What to Expect When You Hire A Wedding Day Content Creator

When it comes to wedding days – most people have a set of preconceived notions centered around their vendors and what they expect from them:
Couples expect their DJ to be professional, to smoothly emcee the evening (without mispronouncing anyone’s names), and to pack the dance floor.
Couples expect the florist to deliver stunning, fresh flowers, that look exactly like what was envisioned, that last all day.
Couples expect their caterer to provide delicious, hot, fresh, food, served promptly.
Couples expect their photographer to be efficient, professional, friendly and helpful, and deliver their finished photos on time.

These are all vendors that have been a part of wedding days forever – these expectations are “baked into the cake” and normal.

But what about the newest wedding vendor to step onto the wedding scene: Wedding Day Content Creators. What expectations can a bride and groom have around hiring one of them?

I cannot speak for everyone, but I can provide some insight into what you can expect from hiring ME as your Wedding Day Content Creator!

FIRST STEPS:

As with every professional wedding vendor you hire, my process kicks off with an inquiry, questions answered, a signed contract, and a non-refundable retainer. Those last two items officially put your wedding on my calendar and I block it off for you with a whole roll of red tape – your wedding date is reserved for you and I don’t book any other events on your day.

LESS THAN 30 DAYS BEFORE YOUR WEDDING

We will schedule a time to hop on the phone with each other less than 30 days before your wedding day to chat through logistics. We’ll go over the details and timeline of your wedding day, we’ll talk through precisely what content you’d like created (if there are specific pieces of short-form content you want, we’ll nail that down during this call), and I’ll answer all of your questions.

While I’m always available to chat at any point during the wedding planning process, this particular call sets the ball rolling for an amazing wedding day!

WEEK OF YOUR WEDDING:

I love reaching out to the vendors I’ll be working with on a wedding day about a week before the celebration. This not only allows me to introduce myself, explain what I’ll be doing, and offer a space for them to ask me any questions – but removes that “surprise!” factor on a wedding day when I walk into the room. I never want to startle anyone (especially your photographer and videographer) by strolling into the bridal suite with my iPhone and gimble. Sending out an introduction message at the beginning of the week puts us all on the same page and set us up for an incredible day of working together (and boy, will we be working closely together!)

DAY OF YOUR WEDDING:

I arrive and get to work! My job is to capture the behind-the-scenes moments and raw memories of the day. If we’ve pre-arranged specific pieces of short-form content, I’ve already worked that into your timeline with your wedding coordinator and we’ll tackle those throughout the day. Otherwise, my goal is to work alongside your photographer and videographer – I NEVER want to get into their way!

This is where my experience as a wedding photographer comes into play. Sure, I can direct and pose people and take the lead, but I also know how to navigate wedding day etiquette, how to handle family drama, and how to stick to (or get back on track of) your timeline. I know when to step in and be a bit more assertive, but also when to stand back and capture things as they unfold. It’s a fine line to walk, but with 15-years of wedding day experience, I believe I’m fully equipped to walk that line!

NIGHT OF YOUR WEDDING:

After leaving your reception, I come home (or back to my hotel) and immediately begin backing up all of your videos and photos. As soon as everything is on my computer, I quickly make sure that all of your files are in order, I re-name your files so they’re cleanly and clearly labeled, I sort your videos into a folder and your photos into a folder, and then I set everything up to upload to Dropbox. Depending on how many videos I took (and the speed of the internet I’m using – hotel internet is drastically slower than my home internet), the process of uploading everything to Dropbox can easily take 10-12+ hours.

MORNING AFTER YOUR WEDDING:

As soon as I wake up the morning after your wedding, I’m back over to my computer to double-check that everything uploaded overnight the way it should. I confirm that the number of files I uploaded are in fact there, in your Dropbox, I check random files to make sure that there weren’t any glitches in the upload process, and I make sure things are organized. As long as everything went smoothly, I then send your Dropbox link over to you! More than likely, my couples aren’t even awake yet by the time I’m sending them their files – which means they get to wake up to an inbox full of memories that they can instantly begin re-living!

THE DAY AFTER YOUR WEDDING:

After I deliver all the raw, unfiltered, unedited files to you – I get to work creating whatever pieces of short-form content we talked about during our consult call. Whether that’s specific TikTok trends, an overview of the day, videos surrounding certain moments – I’m sitting down to edit that content for you. Depending on how many pieces I’m creating and how intricate they are, it can take me up to 48 hours to create those videos for you. As soon as I have them finished, I upload them to another folder within your Dropbox for you to post to your own social media accounts whenever you’d like!

Obviously, as in every other aspect of a wedding day, there are many many more tiny details that go into an experience with a Wedding Day Content Creator. But my hope is that this gives you a high-level overview!