Unveiling the Magic: Your Wedding Content Creator’s Behind-the-Scenes Process
It’s always been my mission to make weddings more transparent and easier to navigate. Because wedding content creation is still new(ish), I’ve had to explain exactly what I do on a wedding day to probably thousands of people at this point.
If you’re planning a wedding, you may ask yourself – what am I getting when I hire a wedding content creator? What kind of sorcery are they pulling to get my wedding photos and videos back to me the next day? You can always read more to see what the wedding day itself looks like! But to me, it’s even more important to share what comes after the wedding is over.
After the vows, the tears, the cake, the crazy dance floor moments (your aunt pulling moves this world hasn’t seen since 1995)…what comes next for you? I’ll break down my process for you: In the days after the wedding, I’ll answer What I deliver to my couples, When, and How.
- HOW do you deliver content as a wedding content creator?
- WHAT do I receive?
- HOW MUCH content is there, and what does it look like?
These questions (and many more) are asked of me every day, so let’s jump right into it!
The first thing you can expect is a full, unedited gallery of photos and videos, delivered the day after your wedding. This includes complete raw video of any speeches, toasts, dances, etc. The gallery is hosted online and organized by events during the day for navigability. I guarantee your gallery for 12 months via an online link and always store locally, and in the cloud, for safety.
Now, let’s really break it down!
The gallery
The full, unedited gallery of photos and videos is delivered the day after your wedding. This includes complete raw video of any speeches, toasts, surprises, etc.
We can start with a question that would seem obvious if you have photography experience, but maybe doesn’t make sense if you’ve never picked up a camera in your life.
What the heck is a raw file?
Throughout the day, I snap bunches and bursts of photos and videos! I deliver these unedited in their raw format. Raw means I’m not sifting through and trimming, scrubbing audio, slowing clips down, or removing voices. This is a key difference between your wedding content creator and a traditional wedding photographer and videographer. I’ll say it again for people in the back: I am not your wedding photographer, and I am not your wedding videographer. Each of us plays a different role – and gives you different deliverables – to match the role we play.
I do go through and remove duplicates, blurry photos, clips with inappropriate dialogue, or a clip so short or uninteresting that it isn’t worth saving. This quick pass allows me to cull the gallery down. Because listen, a raw gallery can be overwhelming precisely because it includes SO MUCH. I help narrow it down for my couples. And let’s be honest with ourselves…everyone hates blurry videos.
No matter which of my packages a couple books, they get hundreds (sometimes thousands) of files in their RAW form! Here’s an example of a raw video clip. Lighting, exposure, composition, length – it’s all unedited. I added the on-screen text at the request of the couple, but the underlying clip is directly from their gallery.
The gallery is hosted online and organized by events during the day for navigability.
I host and share my wedding galleries through Dropbox. There are dozens of file sharing services out there from WeTransfer to Google Drive to Pixieset, and the list goes on. It’s worth mentioning that it’s a red flag to me if your wedding content creator uses a shared iPhone gallery.
I use Dropbox because it doesn’t compress raw video files, and some of those video files (especially speeches and toasts) are really big! Dropbox is the established player in file sharing, so it’s my choice for hosting and sharing galleries.
LAUR’S TIP
Using AirDrop or iCloud for gallery delivery is a red flag for me. Not everyone will have access. It also means your wedding content creator is the ‘owner’ of these files and you’d better hope they manage their iCloud storage better than I do 📸
I don’t use the shared iPhone gallery precisely because it is overwhelming. Dropbox allows you to seamlessly organize files into folders. It also makes sharing your gallery with friends and family a cinch –just send the shareable link and everyone can have access. To me, Dropbox is the best balance between sharing, storage, and reliability.
Now, in the wedding gallery I create a few folders. Typically that means I create a folder for: Getting ready, portraits, cocktail hour, reception, venue, etc. Here’s an example of the file organization from a recent wedding:
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The gallery should be organized in a way that makes sense for my couple. All of our Dropbox folders are organized by time of day – and events during the day – for navigability.
I also always include a folder called Favorites. This is filled with favorite moments we captured throughout the day – the first kiss, a fun highlight from the reception, the first look between Dad and the bride–you get the idea! This is also where all of the edited videos are located, too. This is the FUN folder!
When I send a gallery, it may feel like a LOT. They are probably going to be so thankful for all of the amazing content, but won’t have the energy to dig in to the full gallery. If after the wedding you’re headed on a honeymoon, moving into a new house together, or celebrating with family, you may not have the energy to sift through a full gallery.
This is why I always tell my clients to start with the Favorites folder so they can relive those selected big moments, immediately. These are those moments that I always say can’t be planned, the ones you maybe didn’t even know happened!
Then, when you have time to actually sit down together and go through the entire gallery, you can go folder by folder and relive all the moments and parts of the day that were captured beautifully.
When I send my final post-wedding wrap up email, I include instructions on:
- Where the gallery is hosted
- How to access and use it
- How the content is organized
- Important info they need to know about sharing and downloading
Not everyone knows about file sharing – and I don’t expect my clients to know everything, either.
One example of a detail I share is about video resolution. I shoot all of my videos in 4K. Social media doesn’t support 4K videos (as of 2024). So I have to explain that if you want to post recaps online and have them look their best, you must bring the source video into an additional software, edit, and then it will look great on social media.
Whether or not you choose to do that or not is 100% your choice, but at least I explain the process so you can get the best, crispy content we all love to see shared on our socials.
I guarantee your gallery for 12 months via an online link and always store locally, and in the cloud, for redundancy.
As a wedding content creator, I have to consider storage and scale. I deliver hundreds of those behind the scenes moments – large file sizes, typically lots of videos. I work hard to keep a few layers of redundancy to guarantee I have space to host your gallery for at least a year. As mentioned, I store them for you online, as well as locally on a hard drive. I have everything backed up to my iCloud as a third layer. I always make sure there’s a plan to deal with file storage and backups, the same way your photographer or videographer has multiple SD cards and backup equipment, for example.
Keeping the gallery up for a year gives my couples time to download their gallery. Some videographers allow a few months to download your video, after which they may charge a re-upload fee. If you’re getting married and also reliably procrastinate, a long hosting period is your friend.
Once all of this is taken care of after the wedding, I’m usually several episodes into Grey’s Anatomy, and I curl up and fall asleep while content uploads all night.
And yes, I do sleep in the day after a wedding. Unless I’m booked for a double wedding weekend, in which case we start over again!
Edited videos
This also includes the edited videos includes as part of your package.
Edited videos are my favorite part of wedding content creation! If you’ve spent any time planning your wedding online, you’ve probably seen hundreds of these–maybe for inspiration, or maybe as an escape from the stress of wedding planning. They’re what you watch when you spend too much time scrolling instead of finishing whatever task you’re supposed to be completing!
Edited videos look different for everyone (more on this in a minute), but they are often photo and video montages set to music that is meaningful to you. The number of edited videos included in my packages will depend on the package, but it’s normally 1 or 2 for each 2 hours of coverage. That means someone who books my 10 hour package will receive somewhere between 6 to 8 edited videos.
I get questions about edited videos a lot, so let me clarify a few things. My edited videos are filmed and edited in vertical format. Whereas your videographer or cinematographer composes a long-form edited video in horizontal, I create short-form video content. How long are these videos? It always depends, but typically each video is anywhere from 20 to 60 seconds.
Part of my planning process is to really understand you, your partner and your wedding beforehand. Edited videos are the medium through which we tell stories about your wedding. Are there specific moments that you want to highlight, whether it’s a first look with your parents, or a first dance that you’ve been practicing for months?
And more to the point, what is your wedding day playlist? I want to make sure we incorporate music from your wedding day into the videos we create. A video that includes your first dance can include the actual song you danced to…touches like this makes your wedding content mean that much more to you.
If you’ve seen a specific trend on Tiktok or Instagram, I can direct and produce that for you. Transition videos are some of my favorite to put together; you can probably see why!!
A few things you should know about transition videos, by the way. This may seem obvious, but they take a little time to make. I advise my couples to budget time in the actual timeline to make sure we have time to capture the “before” and “after” takes we need to complete the transition. And don’t worry! I will work with your planner and photographer / videographer to make sure any content blocks are accounted for in your timeline.
The other thing to know about transitions is that I need to be on-site shooting with you earlier in the day. The ‘before’ shots are just as important as the ‘after’ and wedding hair and makeup takes time. I may need to start at 10am or 11am for an evening wedding. The good news, though, is that the longer I am on-site with you, the more content we capture!
One of my favorite video edits from a recent wedding is something I actually created during the cocktail hour. The couples was OBSESSED with Goodfellas. Like, obsessed. On the wedding day, the groom decided he wanted to include a touch of Goodfellas in their wedding. We hadn’t discussed this in our prior planning calls, but one thing you should know about me – I LOVE a good content challenge.
There’s a famous scene set in the restaurant that the couple wanted to re-create and play on the video board for their grand entrance into the reception. We had literally 5 minutes of downtime during portraits to film the entrance video for them. To raise the stakes even higher, I only had one take to capture the continuous 90 second walking scene.
I stepped away during cocktail hour for 10 minutes to edit the video. I sent it to the DJ and…well, you can see for yourself how it went.
I LIVE for moments like this – creating content in real time while on site at the wedding. It personalizes your wedding in an unmatched way.
I normally create a few edited videos when I’m on site at the wedding, but the majority of the work happens after the night wraps up. But yes, I’m editing these together the night after the wedding.
(And depending on the package, I even edit these on-site at the wedding, posting recaps in real time.) Let’s talk more about that.
The Instagram takeover
Not everyone opts into this but it’s included in all of my packages for a reason. While the takeover is optional, every client that opts in LOVES how this turns out! Here’s how this works: The goal of the IG takeover is to share carefully curated moments of the behind-the-scenes of your wedding day with friends, family, and/or community on social media. I step in and ghost post as you, freeing you up to completely ditch your phone.
I’ll let you in on a secret. You’ll be shocked at how much love and engagement you get when I take over your socials at your wedding. The amount of DMs, comments, encouraging words – you’ll see when you get your phone back that your community on social media took notice and is cheering you on from afar.
Let’s debunk some common misconceptions and questions I get about the takeover:
- 75% of couples that opt in to the takeover have their IG on private
- Most of my couples aren’t influencers and don’t want to be an influencer
- Don’t worry, I would NEVER post your dress before the ceremony
- What we share is carefully curated to show a taste of your wedding without oversharing
- I learn about you and study your social media presence (e.g. captions, fonts you use, how you frame photos) so the ghost posting truly does feel like you
Remember, when I’m not creating content at weddings on the weekend, I’m a bridal and wedding influencer. IG Story takeovers are my jam–I live for this!!
The fun extras
My shooting is documentary-style – the goal is to complement the approach of any additional photography & videography coverage you hire. All of us work together seamlessly to deliver amazing photo and video content to you. Ultimately, my job is to naturally capture and play up the FUN of your wedding.
I’ve shot weddings where we move through cocktail hour with a mic, conducting “man on the street” video interviews with your guests, asking for their best relationship advice or funniest story with the couple.
I’ve shot weddings for sneakerheads where we created content about their custom wedding shoes and sneaker collection.
I’ve shot weddings where we orchestrated an “in the moment confessional” reality TV video edit because the couple LOVES Bravo.
I’ve shot weddings that go mega viral on Tiktok and Instagram, generating millions of views, likes and new followers.
I’ve shot weddings where the couple ordered 10 disposable cameras and wanted us to make sure every single dispo photo showed the fun of their wedding reception.
I will share another secret with you: All of the above are only feasible when I bring my second shooter with me. For us to really get the most out of your wedding and create beautiful wedding content, having my husband JM with me allows us to do those guest interviews, the Bravo ITM, 10 disposable cameras, Polaroid photos, even the Goodfellas entrance. Because when I have to step away during cocktail hour to create a video, he can step in to make sure no moment is missed.
The secret to a great wedding – and great wedding content, by extension – is taking your personality and weaving it in your wedding day. I mean it when I say no two weddings are the same.
