How Long Should my Wedding Film be?

A Confusing Array of Options

While researching companies that provide videography services, a couple may find a confusing array of options when it comes to the film lengths that are offered. You might ask, what is the difference between a highlight film that is 3, 5, 8 or 15 minutes long? Obviously, some are simply longer than others, but what is the real difference? Why would you choose one length over the other? What do we even mean by a highlight film? Or you might think, I have 2 videographers for 8 hours, why is the wedding film being delivered only 8 minutes long? Wasn’t my Mom’s wedding film like 2 hours long? I certainly remember eating a whole bowl of popcorn, dozing off for who knows how long, and waking up to see the footage of the dancing at the ending.

I am going to look at these topics and give my insight as a contemporary wedding filmmaker. Now, every filmmaker will have a slightly different approach and so while I am going to try to speak in generalities, keep in mind there will always be variations. Styles and techniques are always changing. What we discuss today as being “common practice”, may change in the next couple of years, let alone in 5 to 10 years. Also, what was in vogue 5, 10 or 20 years ago may be very different from what is “IN” today.

Let’s start with some basic concepts. Here are some terms you are likely to encounter when looking at videography offerings:

Highlight
Trailer
Documentary
Longform
Chapters
Ceremony, Toasts, or Formalities Edit

The Highlight FilM

This will be a highly edited film, in that the switching between shots will be similar to what you will see in TV or movies. You are unlikely to find that the focus remains on a single camera angle for an extended amount time. In fact, focus will most likely only stay on one shot for only 2-5 seconds. The editing may even be more stylized, in that there can be sequences of rapid switching between shots, and the transition between shots can have special effects applied. Shots of action from the day (i.e., people doing things) will be interspersed with images of the location exteriors and interiors, including perhaps aerial (i.e. drone) footage, along with detail shots, such as clothes and jewelry worn by bride and groom, and decoration items from the ceremony and reception.

The highlight film will almost always include a music soundtrack that will function like the musical score of a movie or TV show. This soundtrack is commonly made up of one or more “songs” that the filmmaker will use to set the mode and feeling for the film. This can be a popular song or can be original music that the filmmaker sources from a library of music, created by artist specifically to be licensed for filmmaking.

The soundtrack can also include audio captured on the wedding day, such as spoken words from the ceremony, and speeches, and ambient sounds such as people chatting, laughing, cheering and applauding. This is a very important point to consider when looking at the length of the highlight film, and I will discuss in more detail below.

The sequencing of the images in the highlight film may or may not follow the order in which they occurred on the day of the wedding. If the order does follow the linear order that they occurred in during the event, the film will have a more predictable and orderly feeling. If the film jumps around to different times of the day, this may be less predictable and create more tension or interest. This may be referred to as time-shifting. Usually, both approaches are utilized to varying degrees in a highlight film, as they can be useful in the storytelling, to create interest and essentially, to condense real time action into a shorter film run time.

The highlight film offerings will usually range from 30 seconds to 10 minutes, but can even be as long as 20 minutes. The different lengths may be given other specialized names, to help the couples understand and differentiate them.

The Trailer Film

As mentioned, some highlight films will be referred to by specialized names. One such film is the Trailer Film, and it may also be called a Teaser Film, or simply a Teaser. This is a short film, usually 30-60 seconds in length, and is similar to what we commonly see being used to advertise movies or TV shows. This is usually delivered before the main films are delivered, so that the couple will have a chance to preview what is going to be included in the primary film deliverables. It is intended to be shared on social media platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook.

Variants of the Teaser/Trailer films, also designed to be shared on social media, and can also be packaged as a social media offering. Rather than strictly a preview the of main wedding film, these may focus on a specific portion of the wedding day, such as the first dance, the first look, the bride and groom portrait session, the reception, etc. Again, the length will usually be 30-60 seconds.

The length of these films is somewhat driven by the limit of 60 seconds that was the original maximum length of films allowed on Instagram.

Documentary Style

Most of us are familiar with what a documentary is, and we have watched many of these, usually in form of a feature film, TV show or short film. In this sense, documentary implies that the film is depicting some element of real life, as opposed to a fictional story.

The filmmaking aspect of a documentary films can vary greatly, from gorgeous cinematography of a National Geographic style film to newsreel type footage of a crime story to home movie footage of a biopic type documentary. There is also a style of documentary films where the action is allowed to play out as it was captured, such as in the movie Grey Gardens.

Applying what we know about documentary films from our experience with popular documentary films can help inform our understanding, but because of the vast variation in styles, it can also be misleading. Documentary style within wedding filmmaking will generally apply to 2 major aspects of the wedding film, how it is captured and how it is edited.

In reference to how it is captured, documentary style can be contrasted to cinematic style. The emphasis is on capturing and rendering the scene as it was in real life. This is also in contrast to staged or posed shots to get the perfect pose, lighting or composition. The overriding principle is on letting the events play out, and to simply capture it as it occurs. There may also be an element of realism added by using hand-held camera techniques. This will allow the cameraperson more flexibility to follow the action, which may not be possible when using a “locked down position” of a tripod or monopod. This may result in less perfect images (shakiness, less perfect focus, not perfect framing or lighting), but this will impart a greater sense of being there and reality in the film.

There have been a lot of advances in technology lately that help improve the quality of footage captured when going “hand held”. This includes smaller cameras – most wedding videographers today are using what looks like a photography camera, either a DSLR or mirrorless body, which is more portable than the video cameras of old. A lot of these cameras now include in-camera stabilization and fast autofocus, to improve image quality when used hand-held. Additionally, the invention of ever smaller and lighter “Steadicam” equipment in the form of gimbals has been a game changer. These devices have 3 axis stabilization motors to keep the camera steady and level. These allow for the cameraperson to follow the action, and still capture incredibly stable looking footage. These advances add to the overall production quality of the film, and give you less of a “Blair Witch” look and more Hollywood big budget feel.

What does documentary style mean when applied to the editing of the film? Generally speaking, the pace of the shifting between different shots, or camera angles, will be slower than that of a highlight film. In other words, the focus will stay on a single shot for a longer period of time. A camera angle may be held for 5, 10 or even 30 seconds! Naturally, this style applies better when the film is meant to show long segments of the day, such as the entire ceremony, or the full speeches or the first dance. If you were to watch a film with the full 30-minute ceremony you would probably go berserk if the camera angle was switching every 2-3 seconds!

Where are these styles used in Wedding Films?

Both of these styles, highlight and documentary can be present in different wedding film offerings. Highlight films is the style that is more contemporary and what is often being delivered today as either the sole film deliverable, of the focus film of a package. The length can vary – I will discuss this in the next section. Documentary style can generally be used in two types of deliverables, the long form film, or a chapter or segment of the day edit.

The Long Form Edit

This is a form that, generally speaking, is falling out of style, but is still being produced by some wedding film companies. The Long Form will, as its name implies, be quite long, in the range of 1 - 2 hours. This will include a mix of montage sections (like what I described as highlights) and documentary style edit. The documentary style sections will usually be devoted to the ceremony and reception formalities, including the toasts, and dances: the bride and groom first dance, and the mother/son and father/daughter dances. These sections can be rendered in close to the original real-time length, and this is why this type of film will have a longer length.

Chapters or Segment of the Day films

These are films that will cover a specific part of the day, and are intended to be stand alone films. Usually, there will be one film of the ceremony, from beginning to end, one of the formal dances, and one of the toasts. These will be edited in the documentary style, with long passages of a single camera angle. The soundtrack will usually consist exclusively of the audio from the day and will have little to no additional music mixed in. These films with be intended to allow the couple to watch these portions of the day in their entirety, and will usually be packaged with a highlight film that will cover the entire day in a more condensed form. In fact, the Highlight plus Chapters as part of a package or as separate options, is what has replaced the Long Form Edit in most contemporary offerings.

Highlight Film Lengths

As mentioned above, highlight films can come in different lengths. 5 minutes is very common length. A 5-minute film will allow for a very creative edit, with a lot focus on high quality cinematic shots. A film of this length will also allow the editor to only use the very best shots from the day – so it should be extremely beautiful. In 5 minute film we have enough time to cover every aspect of the wedding day and to include some audio from the day. One plus of this length is that it is not too long, so most people will want to watch it in its entirety. The down side of a film this length, is some aspects of the day will not be included or will have minimal coverage. For instance, we may we will only see the bride walking down the aisle, and not the full bridal party. There will also be a limit as to what audio from the day can be included. The audio will be limited to select audio clips – a sentence or two from here and there. These will likely be edited to be more succinct and impactful. As for the sound track, some film companies will treat this as a 1-song film, while others may sequence between a few sections of different music tracks.

If you take this concept of a 5-minute film, and distill it down further, you can understand the make-up of a 3-minute highlight film. The upside is a 3-minute film will be short enough to keep almost everyone’s attention and will likely be watched to the very end by everyone. It should include the best of the best shots, and you can still cover most of the elements of the day in this amount of time. The biggest loss in a film of this length, will be audio from the day. Most films of this length will be music only and will not attempt to include any audio from the day. If audio from the day is included, will be very minimal.

As the highlight films get longer in length, 8-10 minutes, 15 minutes or 20 minutes, a couple of things will start to develop. For one, more audio from the day can included. In fact, in an 8-10-minute highlight film, there should be some audio from every person speaking during the toasts. There should be some audio from the celebrant at the ceremony, and there should be some of the bride and grooms’ vows. Of course, this will vary depending on the audio content available from the wedding. The editing will still be compact and some techniques will be used to keep the length short to include all that audio. This will include using audio from one section of the day, while showing images from another part of the day. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as audio from the toasts overlaid with the visuals of the bride and groom getting ready. This can vary greatly, and will depend on the specific wedding, and the filmmaker.

Highlight Films that are 15-minutes or 20-minutes in length are sometimes referred to as Feature Length Highlight Films. Technically, these are still highlight films, but their longer length, when combined with highlight film editing techniques, allow for a great deal of coverage of the events of the day. Generally, this are not long enough to veer into documentary style editing, like you will see in the Long Form Films, but shot selection will be so extensive that you will get to experience a great deal of variety from the entire day. As for audio from the day, what can be included from the toasts and the ceremony will be more extensive than in the 8-10 shorter highlight films. There can be expanded coverage of the reception formalities, including the first dance, mother/son, father/daughter dance, cutting of the cake, garter toss can be included. Another aspect that a longer form will allow is for more expanded story development and for the possibility to create little subsections within the larger film. With the added time, the pace may allow the film to “breath” a little more, and not feel so rushed. The downside of these film lengths is that they may seem long by today’s viewing standards. Not everyone in the audience will want to view an entire 15-minute or 20-minute film. But for those who have the the patience and interest, they will offer the most comprehensive and detailed rendition of the events of the day.

To summarize:

Short Highlight Films

Can be of the 3 or 5 minute variety
Can include limited small snippets of audio of the day
May be only music sound track based – with no audio from the day
Will feature the best of the best shots from the day
Some aspects of the day will be excluded or limited
Short length appealing to widest audience

Medium Length Highlight Films

8-10 minutes in length
More audio from the day can be included
More coverage for the different aspects of the day
Length is a good compromise to appeal to most audiences
More story development possibilities

Feature Length Highlight Films

lengths usually in the 15-minute or 20-minute range
Extensive audio from the day can be included
Most complete coverage of all aspects of the day
More possibility for more story development, including sub-story opportunities
Transitions, pacing and overall feel may be more natural and less rushed
Length may be challenging for some viewers

Long Form Edit

Length can range from 1 to 2 hours
A combination of Highlight and Documentary style editing
Whole sections of the day can be represented in near real time
Other parts of the day will be included as montage highlights
Length is not appealing for online viewing or sharing
Pace can be considered boring by contemporary standards
Tends to be a “classic” style offering that is not in vogue today

Chapters / Section of the Day Films

Purely documentary style editing
Soundtrack will be mostly or completely audio from the day
Will be near real-time of the actual event
Good for couple, family and close friends to relive full sections from the wedding
Usually offered in conjunction with a highlight film