When it comes to planning a wedding, there are quite a few things that you can do, as a bride and groom, to help off-set some of the (enormous) cost.
In case you didn’t realize: weddings are tremendously expensive to host and so choosing a few DIY projects to help reduce that cost can really help in the long-run. Creating your own invitations (instead of having custom stationary imagined), creating your own signage, DIY favors, DIY centerpieces – the list goes on and on.
Depending on your personal level of expertise and how much time you have to dedicate to these projects will determine on what you decide to take on.
Which brings us to a question: can you DIY your Wedding Day Content Creation?
Could you simply ask your bridesmaids (or maybe some close friends) to be your Wedding Content Creator instead of hiring one?
(Not sure what a Wedding Day Content Creator is? I outline precisely what one does and specializes in HERE!)
To be blunt, the answer is: SURE.
Sure! You can ask your bridesmaids to be your Wedding Day Content Creators!
It will save you money (cha-ching!)
And there is a level of familiarity that having them present will deliver. After all: if they are in your bridal party, they are your best and closest friends, which allows you to be more comfortable with them around.
HOWEVER, in asking your bridesmaids to be your Wedding Day Content Creators, you do run several RISKS:
1. Bridesmaids already have a job to do on the wedding day: to help and support the bride.
Trust me, there are a million tiny tasks that need done on a wedding day. And I promise, no matter how organized or well-thought out your plans are, there will still be a million tiny tasks that need done on your wedding day. It’s just the nature of a wedding day.
And while bridesmaids are beautiful and wonderful pillars of support – standing at the altar beside their friend – they’re also a bride’s go-to number-one helper.
So, what happens if they get caught up in running your seating chart over to the reception (because it got forgotten the night before), doing their own hair and makeup, steaming your veil, helping to button your Mom’s dress, and answering the random questions that your Aunt has?
The idea of asking your bridesmaids, who’s hands are already quite full, to take on an additional (HUGE) role can be quite overwhelming and stressful.
2. Do your bridesmaids know how to take a good photo and/or video?
I have a sweet, well-meaning friend whom I love – but I just know: you NEVER hand her the phone and ask her to take a photo.
It’s amazing to me that in today’s day-and-age, when EVERYONE has an amazing camera in their back pocket at all times – that there are STILL people out there who cannot take a photo or video to save their lives. How is that even possible?!
I’ve been to quite a few weddings (duh), and I am (frankly) always SHOCKED when I walk around and see people taking photos and videos.
To be blunt: most of the time, they are just bad.
Listen: the general public just does not know how to take a good photo or video.
They don’t understand the settings (even the very “automatic” settings that a phone provides). They don’t understand how to frame things in a pleasing way. They try to take video, but are bouncing around so much that the footage ends up worse than a Michael Bay movie. It’s just bananas.
So, your bridesmaids may have the best of intentions, but if they fall into the “can’t take a photo or video to save their lives” category – nothing about your magical wedding day is going to solve that problem and the footage that they take for you will be worthless.
3. What if your bridesmaids miss something?
Would it ruin your friendship?
Is it worth potentially losing a dear friend over?
Asking your bridesmaids to be your Wedding Day Content Creators is a MASSIVE job. (And you’ve already asked them to take on the massive job of being your bridesmaids.)
When asking your bridesmaids to be your DIY Content Creators for the day, there are no guarantees that key moments will be captured. Most people only attend a handful of weddings in their entire lives, so it is extremely likely that your bridesmaids (armed with the best of intentions) miss special moments simply because they did not anticipate them.
To build on that: do your bridesmaids have a plan for how they will deliver the footage they take to you – or will you have to beg for that footage after the wedding is over (which can be quite awkward).
Hire A Professional Wedding Day Content Creator
Newsflash: wedding professionals have been to hundreds of weddings and we can anticipate so many of the special moments on a wedding day. We’re not perfect, but we’ve seen a lot, so we can anticipate a lot.
FURTHER: wedding professionals have plans and systems in place. We ask questions leading up to the big day to arm us in what to expect. Wedding days have a mind of their own and the unexpected is expected, but we have worked with the beast so many times that we know how to tame it.
Hiring a professional Wedding Day Content Creator ensures that they are dedicated to one and only one task: capturing your memories.
A professional Wedding Day Content Creator is prepared and knowledgeable about how their gear works, what settings to use, and how to frame up beautiful moments.
A professional Wedding Day Content Creator has enough weddings under their belt that they can and will anticipate the pivotal, memorable moments.
No friendships are ruined and there are no hard feelings – because a professional Wedding Day Content Creator is there to do a singular job.
If you know you want the raw, behind-the-scenes content that a Wedding Day Content Creator provides – hire a professional.
My best advice to anyone who is considering DIYing their Wedding Day Content Creation (or photography or videography) is DON’T.
These are your memories – the only things you’ll walk away from your day with.
Your cake gets eaten, your flowers die, your dress will get dirty.
But the memories that your Wedding Content Creator captures live on forever.
Release your friends and bridesmaids to be fully present on your wedding day.
That way they can help you to the best of their ability and then have FUN enjoying celebrating with you!
