Do wedding content creators suck or have you just been lied to? 

Wedding content creators are popping up everywhere. But who are they, what do they do and do I need one? These are all important questions to ask yourself in the planning process. My name is Sienna, and I got married earlier this year. I’m also the owner of Bride or Die, a high-quality wedding content creation service based in Melbourne, Australia. Let me bust some myths for you and give my advice as someone who has now been on both sides of the wedding planning journey…

Firstly, let’s clarify what a wedding content creator actually does. I capture photos and videos on a phone camera to give you a more authentic and organic view of your big day. Unlike traditional photo and video, you don’t have to wait months for a small curated selection. You simply get a folder within 48 hours of your wedding filled with special moments in the form of short video clips. You also get some edited videos that could include a mini recap, ceremony details, romantic moments, getting ready transitions or anything else you’d like. These memories are the ones you’ll reach for in years to come – on the morning after, reminiscing with your new husband or wife, to showing friends who couldn’t be there what your dress or venue looked like, to celebrating anniversaries in the years to come.

There are some pretty common misconceptions flying around about the wedding industry’s hottest new trend – let’s break them down:

Have you ever had an older relative film a special occasion on their phone, only for it to be blurry, shaky, the wrong orientation, awkwardly zoomed in, AND their finger is half covering the lens? Yeah… That’s why you don’t let just anyone do it. 

It’s not about just showing up on the day, pointing my phone down the aisle and pressing record. I organise pre-wedding consultations with all of my couples to make sure I understand their vision. What shots are most important to you? How involved do you want me to be – full creative director mode or fly-on-the-wall? What kind of vibe are we going for with the edits? What transitions would you like me to plan for you and the bridesmaids?

I always have a plan going into your event with a shot list, timeline and mood board. My equipment is charged, my phone storage has been cleared, and I’ve already liaised with your other vendors to make sure we work together smoothly. 

I can’t speak for every creator, but I’ve been creating content for over 7 years now. I have a degree in social media. I am always learning new techniques and upgrading my equipment. This is not just a hobby but something I take extremely seriously – this is the most important day of your life, and it is my duty to immortalise it. 

My vibe will ALWAYS reflect yours. You tell me you want to feel like a celeb for the day, I will follow you like paparazzi, pose you, help you film 100 GRWM transitions and deliver the most fabulous, extra clips that will have you saying YESSSSS SLAYYYY. 

But tell me you and your partner are camera shy and want to feel like your media team isn’t even there? I will literally dress up and act like a guest if that’s what you need. Your content will be documentary style, natural, relaxed, unposed and authentically you. 

Don’t know what you want? That’s where I can help. Let me talk you through both options and all the in-betweens. Let me show you inspo and build a bank of ideas together. A good content creator is one who can adapt to YOUR vision. 

OMG, as somebody who has tried to “do content” as a guest at a wedding – DO NOT do that to your poor friend 😥 Your guests deserve to truly soak in the whole day, enjoy the atmosphere and of course, have a few drinks. Especially for your bridesmaids who already have so much to do on the day, the added pressure to get good videos is a stress they don’t need. 

I can guarantee a qualified content creator will have much better equipment, AND they can actually get shots of the whole ceremony. Imagine your bridesmaid standing up in the front with her phone the whole time…

I actually saw this one in a wedding Facebook group the other day where a bride-to-be was overwhelmed, thinking it would cost her $3,000-4,000 to have a decent content creator at her wedding. Now I’m not devaluing creators who DO charge that much, but I can assure you that you can find a high-quality, reliable creator with packages that are much more affordable than that (AKA me 😉)

My packages range from $600-$2,000, and it all depends on how long you’d like me onsite with you. Some people opt for just the ceremony to be covered; others want me there from the minute the bridesmaids start getting ready until that very last move on the dance floor. A content creator’s prices should reflect the hours spent not only onsite at your wedding, but also the preparation and meetings in the lead-up, and travel and editing time after. 

If you find cheaper creators, or even new creators who are offering free sessions to build their portfolio, proceed with caution. Obviously everyone deserves a chance when they’re starting out, but you do get what you pay for. Your creator could be with you ALL day – a calm, confident creator with experience in the wedding industry, who knows how to work seamlessly with other vendors, solve problems on the go and always ensure your once-in-a-lifetime moments are documented – is worth their weight in gold. 

It’s totally up to you how you spend your wedding budget, but I had all three – a photographer, videographer AND content creator at my wedding, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. 

The most important thing to realise here is that a content creator and a videographer are doing VERY different things on your wedding day. Videographers are using huge cameras with super high-resolution lenses, filming cinematic shots to become part of ONE longer (often 10 minutes+) wedding video that recaps the entire day. Content creators, on the other hand, use their phones to capture lots of little snippets. I personally use an iPhone 16 Pro Max and deliver hundreds of unedited clips, along with 5-10 edited videos (usually around 30 seconds to a minute long) to my couples. 

Often the videographer (alongside the photographer) is staging moments to capture, rather than a content creator who is simply documenting what happens with behind-the-scenes moments, as a fly on the wall. This does truly depend on each vendor’s style and the couple’s preferences, though.

The way I like to sum it up is: Your wedding video should be a cinematic masterpiece that you watch on your anniversary once a year, but the clips your content creator delivers are the little moments in between that you want to show people when they ask to see your dress, or what flowers you had or what your venue was like.

In fact, many couples are opting for a content creator instead of a videographer, if their budget is tight. This is a sensible option as content creators are usually a lot cheaper than traditional videographers, but I must stress that the type of videos will be very different. If you’re aware of that and still keen – go for it! 

Yes, the content is usually optimised for social media; it’s shorter than a traditional wedding video, it’s usually filmed in portrait on an iPhone and can sometimes include fun trends and transitions, but I can assure you 90% of my clients are “regular people”! You don’t have to be an influencer to want a cute little clip of you getting ready or saying I Do to share on your own Facebook or Instagram. 

When I got married, I was sooo excited for that first post in the days after the wedding to share the months of hard work and planning that went into the wedding. If I didn’t have a content creator there, I would’ve been waiting weeks, if not months, for my professional photos to come back. Thankfully, having a content creator meant I had hundreds of little clips to share with my friends and family who couldn’t be there on the big day. 

I have a feeling there may be one or two bad eggs out there giving the rest of us a bad rep! I can assure you that a professional content creator knows how to work with your media team, not against them. I will always coordinate with the photographer and videographer ahead of time, and tell them to just shoo me out of the way if I ever accidentally get in the frame! 

I have an excellent relationship with all of the vendors I’ve worked with previously, and it’s actually often a bonus for them when a creator is onsite, as it means great BTS clips for them too. 

So now you know the truth about wedding content creators, you can make a more informed decision about whether you’d like to have one at your wedding. Many brides are opting to have them for their engagement party, bachelorette trips and hens nights too!

A little bonus for anyone who would like to book my services, just send me a message and let me know you read this article for a special offer. You can email me at hello@brideordie.com.au or slide into the DMs on Instagram @brideordie.aus 

Whatever you decide for your wedding, I hope you have the most incredible day!

Sienna xx