The "Same-day Wedding Video" AKA "Same-day Edit"
/Around the year 2009 or so, a trend became prevalent: Same Day Wedding Videos. This is a concept in which a video team would record the wedding, edit it, and then the video was shown at the wedding reception. This was also around the time that couples would choose to show a video of their lives separate and then together at the reception.
I had often noticed these videos, while entertaining, would often stop or slow the pace of a reception. Just as dinner was finishing and people were ready to dance, BOOM we would stop to watch a video. It killed the momentum of the event. The way the edits were done back then were not dramatic, not fast-paced, and really were more geared for a romantic love story moment. I long held the belief that these videos were important to the couple and the family, but the majority of the guests really didn’t care. Don’t get me wrong, the guests loved the couple, but taking 15 minutes out of a party to watch a video was a bit too much.
That being said, this past year, Natalie came to me and said she wanted to do a “same day wedding video.” The traumatic flashbacks of the early 2000’s came into my mind. I was less than excited for this to happen; however, I could see this was extremely important to her (she had a sparkle in her eye when she spoke of the concept), and my client’s wish is my command. So away we went. I reached out to Alex at A. Lewis Films in Atlanta, Georgia and explained the vision. I could tell he was a bit nervous. In fact, I think he was very nervous as the time drew near. I must admit, it is an insane amount of pressure to shoot film, edit, and have everything ready to go less than 8 hours after you started. If the technology breaks, if your team gets behind…any number of things could go wrong.
The day of the wedding, I watched Alex and his team shoot film and hand it over to their editing crew who was literally stationed in the family’s laundry room during the getting-ready moments and then in a very hot 10’x10’ catering closet at the venue. The energy from his team was through the roof. Sort of like a duck on water. I could see they were calm but knew they were running like crazy to get this film done.
About 10 minutes before the airtime of the video at the reception, I walked into the hot, humid, small closet and asked them how it was going. Alex was watching the final edit of a 3-minute video. I heard the music, saw the fast pace, and realized this was going to be a pinnacle moment in the reception. Rather than help people fall asleep, it was going to hype up the crowd, elevate the energy in the room and spark excitement. I met with the DJ, and we immediately tweaked the timeline to ensure that we had a strong activity after the video (first dance) rather than the planned toasts so we could keep the momentum going. The end result WAS AMAZING! Alex also filmed the couple’s reaction as they watched the film. You can click the link below and see how meaningful and exciting this moment was. When it was over, Natalie stood up, turned around to me and said “Holy cow! That was amazing” and we whisked them off to their first dance.
I have to say, Natalie and Alex made me into a big fan of “Same Day Wedding Videos” as long as they are kept to 2 minutes and are fast paced. Find yourself the right video crew and go for it!
Natalie & Jake’s Reaction and Same Day Wedding Video: