully describes you and your future spouse.

STEP TWO: Go out and get it

There are currently a ton of software applications out there that can successfully copy anything on the internet. Anything. From that video montage on YouTube to the DVD in your closet. I specifically like ishowuhd, an app that rips any DVD or even YouTube clips right off the playback from your desktop.

STEP THREE: Arrange the story

Create your story. Start with youth clips from kids movies, grab some boy meets girl scenes, then just line up some clips of actual famous weddings from feature length films. Don’t worry there a ton of those.

STEP FOUR: Put it together

All you have to do is use the basic software you already have on your computer. It could be wondershare, iMovie or camtasia. It’s easier than you think and if you don’t have the time just let that nifty nephew make your wedding gift something useful.

If you don’t have the time or energy to take anything like this on just tap into some website services that have it already done for you. My favorite: gigflixstudio.com.

Whatever you decide, just know one thing, people like to be entertained and people like to have fun so make it happen with a little creativity and some good old fashioned elbow grease.

A Brief History of Home Entertainment

The concept of home entertainment and indoor recreational activities changed when home electronics invaded our lives. One can say that access to numerous electronic products at home has revolutionized the idea of what constitutes a complete home entertainment. Nowadays, anyone can have immediate access to every kind of electronic entertainment via different media within the comforts of their homes. They can have their choice of entertainment which may range from the latest DVD players, radios to the wireless internet connection which offers them the convenience of mobility. Advancement in technology has gifted us with loads of home entertainment options ranging from radio, television, CD, DVD players, home theatre system, games consoles and so on.Music has always been one of the most preferred leisure activities. It found its way into our home through the long playing discs and the gramophone. Of course with the coming of radio a decade later made music a more widespread home entertainment. Before the advent of the CD or DVD player, the radio was the most popular home entertainment system available. Though there were some juke boxes available in the local pubs or salons where one could listen to a song of their choice at home there was only the radio. With radio, the choice of listening was however quite limited as people had to listen to the songs that the radio channels would play, even though some of the stations would at times play the selected numbers based on listeners’ requests. But there were no complaints as there wasn’t anything better for decades to come.Initially, when television had not yet become an everyday part of our lives, the visual entertainment strictly meant those theatres which had large screens to view a movie. Things changed dramatically with the invention of the television in the initial phase of the 1950s. The television was a complete wonder in the days when it was discovered. People did not have to restrict themselves anymore to music as their only entertainment at home. They could actually watch a full length movie in the comfort of their own home.Not only movies, this small wonder box started entertaining people with more and more new ideas, programs and techniques. Television has been considered as one of the pioneers in the history of home visual entertainment. Of course it provided more than just entertainment. With news and special documentaries, TV soon became the most important source of amusement. The long playing discs were also a part of home entertainment which was an early discovery. While radios, LPs and television made a permanent place in everyone’s home, the quality of sound in those times essentially required tremendous development.Good sound systems and speakers stared to develop in the mid 1970s. Various technologies were discovered to enhance the quality of sound. And with the music genres like rock, pop and discos coming into being, there was a specific and urgent requirement for good quality sound systems. Thus the electronic giants did not stop producing recorders and put more emphasis on amplifying and equalizing the sound to give it a new dimension.Good quality sound systems were specially designed and created for homes which produced outstanding music. Woofers and subwoofers along with various amplifiers equalizers and multi channel audio were being used to produce crisp stereophonic sounds.However, this concept took a back seat when CD and DVD players came into existence. During the end of the ’70s and early ’80s some of the electronic giants worked in collaboration to develop the world’s first Compact Disc system. Experts proved that this CD player was quite compact and lightweight with its unique durability. For music lovers it was truly a boon. At the same time this CD system opened a new window in the audio equipment industry.Compact discs were more durable than any other long playing discs or tapes. Thus the CDs removed all other music disc and tapes from the market and held prominent position. The 80s and early 90s saw a vast improvement in the technology of compact disc systems. It became very popular with people because of the crystal clear sound it produced and was affordable. These CDs not only stored music, it was versatile enough to store movies, data, pictures or even software.Along with CDs a much improved device which actually revolutionized and changed the entire system of home entertainment is the DVD or digital versatile discs. These discs are powerful and large enough to hold two movies in one. It stores data digitally and is more durable. The scratch proof technology of the DVD players also makes the DVDs last a long time. Both music and movie buffs felt delighted when the DVD player came into the market. Recent survey statistics reveal that the DVD player is the most successful product of home entertainment. It was introduced in the year 1997 and has reached great heights of success ever since.Nowadays, people can have the same effect of a movie theatre in their homes. With the latest DVD players, LCD screens and the sound systems with woofers, sub woofers and multi channel audio systems, anyone can have a fantastic home entertainment system with high quality sound and spectacular visual effects. The plasma and LCD screens are high resolution televisions which started to develop in the latter half of the 1990s and these sleek televisions enabled the viewers to experience digital sound and vision with fantastic picture quality and various advanced features.With the invention of DVDs and a major development in the visual media such as Plasma and Liquid Crystal Display or LCD in the late 90s gave home entertainment its latest technical dimension. With it, the meaning of home entertainment changed significantly with more and more people installing the home theatre systems with newest gadgets and technologies.