The Future of Wedding Videography is Content Creator?

well here's a new term wedding content creator I'm starting a Content creation business a stumbled across a niche I did not know existed one day of content creation is such a new vendor such a new industry this is a new thing Alison it is a new thing and it's a very smart new thing we have high unemployment and we also have high inflation fears of a global economic crisis cash is king So if if we have the money we purchase it if we don't we don't get it Millennials and gen Z are increasingly questioning whether

a traditional wedding is worth the money I don't think a traditional wedding is worth the money could have bought a new car with that money watching videos and movies and you feel like it's supposed to be like this very special moment but I didn't really get that feeling or sense marriage industry is collapsing one in four rides where David's Bridal wedding retailers David's Bridal and bed b fed for chapter 11 bankruptcy it is it chaos numers show inflation is Rippling into every corner of some people skipping kns because they simply can't afford it it's over

we are [Music] screwed boy oh boy what a dramatic way to start an episode H you know I think right now in the industry things are just a mess right I mean there's a lot of uncertainty there's a lot of doubt and I think there's a lot of questions surrounding especially wedding day content creators and wondering what this means for the future of wedding videography and I think to better understand the future we really need to look at the past because as we have come to know and love or hate history tends to repeat itself

now in the beginning wedding videos were a luxury only the rich could afford simply because of the limitations in technology and expensiveness of converting film into these tangible Treasures fast forward to many years later and now once again wedding videos are a luxury that only the wealthy can afford or so it would seem as we are looking at the state of our industry today and looking into 2025 but let's just travel back in time let's look at the wedding film timeline for a second the wedding film can be traced all the way back to the

early 1900s where film was a prominent source for capturing moving images and it really wasn't until the 1970s that wedding videography truly came to fruition due to advancements in technology and video cameras becoming more widely available in the 1970s to ' 80s and '90s you had a ton of technological advancements from VHS cameras to the Home Video Market really flourishing which if I'm being honest was the best ERA because that's the era that I grew up in and Home Videos back then just true Nostalgia for me I love it so much but as we head

into the 2000s and the the 2010s we saw a rise to a new wave of wedding films from journalistic to short form to cinematic this is where wedding videos started turning into wedding films and the Cinematic story of someone's wedding day and over the next 10 years this would continue to develop with new cameras coming to the market with new aspiring filmmakers joining the industry and leaping head first into entrepreneurship the wh film industry was honestly thriving and then 2020 we all run into a global pandemic we saw rise to Wedding Date live streams and

then fast forward through some very confusing years later we're now at the point in time where we are seeing a rise of wedding day content creators and looking at this history as the internet has evolved it's really become a breeding ground full of information educational platforms and this really is responsible for the spawning of new wedding filmmakers or new wedding videographers and honestly the beautiful thing about this industry is how diverse it is I mean there are cultures and subcultures and genres and subg genres and there's just so many different creative paths inside this industry

and it's honestly a beautiful thing I mean we have amazing artists storytellers innovators bringing their own unique perspectives in Artistry into the industry and like I said before it's created a whole culture of what we have come to know as the wedding film industry but I think one platform that's also responsible for ushering in the new age of wedding film making is none other than music bed before music bed I struggled finding music that fit my couple's personalities rang true with my style as an artist and simplified the storytelling process and if you aren't using

music bed here are a few reasons why I think you should for one their Innovative search tools including search by song which is an AI powerered Search tool that has been absolutely gamechanging for me in my process helps you speed up searching for the right songs for your couple remove those tedious hours of trying to find the right song and get right into the action of creating your story with over 60,000 intentionally curated playlist designed to create an unmatched feeling within your films including my playlist that you can check out on musiced to speed up

your process as well all of these things are so incredibly useful to dialing in the exact tone feeling mood that you are going for for your story if you can't tell obviously music bed is my go-to source for all things music when it comes to how I create my wedding films and right now if you are still on the fence you can try them out for 14 days using my 14-day free trial link down in the description below so test out music bed and see if it could be a great asset for you so that

you can start creating a feeling within your films that your couples deserve but as we've seen with history within the wedding film world yes it may still be in its infancy with the Cinematic art form of wedding film making but the wedding industry has honestly been around forever it feels like I mean ever since the 1970s where you were making home videos I mean the industry has just evolved and grown but it's been a w been a wound in essence we started at a gated luxury only available to the wealthy to now a billion dollar

industry full of entrepreneurs all hungry for a seat at what we thought was a Recession Proof table and I think up until a global pandemic hit we get those mandates social distancing and 2 years of isolation completely popped the bubble because what was once a flourishing industry full of potential now has left a lot of us in the industry feeling uncertain and very doubtful of what's going to happen with my business but I think with wedding day content creators and the trends that we have seen in the industry I mean it's just they come and

they go I mean case in point when 2020 came around we saw rise to Wedding Day live streams I was doing more live streams in my business than I had ever done before I was a new skill that I had to learn but it was providing value to my couples that really needed that so that family members could see their wedding day could be a part of the day even though they were unable to attend it was reported that the number of live streamed weddings increase 250% just that year which is is wild you know

and entire businesses have formed solely out of that offering and honestly continues to see great success even 4 years later which again further subit the evolving culture and subcultures of the wedding industry but now we arrive to 2024 the year of confusion doubt fear that our businesses are going to cease to exist because we are noticing a considerable decline in average bookings available budget and overall demand for wedding filmmakers and I firmly believe that this is in part due to the decrease in weddings happening all together I mean we're not the only ones experiencing this

I mean there are planners DJs everyone in the wedding industry is experiencing decline in their bookings this year and I think it's just because of the way of the world right now there's a lot of economic uncertainty social dilemmas and the biggest in my opinion is there's an increase in Supply but a decrease in demand there's more wedding filmmakers right now than there has ever been and there's the least amount of weddings that there has ever been but one thing we can take away from the industry so far is the wedding industry in of itself

is a constant River of change and if we want sustainability if we want the ability to weather the storms when they come we have to adapt and we have to be ready for those uncomfortable situations and uncertainties that just hit us like a hurricane without any kind of news coverage we have to be ready for those storms and the disruptive innovation that is happening with wedding day content creators which needless to say there's a ton of mixed feelings going around the industry about wedding day content creators on one hand you have people that feel that

it's not really enough to be an artist or a Storyteller anymore now you have to be a content creator if you want to provide value to your couple that one I don't really agree with because I feel like like everything else you have couples that value this couples that value that and quite frankly couples that value content creators over what we do as wedding filmmakers you knew that they weren't going to Value what you did from the start and they weren't really the right fit for you anyway so that one I don't really think is

is true but let's get back into it you have other people who feel like well if I do add this as a service I would have to Outsource or add more overhead and or if I tackle the responsibility myself it would be more taxing on me creatively and I get it it's a valid thought when anything comes into the industry that's disruptive that's different that pushes for change you kind of think can I do this is this something that I want to even Implement in my business does it help increase the value of my product

does it decrease it but another pain point that I think a lot of us fear is that content creators wedding day content creators in some way devalue the Artistry of wedding film making before I get to that statement I do want to talk about my friend who got married and they hired a content creator through their photographer and there was a lot of confusion they didn't really know what they were getting they thought it was going to be a fully edited wedding video but it turned into this drop box folder full of all these clips

and they were just completely blindsided by that needless to say that's another issue in of itself where you have photographers DJs planners other vendors in the industry offering services that should come from professional videographers in my opinion now people are going to do whatever they want to do they're going to try to scale their business offer new services but if you're going to do that just make sure that there's proper communication with your couples so they know what to expect set that expectation upfront so that there's not this negative side effect or portrayal of what

wedding videography is but let's go back to my thoughts on content creators for a second you know we live in a world where it's full of instant gratification and you know we can all point the blame towards social media because that's pretty much where a lot of it has come from but at the same time we have to embrace it because it's really the only path forward social media has just become a necessity in our lives in our business how we communicate how we grow Our Brands stroke our ego spout negativity for goodness sakes you

know all those lovely things but on the other side of all the unfortunates of social media the benefits should also be credited as well and with content creation the way I see it is just another way for you to add value to your couple especially if it's something that they see the value in because our jobs is to make our couples feel special and there's nothing that makes them feel more special than when they are receiving video of them their family their friends of their special day the very next day where they can post on

social media they can go through all these clips and just relive the moments instantly with all the people they love with all the people that matter most to them so if we choose to look at it through that lens why wouldn't we consider it right especially when it means you could add a new offering that provides value but also increases your pricing as well but back to the argument of does it devalue the Artistry of wedding film making from a quality perspective from an experience perspective the argument is if you get everything the very next

day and you get everything for a much lower price point what do you really have to look forward to and I do get that sentiment but I think we have to realize that this is two completely different products they convey two completely different feelings one is Catered towards instant gratification while the other is Catered towards anticipation one offers that initial instant boost of excitement while the other one is really catered towards more more long-term benefits and the good thing is just because content creation is in right now doesn't mean that you have to include it

I think there's a level of discernment and forethought that goes into making that decision for you and your business especially when you're considering adding any new trendy service to your packages if it fits the bill in what you are offering and brings you Joy then by all means add it in there but on the flip side if it goes against your Brand's value just stay away from it keep focusing on what you are doing specifically because there is an audience there is a market for you and what you do now despite the disruption content creators

have made in the industry itself I don't believe that they are really the reason for the decline of our bookings and just the decline of everything that we are seeing today I think this is microscopic compared to really the bigger issues of the economic challenges the social dilemmas supply and demand dysfunction But ultimately can we learn from these seasons of uncertainty doubt and confusion to adapt and survive absolutely so what is working for Content creators right now for one it's a lower price point two it's the Amazon Prime delivery when it comes to wedding videography

it's the instant access to all of your memories from the day it's social media friendly meaning you can post this on social media you get that instant gratification you get the attention you get the likes and the comments and all of the Feelgood feelings from that day now while I don't recommend we go out and we slash our pricing in half because we still have to remain some semblance of in integrity and care with the product that we are creating because again these are two completely different products but we can do more than what we

have been doing I am speaking for my own self here I can do more than I have been doing you know we can offer longer films documentary films home video style edits we can offer social media edits we should be trying to provide more value to our existing products and limit the prideful mentality of my art over everything because honestly that's just not what this job is about and another side of it the main side of this whole decline in the industry and how to find sustainability and how to get out of the funk is

really all about diversifying within your business if weddings are low pivot towards another Market that could benefit from your skills real estate music videos Family Videos experiment with photography take a break all together find a part-time job away from weddings cuz maybe this is just a sign sometimes during these times it's really meant to be embraced and use it to recalibrate to reconnect inward so that when things do turn around you will have a fresh perspective and a passionate heart towards creating with gratitude well that's it for me in my soapbox today thank you guys

so much for checking out this video I hope you found it helpful valuable insightful in some way if you did it would mean so much if you consider liking and subscribing and until next time keep creating until telling Beautiful Stories so we go chasing the sunight hold on yeah get so out right it won't stop now this is our time The Best Is Yet To Come