Wedding Video Styles to Add to Your Portfolio

Wedding videos today aren’t what they used to be. Current videos don’t simply capture the moment. Consequently, they are more dramatic. They are more cinematic. They are more spectacular. As a result, you’re no longer watching the event as it happened. You are seeing and remembering the event as better than what was reality.

You want to give your clients this feeling; However, everyone likes something different. You need to have a variety of options in your portfolio for your clients to choose from.

What wedding film options are out there?

I’ve viewed over a dozen wedding video business’ websites and found that most businesses offer choices between five styles of wedding videos or packages that contain a combination of them. The most recognized five styles for wedding videos are:

1. The teaser
2. The highlight / cinematic short film
3. The feature film
4. The love story
5. The documentary.  

Social media is important now.

Currently, many people are concerned with how their wedding will look on social media platforms. What are the current most popular social media platforms?

1. Facebook
2. Instagram
3. YouTube
4. Snapchat
5. Vimeo
6. Twitter

The constantly changing standards for video formats and aspect ratios can be a challenge for a video editor. The most recent change I have seen was as recent as March, 2019. The following link is the best reference I have found to help keep up with the ever-changing formats of social media. The creator of this page has also included a Google Docs spreadsheet he constantly updates.

Some companies will offer a quick turnaround of a 60 second Instagram Teaser of the wedding video to post on Instagram within two weeks of the event.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BusQN2IFTl9/

Others will offer the unusual service of a live-stream of your wedding online as it’s happening. Many believe this is a good option for family members and friends that want to be there, but cannot attend.

The highlight (Cinematic short film)

The highlight, AKA the cinematic short film, is a 3-5 minute video that captures the emotions of the day in a quick compact form. The clips are often short and not necessarily in chronological order. Often they’re described as looking like a cinematic trailer for a feature film.

The Feature film (Cinematic film)

The feature (cinematic) film is the longer version of the short film, but with room for more material.  Generally, these videos end up being roughly 10-12 minutes in length, but can be longer.  I like creating the feature film wedding videos most for the reason that I get to be creative with the video. Certainly I can explore creativity in the highlights, but in a feature I have the time to include longer shots. As a result, I feel the longer shots give me to opportunity to build up an emotional story.

The Love Story

The love story contains spliced together interviews from the bride and groom. They talk about how they met, fell in love, and what they still love most about each other.  Often, this video is created before the wedding and used as a show piece at the wedding reception.  Likewise, I often see others incorporate the storytelling into the highlight or feature film videos.

The Documentary

The documentary is a wedding video that captures every detail of the event in raw footage. There’s usually two or three cameras and audio recorders. As a result, the big part of editing the documentary videos is syncing the video and audio together. The editor will use the best camera angles and audio tracks to splice together a full 30 – 60 min wedding video.

The SME’s (Same Day Edits)

Some companies offer same-day edits of the wedding to play at the end of the wedding reception. This means there’s an editor on site editing together the highlight wedding video. Hence, making it possible for the guests to enjoy.

Conclusion

Unlike 20 years ago, wedding videographers and editors cannot provide a simple documentary style wedding video with a quick five minute highlight at the end.  In this age of non-linear editing, digital technology and social media, the brides and grooms of today want their wedding to look like something out of a movie, and they want everyone to see it.