As a wedding film editor, I have the honor of creating a film that represents the beginning of a beautiful story. The marriage will be the foundation of this couple’s life. We create our films to withstand time so that years from now, you can show it to the family you have built together or the new friends in your life.
We want our film to be emotionally engaging so that you are transited back to the feeling of joy and butterflies that you experienced on that special day. The way that we do this is through storytelling! The same style of storytelling that we experience in blockbuster movies, musicals, and plays, even the nursery stories we heard as kids.
A Love Story in Three Acts:
How Your Wedding Film Comes to Life
Every great story has a structure, and your wedding day is no exception. At Reverent Wedding Films, we believe that capturing your love story involves weaving a narrative with three essential acts.
Act 1
In Act 1, the story begins with a tension that must be resolved. This tension in wedding films is that the bride and groom are not married yet! We build this tension by showing footage of the couple getting ready and anticipating the ceremony. We also use this time to set the scene and show footage of the venue and the people.
In a traditional wedding film, this is going to play a large part; about 50% of the film will be building up this tension (trust us… building up to becoming husband and wife makes that moment so much more exciting in the film!)
Act 2
Act 2 is going to be what we call the build. The build is the foundation of your film; it will be about 20% of the film. It is going to show all of the smaller personal moments that lead up to that big moment y’all have anxiously been waiting for!
The smaller moments are like the first looks, the processional of the ceremony, and even the parts of the ceremony before the pronouncing of man and wife. By this point, you should be fully brought into the story and on the edge of your seat waiting…
Act 3
Act 3 is the resolve! After waiting and anticipating the big moment, you hear, “You may now kiss the bride!” The couple is now MARRIED! All that anticipation is paid off when the bride and groom kiss!
This is what creatively is called the apex, which is the high point in the story. You want to keep that energy high and slowly bring it down for all of the reception events, footage of the couple together at last, all the way through the ultimate resolve, and the grand exit. This final act will be about 30% of your film. To tie up the films, we like to end with footage of the bride and groom riding off into the sunset together, implying that this story has just begun.
Crafting Your Love Story with Reverent Wedding Films
WOW, that was a rollercoaster, right? All of these pieces of the story of your day are so important that removing one or more of those pieces may just make it more difficult for the editor to do what they do best: storytelling.
You will still have a beautiful wedding film with or without those moments, but it might look a little different without them. Building tension without the getting ready time is way more difficult. Ending the film without an ultimate resolution other than the grand exit is possible but may leave the story feeling like it has a loose end.
At Reverent Wedding Films, our goal is to create cinematic wedding videography that not only documents your day but also tells your story in a way that resonates with your heart. With these three acts, we create a cinematic experience that will take you back to the emotions of your wedding day every time you press play.
