How to DIY your Wedding Video
We all know that when you are planning your wedding, often it’s the videographer that gets the cut. Photography is deemed more important, when really…having a video of your wedding to reflect on is pretty damn special. For me, I knew I wanted to achieve it because I really wanted something to show my kids. I would have loved the opportunity to see my own parents get married, so I was determined to be able to give that to my children. Having a video of my day was always going to happen, but I had also come to the conclusion that I just couldn’t justify the cost of getting it done professionally.
So I got thinking. What if I asked a whole lot of people to capture mini moments throughout the day for me, then edit it myself? Surely it couldn’t be too difficult? Well, I did it, and if I do say myself, the end result was beautiful. A professionally perfectly edited video of our day? Not exactly. A funny, unique and very personal overview of our day? 100%.
Creating my own wedding video was one of the best decisions I made for our wedding, so today, I thought I would share exactly how I achieved it!
LET’S GET STARTED
Your aim: To capture as much footage as possible, in short clips (less than 30 seconds).
How to do it: Communicate your plan! Let your friends and family know that you are making your own wedding video, and that you would love their help capturing moments from the day. You could even send an email out the week before the wedding – let them know you have asked specific people to capture the important moments, but would love their help capturing the other elements.
You’ll be amazed at how much everyone jumps on board with the challenge!
For example, it could be:
- Panning shots across the venue while your guests enjoy canapes
- Panning shots of the scenery
- Funny interviews
- Candid clips of the bridesmaids and groomsmen getting ready
- Guests arriving
- Guests expressions as they listen to your vows
- Candid clips of your guests mingling
- Your musician singing
…you get the idea. You just want loads of beautiful little clips that can help pad out all the big moments of the day. It will literally take them 15 seconds to record, and they can easily film while they are enjoying a champagne.
Next, you need to make a list of the big moments you want to include.
Then, you need to choose your most responsible friends.
In the week leading up to the wedding, call in some favours. Allocate one moment to each friend, and ask for them to send it to you after the wedding.
TIP – Don’t do this in a group message. Make it a one on one conversation where the person acknowledges the request because you would hate for them to miss the moment simply because they didn’t check Whatsapp that week.
On the day.
If you’re worried your friends might feel embarrassed filming during the ceremony, just get your celebrant to explain that you have asked certain friends to film your day. Simple!
After the big day.
Ask everyone to send you their clips. You’ll find that 30 second clips are far easier to send than a full 3 minute video, so it’s really important to keep them short. From there, you simply use an app like Inshot or Videoleap to pull your video together! Choose your own backing music, trim clips, use dissolve transition in between clips, and slowly but surely you’ll find you have created a beautiful video of your day.
And that’s it! Once you’re happy with your video, upload it to Vimeo (bearing in mind it might take a few hours to upload), then share the link with your loved ones.
On Reflection:
What I loved the most about creating my video was how my guests took on the challenge, which in turn, meant they filmed footage my videographer simply wouldn’t have been able to capture. The funny interviews (because people felt comfortable opening up with the friend behind the camera), the dance floor, the after party…it really is a true representation of our day and the fun we had.
And yes…I showed my children, and it was totally worth the effort. I was in tears watching their reaction as they saw their mummy walking down the aisle to meet their dad, it really is such an incredible moment to be able to share with them.
If you are willing to put in the time in effort, I highly recommend! Any questions? Pop them in the comments below or feel free to start a discussion in the OYD Facebook Group.