Do brides want short form or long form wedding videos?

[Bill Edmunds]

I took a bit of a break in wedding shooting (from about 2008-2011), and it seems like the 'short form' wedding is now becoming the norm, rather than the 90+ minute variety. My questions are:
1) Are brides asking for these shorter videos?
2) Do some brides automatically expect them?
3) Or do you educate them about choices?
4) Do you only offer one form (long vs short)?

[Corey Graham]

It really depends on your market. I have yet to get anyone asking for "cinematic" or short-form weddings.

[Travis Cossel]

1: Sometimes.
2: Sometimes.
3: Definitely.
4: Sort of. We offer short form and also doc edits (but it's not quite long form).

[Chris Harding]

I think it also depends what your website tends to favour...if you site shows you do documentary style long form then the bride looking for a short form cinematic production probably won't ask you. My own site shows my packages as documentary style so I too have never been asked for a wedding "film"

I'm sure there is support for both in every market I guess you then need to decide if you want to offer both short and long and more than likely the better way to do that might just be dual branding where your one "company" handles the more upmarket short form cinematic and the other the more conventional long form documentary.

Chris

[Danny O'Neill]

1) Only a handful have actually asked for them
2) 99% here in the UK dont even know they exist
3) We simply show them what we do
4) We only offer short form (15-25 mins).

Most dont know about them. They come in expecting the long, 3 hour piece most others have shown them. Then we show them our shorter edits and its then what they want. If you dont have one to show people, They wont want it.

The mindset most have is the longer, the more value for money. This is why its important for each of our couples to see what we do to appreciate how a shorter edit feels better.

[Art Varga]

I guess a question would be what defines short form vs long form. I consider my product at 45 minutes to be long form. Most clients I meet with don't have a preconception of what they want or how long it should be so they usually just follow my lead on what I offer and either go with it or don't. I sell the 45 minutes based on what I think is an optimal time to provide a great memory of the day but short enough that if you had some friends over and said "hey you wanna watch our wedding video?", they wouldn't bolt for the door! I include extras, like the unedited ceremony, full versions of parent dances, out takes etc on a seperate DVD to give them more content to watch when they are on their own.

Art

[Chris Harding]

Hi Art

In my books long form varies but would be bridal prep, arrivals, ceremony in full, photoshoot, reception arrival, speeches, cake and first dance and about 6 minutes of general dancing and then the farewell.
Obviously mine vary from 40 minutes to 100 minutes mainly dependent on ceremony length which can be from 6 minutes to 66 minutes (yes I did a ceremony shoot that lasted a whole 6 minutes!!) and obviously speeches can be short or drone on for 20 or 30 mins for each speaker!!

My "short form" is the ceremony with readings/hymns/prayers removed, photoshoot, reception arrival, cake and first dance (basically the long form but with the boring bits removed and it usually 20 minutes)

Chris

[John Knight]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

basically the long form but with the boring bits removed and it usually 20 minutesChris

Lucky bugger. Remove the boring bits out of my weddings and you're left with 28secs of titles. ;)

[Chris Harding]

Hey John

Boring to the bride not boring to us!! I guess with us the novelty has worn off watch a bride say her vows!! However for ceremonies most brides are happy with a short form as long as it has the vows and rings!! Then again her special sister might do a reading and you then omit that at your peril!!!

I do state in my website (and to the bride) that I shoot documentary style so I have never yet had a bride complain about length..in fact most here seem to want at least 60minutes..sorta value for money????

I do however explain that they won't want to watch an hour of people sqirming around on the dance floor so I normally only shoot 3 songs unless the bride has a special request to shoot a special song!!

I do compile my DVD's as individual clips (usually around 15 - 20) all linked to the DVD menu so they CAN watch whatever bits and pieces that take their fancy without having to sit thru a complete wedding!!

The only thing that's usually "bracketed" is the cake/first dance and bouquet/garter as they normally follow each other. Even speeches are in their own clips so watching just the Best Man's speech is easily attainable!!

Guys that shoot half the night on the dance floor?? Now that's really boring!!!

Chris

[Aaron Mayberry]

1) Are brides asking for these shorter videos?

Yes! About 1/4 know and want a short form from the start.

2) Do some brides automatically expect them?

Sometimes.

3) Or do you educate them about choices?

Every time, whether they want short form from the start or need to be talked into it. Educating them on OUR product and style is key to client happiness.

4) Do you only offer one form (long vs short)?

We offer a 15 minute feature, and we still offer the documentary version, but we try to talk them into the short form. We haven't had someone ask for documentary version since we started pushing short form.

---

We didn't do short form until the beginning of this year and I wish I would of done it sooner! The emotion impact you can make as an editor and film maker is amazing. I really thought brides wouldn't "get it", but most do and the response we get from our brides is 10x what we used to get!