Wedding Videography Styles Explained
Dead-set on a wedding video but not sure what vibe or style you want? This guide outlines all the different types to help you make the right choice
As well as hiring a brilliant wedding photographer, many couples want a wedding videographer to capture even more memories and elements of their day.
But much like photography, there are a number of different wedding videography styles to consider, and the style you choose is completely up to you.
Do you want to feel like the star of your very own movie, giving main character energy all day long, or would you prefer to feel as though your videographer is a fly on the wall, documenting the day without you even realising they're there?
Your Guide to Wedding Videography Styles
Perhaps you're a fan of film wedding photography and want a vintage video to match, or maybe, you have no clue what you want, and need to know more...
To ensure you choose the wedding videography style that's perfect for you, we've got a full breakdown of different types of wedding videography and what you can expect from each.
Here, we've laid out all the options so you can be sure of your choice.
- Traditional Wedding Videography
- Cinematic Wedding Videography
- Documentary Wedding Videography
- Storytelling Wedding Videography
- Vintage Wedding Videography
Traditional Wedding Videography
Couples who want someone to film their wedding without the additional bells and whistles will love a traditional take on videography. Traditional wedding videography is often edited in the order things happened, as opposed to re-jigging a series of events to tell a story.
This style of wedding videography is best suited to couples who want their film to represent their wedding the way they remembered it.
It's unlikely to offer any surprises, and won't have any creative editing in it - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The simple style is a classic for a reason.
What you'll get is a video of your wedding as it looked, simply to look back on with fond memories.
Cinematic Wedding Videography
Video: New Age Media
From simple and straightforward to a film that's quite the opposite, cinematic wedding videography is a far cry from traditional. Couples booking a cinematic wedding videographer, can expect much more in terms of editing and storytelling - just look at the trailer above by Hitched vendor New Age Media!
A cinematic wedding video often includes carefully chosen songs, as well as audio from your speeches, vows and toasts intertwined into the edit.
The video will feel like a movie of your wedding, with you and your partner as the main characters. Everything in a cinematic edit is purposeful and feels very tailored to your day and to you as a couple.
Storytelling Wedding Videography
Storytelling wedding videography showcases the very best of your relationship, as well as your wedding. Videographers who work with this style are experts in involving aspects of your relationship and pre-wedding milestones into your wedding video.
They are skilled at putting the pieces of your wedding day together in a video that tells the story perfectly, and often use some of the more emotional moments, like speeches, vows and readings, to help tell these stories.
Some storytelling wedding videographers may do some recording with you pre-wedding, but those who don't will still be able to include your entire story in the video through quotes, voiceovers and more.
Documentary Wedding Videography
Video: Big Day Productions
Documentary style wedding videography is perfect for couples who aren't so comfortable with being filmed all day, but who still want a creative and well thought through video of their day.
Documentary videographers are experts at being a 'fly on the wall' and documenting the day in the most natural way possible. The team at Big Day Productions explain why they love this style the most: "We adopt a more candid, documentary approach to our work and love capturing real moments and telling authentic stories."
Though natural and effortless in execution, documentary style videography can be presented in a really fun way too.
The team at Hawaiian Shirt Videography and Photography explain, "We offer documentary wedding videography that's edited in an upbeat and fun style. It's our favourite because we love allowing weddings to flow naturally and capture them as they happen.
"The type of style a couple chooses will affect the level of involvement they have. If they want to forget the videographer is not there, documentary is the one for them."
Vintage Wedding Videography
Video: The Chamberlins
For a retro and nostalgic videography experience, consider hiring a videographer who works with Super8mm or 16mm film. Much like film wedding photography which is growing increasingly in popularity, Super8 wedding videography and other vintage techniques are also coming back - and boy are we pleased about it.
This style of wedding videography is nostalgic and offers more of a raw and authentic finish. You won't have the traditional speeches and vows recorded, high-quality sound or a crisp picture - but that's the beauty of this kind of style.
Perfect for couples who see the beauty in nostalgia and prefer an artistic account of their day over something primed and polished, it's definitely a style of videography that we reckon we'll see more of in 2024 and 2025 weddings.
And if you're not quite ready to dive in head first, videographers like Satyr Weddings offer Super8 highlight videos as an add-on to their other videography packages.
It does tend to come with a higher price point, as it's on film, but some wedding videographers can edit their digital footage to replicate this style, if you love it but your budget doesn't stretch. It won't be quite the same, but will have a similar feel.
While you're in the mood to learn more, check out our guide to wedding photography styles. After all, you want to ensure your photographs and videos complement one another, right?
