How to Make Your Wedding Film Special

I’m a wedding videographer in Tulsa, Oklahoma who’s shot wedding venues for years now. I’ve seen so many good wedding videos. But I’ve also seen videos that ended up being boring, uninspired, and just plain bland. The following tips will help you capture the most important moments on your wedding day and help you have an amazing wedding film that lets you relive one of your most memorable moments forever.

1. Have a First Look

According to a study done by, The Knot, approximately 53% of couples choose to have a traditional ceremony where the groom doesn’t see the bride until she walks down the aisle. Unfortunately, sometimes this route doesn’t allow ample time for the photographer and videographer to capture all of a couple’s candid and special moments. The pictures and video are often rushed, and moments are missed.

First looks were created to solve this problem. It allows couples to have way more time to take pictures and capture video, which means you’ll have more pictures and a wedding film that captures all those little moments. First looks are also very intimate and create a special space for the bride and groom to have a moment where they see each other for the first time. And since first looks are usually more of an intimate option, your videographer will be able to set up scenarios where your shots will look more cinematic rather than having a static shot behind a group of people.

2. Incorporate Items from Shared Interests/Activities

A wonderful way to share your love story is by incorporating items from your shared interests to show what you love doing together and how happy you are while doing them. A lot of times shared interests are what bring a couple together in the first place. Think about those things you might be able to include in your portrait section of your wedding or engagement session. Here are some ideas:

• A pet

• Item from a favorite movie like a Wizarding World Wand or Light Saber

• Boxing/Workout Gloves if you met in a gym

• Ball from the sport you both play or watch together

Your videographer should be able to use any of the props you bring to show how much you two love sharing time together.

3. Write Your Own Vows

According to Orlando Magazine, only 44% of couples write their own vows. While I am sure that not writing your own vows can be more of a stress-free approach, it doesn’t give the personalization and intimacy that writing your own vows do. Writing your own vows allows you to personalize your ceremony and to have a special reminder of why you’re getting married in the first place. Having your own vows also adds a unique and romantic moment that will be in your wedding film forever.

When a videographer is editing your wedding film, he or she is going to take all the touching and memorable sound bites from the ceremony and play that throughout the entire film. Think about 20 years from now when you look back at your film and hear words that you actually wrote specifically from your heart to your partner and what they wrote to you. Those special words are just going to hit different.

4. Make Sure Toast Speeches are prepared in advance

Wedding toasts and speeches are another way of ensuring a great wedding film. Remember, your videographer will need as much good footage as he can get so he can put it into your video and so you have access to those memories forever. I’ve been to a fair share of weddings where the Bestman, Maid of Honor or even the Father of the Bride just got up in front of everyone, tapped on the mic during dinner, instructed everyone to listen up, then proceeded to stutter and not know what to say for 5 minutes. I know speeches can be intimidating and so therefore making sure your bridal party and family prepare in advance can help with that.

I would suggest talking to all your wedding party that plan to give toasts and telling them to write or memorize their speeches. They can even write down bullet points to help them stay on track at the very least. Prepared speeches are a lot better than random thoughts from a person who’s probably had a few drinks.