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The perfect wedding video is a mix of several thing. Exceptional videography and good storytelling both play a major role in achieving a stellar outcome. Both are major wedding video editing components.
Post-production is probably the lengthiest and most crucial aspect of putting together a wedding video that captures the spirit of the event and frames the couple’s memories in the most distinctive, personalized way.
Wedding video editing projects can be approached in so many ways to achieve creative results that are perfectly tailored to the needs of the couple. In this video editing guide, we’ll check out some of the most popular approaches, techniques, and apps used to get the job done.
We’ll also outline some common mistakes, share a few examples of breathtaking videography and give you a complete list of resources you can count on during the completion of your next project.
Table of Contents
- Why Is Wedding Video Editing So Important
- DIY Wedding Video Editing vs. Hiring Professionals for the Job
- The Pros and Cons of DIY Wedding Video Editing
- The Pros and Cons of Choosing a Wedding Video Editing Company
- How Much Do Wedding Video Editing Services Cost?
- The Best Tools and Video Editing Software Products
- How Long Should Wedding Video Editing Take?
- Common & Popular Wedding Videography Styles
- A Few Tips to Make Your Wedding Videos Amazing
- Examples of Outstanding Wedding Videography Work
- DIY Wedding Video Editing or Outsourcing the Process?
Why Is Wedding Video Editing So Important
Having amazing footage to work with is only a part of the story. If that footage doesn’t get edited in a cohesive, professional way, the finalized wedding video will be a complete letdown.
The most important reasons why wedding video editing matters so much include the following:
- It helps tell a story: Without the right framing, footage is only footage. It doesn’t emphasize the most emotional moments and it doesn’t really tell a story. Editing makes the video sharper, more consistent, and detailed.It adds music, visual effects, and filters to direct attention towards the most important elements on the screen. It elevates simple footage and delivers that incredible cinematic effect.
- Making the wedding look special: Even a simple, super casual wedding ceremony will get a bit of a boost when the right video editing techniques are employed.
- Overcoming footage problems: Mistakes happen and even professional videographers can commit mistakes. Shaky footage or poor audio are a recipe for disaster.Some of these mistakes can be completely eliminated through the power of video editing. The effect of others will be minimized enough not to make them noticeable.
- Adding special touches to the footage: Captions, beautiful transitions, and the occasional special effect will be very fun to incorporate in a wedding video.These are the elements that deliver some polish and oomph to the footage, especially if they’re chosen in accordance with the couple’s preferences.
- Can create different types of videos from the same footage: Wedding video post-production can be used to get completely different results that are all derived from the special footage.Through video editing, a couple can get a cinematic wedding video, a short clip for social media publication, and even a cool teaser.The same source material is employed each time but the post-production techniques utilized result in distinctive vibes as far as the end products are concerned.
DIY Wedding Video Editing vs. Hiring Professionals for the Job
Whether you’re a videographer or someone who is getting married soon, you’re probably wondering about creating the perfect video while keeping costs limited.
Should you handle wedding video editing on your own or choose to outsource the process?
The decision to outsource wedding video editing comes with many benefits but let’s examine both choices to compare them side-by-side.
The Pros and Cons of DIY Wedding Video Editing
Doing wedding video editing on your own gives you creative freedom and you’ll enjoy all of the following benefits:
- Full creative freedom over the way the video is edited
- More affordable than choosing a professional service
- You’re free to use the editing software tools and apps you’re most comfortable with
- Lots of flexibility and room for experimentation
On the downside:
- You may lack the skills to do an excellent job
- It’s a time-consuming process
- There’s always the risk of a mediocre outcome if you’re not a post-production wiz
- Some risk of losing footage or getting it permanently altered while doing editing
The Pros and Cons of Choosing a Wedding Video Editing Company
Letting professionals handle all of the post-production will give you a good range of benefits:
- Exceptional quality
- Access to expensive and highly specialized post-production tools
- Speed of project completion
- Completely stress-free – you wouldn’t have to worry about a thing
While all this sounds great, you’ll need to account for a few potential downsides:
- More expensive than choosing DIY post-production
- Your creative vision may not be fully understood
- The quality of the outcome will be heavily dependent on the wedding video editing company’s reputation
Choosing between one option and the other is very much dependent on circumstances and personal preferences.
If you don’t have any experience with post-production, the time to learn is definitely not when trying to create an actual wedding video.
People who have some know-how, however, may want to take on the challenge (while having a backup in mind).
How Much Do Wedding Video Editing Services Cost?
We’ve already mentioned the cost of wedding video editing but the consideration is important enough to warrant some elaboration.
The cost of video editing is the one thing that makes many couples and videographers attempt to handle post-production on their own. That amount will depend on numerous things.
The length of the video, the complexity of the post-production work, and the timeframe for project completion are the most important factors.
We have already touched upon the cost of wedding video editing in this guide.
Most post-production companies have fixed packages. Each one consists of several services – from basic editing to complex, cinematic work.
According to US data gathered over the course of 2023, the average wedding videographer cost is 2,300 US dollars. That amount includes both capturing the wedding and the post-production work.
An experienced wedding video editor in the US will charge about 30 to 40 dollars per hour of work. The amount of time required to edit a wedding video will depend.
Experienced editors can complete the task in one day but up to 10, 12 days of post-production work is a reasonable timeframe for complex videos (or tons of raw footage).
One thing is certain – if you are interested in professional wedding video editing, get several quotes. This way, you’ll easily compare the packages side-by-side to identify the one that offers the best price-to-quality ratio.
The Best Tools and Video Editing Software Products
We’ve already discussed wedding video editing products – both free and professional choices that streamline post-production and contribute to wonderful results.
To expand on the topic a little bit, however, here are some additional resources that may come in handy when you’re trying to handle wedding video post-production on your own. We’ve also updated the list featured in our previous guide to give you access to some of the top tools available in 2024:
- Blender: An opensource tool, Blender is mainly created for 3D animation and video editing.It does, however, have some rather impressive editing capabilities and can be used alongside more specialized software choices like Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere.Blender allows you to do effortless cuts and splicing but more complex options like masking are also available.
- Clipchamp: A cloud-based solution, Clipchamp is a very good choice for the creation of teasers or online videos.It runs in your browser so that you don’t have to download anything. It also has excellent video compression capabilities, giving you good quality digital clips that don’t take up a lot of space.
- Canva: Canva has a free video editor and movie maker that’s a stellar choice for absolute newbies in post-production.Customizable video themes and extensive visual libraries add even more value to the tool.
- Lightworks: Did you know that Lightworks has been used for the creation of blockbusters like Pulp Fiction and The Wolf of Wall Street?It has a free version, as well as two premium plans. Most wedding video editors, however, find the free version more than sufficient for their post-production needs.Lightworks allows the input of most multimedia formats. It has HD capabilities, wonderful preview effects, direct export to social media, instant autosave, and a host of other useful features.
- Motion Array: Motion Array isn’t a video editing tool but rather a royalty-free asset marketplace.It’s a site you should bookmark in order to get access to video templates, presets, motion graphics, footage, music, and audio files.
- Sprout Video: A video hosting service like Sprout Video can make many aspects of post-production and wedding video creation much easier.
- Music for Makers: Here’s another catalog that can make post-production so much easier.Music for Makers gives you access to a ton of amazing audio you can use in your clips, adding value and boosting the emotional appeal of your creations.
Obviously, that’s a small selection and you can enjoy a host of alternative wedding video editing tools.
The selection should be based on your budget and your experience level.
We recommend starting with one core software product (here’s a comparison of the two most prominent choices) and getting a couple of additional apps that can help with specific aspects of post-production.
How Long Should Wedding Video Editing Take?
You’re now equipped with the right tools and you’re ready to start incorporating wedding video editing services in your packages.
To keep clients happy, however, you will need to determine reasonable timeframes for project completion.
Knowing exactly how long video editing is going to take you will allow for the setting of realistic deadlines.
Giving your clients finalized products within the agreed timeframe is one of the prerequisites for doing a stellar job and having a tremendously satisfied bride and groom.
So, what’s reasonable when it comes to post-production and how should you plan for it?
Various factors will determine the amount of time required to complete wedding video pos-production. A few of the most important ones include:
- The agreed-upon style and the length of the final video
- The amount of footage you’ll need to go through
- Your current workload
- The quality of the wedding video footage and the need for making corrections
- The type of software you’re using for post-production
- The hardware you’re using (a new, powerful computer is an absolute must-have)
- Your experience level
Wedding video editing can take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of weeks for the most complex projects.
Most videographers give their clients a delivery timeframe of four to 12 weeks from the date of the wedding.
While that may seem like a lot of time, it’s essential to do a good job instead of rushing through the project to produce quicker results.
You may want to experiment with a couple of projects at first to find out how long editing takes you.
The amount of time will be reduced as you become more skilled and experienced.
Still, you can use this experiment to come up with a general guideline that will be outlined in the contract signed with clients.
When the alternative approach is the best one
We recommend considering an alternative to doing wedding video editing on your own.
The decision to outsource wedding video editing comes with many benefits.
You’ll be free to dedicate more time to creating amazing footage for your clients.
Also, you’ll get faster results and you’ll get to take on a bigger number of projects.
So, if post-production isn’t your forte, do consider a wedding video editing service.
Common & Popular Wedding Videography Styles
Thinking about enhancing your video editing skillset? Familiarizing yourself with the following popular styles is a good idea.
Most clients will be interested in one of these options, which is why you should be capable of offering those services.
Cinematic Wedding Video
The term refers to having a movie-like effect in the wedding video. Cinematic clips are emotional and sometimes even dramatic.
The aim is to tell a story through the footage creation and the post-production choices you make.
Cinematic wedding videos are probably the most popular choice among couples and something you should most definitely feature within your portfolio.
Documentary Style Wedding Videos
A documentary-style wedding video is the one that will probably necessitate the least editing if you have quality footage.
The aim of this style is to give a news-like rendition of events. The documentary allows the wedding elements to speak for themselves without being heavily reliant on editing and effects.
This style is probably as popular as cinematic wedding videos and a lot of the work you do will fall under the category.
Vintage Wedding Videos
To get that retro effect, you may have to film the wedding in a particular way. Filters and special effects will also be required during post-production for the most convincing vintage clip to be created.
Vintage wedding videos could be black and white or they may be colored and having some “dated” feel to the tones and the quality of the footage.
These are a few of the most popular choices.
Some couples could also be looking for futuristic and special effect videos, live video streaming, or social media-ready wedding clips.
We recommend mastering some of the top trends, after which you can begin expanding your portfolio.
Also, keep in mind that wedding video trends change all the time. The styles that are prominent now could be forgotten in a couple of years.
Keep an eye on what’s modern and what couples seem to be demanding now.
If you sense the timelessness and evergreen potential of a certain style, you may want to consider an expansion of your portfolio.
A Few Tips to Make Your Wedding Videos Amazing
Wedding video editing is a meticulous process that involves multiple steps.
We’ve highlighted the most important ones in this quick editing guide and we’ve also used our experience to highlight the typical post-production mistakes that can ruin an otherwise spectacular video.
These two guides will give you a fairly good idea about what you need to do in order to master post-production.
To help you get even better results, we’ve come up with a list of few additional tips that can enhance footage and increase customer satisfaction in the end:
- Start with a video editing plan: For many videographers, getting organized and combing through hours of footage is the most challenging aspect of post-production.A video editing plan can simplify those processes and help you save a lot of time.Which moments do you want to include in the clip? What parts of the footage can you discard? Will you need special effects, filters, animations, music? How long will the end product be?
Does the couple have any special requirements?
These are the questions you’ll need to answer before you start editing. Spending a bit of time on this preliminary phase can make things much faster later on.
- Determine how you’re going to incorporate a certain style in the video: It’s very important for you to know what elements are representative of each style clients may request.A familiarity with those elements will help for the creation of an authentic video that addresses all of the brief essentials.
- Use a variety of shots: When combing through the footage, you shouldn’t be looking solely for relevance.A variety of shots is needed to make the wedding video interesting and visually spectacular. Use different angles, close-ups, and pans.Creating visual interest this way is much more impactful than introducing too many filters or special effects.
- Pay attention to audio: Audio quality is as important as bright and crystal-clear footage.Poor audio can spoil the best of clips.We’ve talked about recording amazing audio and we also have some information for you on the selection of the best music and audio tracks.
- Don’t overdo the drama: Certain effects can be used to highlight important moment.The slow motion effect is one example of such a tool you can incorporate in your clips.If you’re going to be using such effects, however, you need to be strategic.Overdoing it will make the video tacky and will take away from the emotional charge of those moments you’d like to highlight.
- Take your time: We’ve mentioned this one already but it’s so important that we’re going to repeat the tip.Take your time going through the footage, choosing the best moments, and getting everything together.It’s much better to be slow and meticulous in your approach and to surpass client expectations than to rush and do a mediocre job.
- Polish, edit and refine: When everything else is done, take some more time to polish, edit and refine the video.Pay attention to the details. Make sure the footage is cohesive and stylistically unified.There should be no sharp changes in color schemes, brightness or audio level.These finishing touches are the ones that take a regular wedding video to another dimension.
Doing all of that may seem impossible at first but with time and experience, you’ll come up with your own post-production workflow.
The wedding video editing software you choose will allow for the automation of some tasks, especially the most tedious and repetitive ones.
The more you work, the better idea you’ll get of the essential steps, the elements you can automate, and the ones to focus all of your creative potential on.
Examples of Outstanding Wedding Videography Work
To wrap it all up, we need to feature a few examples of outstanding wedding video post-production.
Going through these clips will give you a better idea about the most impactful elements and techniques that wedding video professionals rely the most on.
Let’s check out a few amazing wedding videos and discuss the things that make them so spectacular:
Wedding Teaser
A masterful teaser can be difficult to create because you have to tell an entire story in a few minutes (most teasers are shorter than two minutes in length).
Here’s an example of incredible storytelling condensed in approximately one minute.
The video captures the spirit of the event and it also makes use of rapid transitions to create visual interest.
Dramatic music has also been chosen to build up anticipation and get the audience curious about what’s going to happen next.
Wedding Highlights
This format highlights the most important moments to give the viewer a comprehensively captured event.
Getting a lot of information in 10 to 20 minutes and presenting the different parts of the wedding in quick succession, however, can be challenging.
This example gives beautiful details, lovely music, and lots of personality to keep the viewer engaged.
Drone footage is also incorporated to make the shots and angles more diversified.
The videographer doesn’t linger on one part of the wedding too long, rather, the transition from bit to bit is smooth and quick.
Feature Film
Feature films give you the whole shebang. They are very long – 20 minutes to more than an hour.
They document all parts of the wedding. The problem with these films is that they can get boring after the first five to 10 minutes.
The videographer and editor who worked on this feature film did a stellar job. Lots of interesting angles and close-ups are used to break up the footage and create points of visual interest.
The background music also changes from slow and sensual during the most touching beats to upbeat in order to keep things moving along.
When appropriate, actual audio from the wedding (like the vows) is incorporated and the transitions are really smooth for a seamless finish.
Pre-Wedding Video
This example may seem like a bit too much with its slow motion shots and special effects but it present a completely different creative vision.
When executed correctly, this vision can work well and deliver a fairytale-like quality.
Somewhat muted tones and light also contribute to the otherworldly effect to make the pre-wedding video so captivating.
Ethnic Wedding Video
Ethnic and cultural weddings can be so colorful and rich that a minimalist approach towards putting together the film is the one that will work best.
This wedding film highlights the beauty of traditions in a very respectful way.
The music nods to traditional while being modern an adding some freshness to the final outcome. Slow motion is used in the right spots to create a more dramatic effect.
Black and White Wedding Video
Black and white films put so much focus on details that both the captured footage and the post-production have to be immaculate.
This classic film points attention to the most important aspects of the wedding – the emotions and the amazing moments that the couple experienced on their special day.
Light, contrast, and music are used to set the tone and make the film both impactful and stylish.
Choosing the Wedding Video Editing Approach That Makes the Most Sense
Before finalizing this guide, we need to discuss DIY wedding video editing and outsourcing one more time.
Whether you’re a happy couple about to get married or a wedding videographer, you’re probably wondering about how to tackle post-production.
Doig it yourself can save a lot of time. If you’re not an absolute master and a post-production prodigy, however, you’ll end up experiencing some problems. Having subpar results is one of the possibilities.
On the other hand, you can create a superior video but you’ll end up dedicating way too much time to it.
We are not saying that one approach is better than the other. The choice you make depends on your current circumstances.
If you don’t have a lot of experience but would like to give your clients the best results, choosing a wedding video editing company makes the most sense. The same applies to videographers who are skilled at post-production but who have too many projects to tackle at the same time.
Sometimes, the best approach will involve doing some post-production on your own while outsourcing other projects.
If, for example, you get a client who has a very specific idea about what they want and the post-production necessitates lots of technical skills you don’t have, outsourcing will make sense.
To make the most of that opportunity, you’ll also need to find the right post-production partner.
Taking some time to assess the services offered by different studios is the only way to find an outsourcing professional whose creative vision aligns with yours.
Asking lots of questions and being very specific in your project briefs will also determine your satisfaction with the outcome.
As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when doing wedding video editing or choosing a partner for such a project.
Don’t be afraid of working on your skillset and learning new things. Also, experiment with professional partnerships.
Having a reliable studio to outsource post-production to can help you grow your business, take on more projects, and ensure 100 percent client satisfaction every single time.
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Maria Bryce
Videographer & editor
Professional Videographer. I am in love with romantic fairytales and wedding video storytelling.
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