Since the dawn of social media, wedding photos have become a mainstay in our feeds. They began with dedicated Facebook albums, then later got their own hashtags on Instagram. Now, in the era of TikTok and Reels, weddings have turned into a major multimedia moment with video trends, dress reveals, and viral dances.
It’s no surprise that couples will want to share one of the biggest—and most photographed—days of their lives with their friends and followers. They invested in looking their best, curating a beautiful event, and recording every detail. While having professionals capture photos and video for your wedding day is the norm, a new wedding vendor has emerged with the wedding content creator. Dedicated to capturing and creating moments for social media, the profession clearly indicates a shift in how we are documenting this big life event. As Persephone Maglaya, founder of marketing and wedding content creator company The Media Socialites, notes, “Wedding days can go by in a blur, but wedding content lives forever.”
Posting about your wedding on Instagram or TikTok is not a practice limited just to influencers. “Capturing and sharing iPhone content to relive and celebrate any significant life event is common practice in today s digital age, so it only feels right that you would do the same for a day as important as your wedding day,” explains Stacey Moran, founder of wedding content creative business The BTS Bride. “In a way, I treat my own social media as my digital diary. I often look back on my posts, captions, and even my archived IG stories to remember exactly how I was feeling in the moment. If we really look at our social media that way, it only makes sense we would document one of the most important days of our lives in the same way we document everyday life.”
If you want your wedding to have a major social moment, the first step is to talk with your photographer. “While the primary focus of photographers is documenting the wedding day for the couple, discussions about social media coverage can certainly be integrated into contract negotiations,” shares wedding photographer Jenny Fu. “It s essential for couples to understand that while social media coverage adds an extra dimension to their wedding experience, it requires careful planning and coordination.”
Then, it’s important to emphasize you want photos from the wedding to be shared on different platforms. “When collaborating with couples to produce imagery tailored for social media, it s crucial for photographers to understand their specific preferences. This includes a detailed discussion on desired styles, compositions, and formats, with a focus on accommodating the vertical orientation commonly favored for smartphone viewing,” says Fu. “If social media coverage is a priority, I adapt my approach accordingly, emphasizing portrait-oriented shots over landscape formats.” She also says while it’s common practice to receive a preview of photos three days after the event, “some photographers even offer on-site editing for same-day or next-day delivery, depending on the wedding s scale and the client s preferences.”
If you want iPhone footage for your wedding, you can add on this service for an additional price. “To ensure comprehensive social media coverage, some photographers enlist additional assistance specifically dedicated to capturing moments using iPhones,” Fu shares. “This entails hiring extra personnel and allocating sufficient time within the wedding timeline to accommodate this supplementary coverage, particularly if social media presence ranks high on the client s agenda.”
You may think getting the shot for your TikTok or IG stories is as simple as entrusting a member of the wedding party to do the job. However, if you want them by your side at the ceremony holding a bouquet rather than an iPhone, then you should consider hiring a wedding content creator. Why invest in this extra vendor? “Our main goal is to help our couples document and cherish one of the most important days of their lives and to share their wedding in a creative and easily consumable format,” explains Moran. “Our couples typically use our content to share on Instagram Stories, Reels, or TikTok shortly after their wedding, but many of them also use the content to simply relive their wedding day from their phones. Beyond capturing all the beautiful behind-the-scenes moments, wedding content creators allow the couple, along with their friends and family, to be present on their big day by fully unplugging and living in the moment. We want to take away as much stress as possible when it comes to making sure every detail and moment is captured.”
Another perk of hiring a content creator is their ability to make capturing those candid gems their full-time job. As Moran says, “I always tell our couples that we will capture all of the big moments from their wedding day such as their first look, ceremony, first kiss, dances, vows, and speeches, but we will also capture all of those behind-the-scenes moments in between that make their wedding day so special and unique to them!”
Maglaya emphasizes that wedding content creators should have experience in working with other wedding professionals as well as top-notch social media skills. “We work collaboratively to conceptualize, in advance, with your full creative team, to highlight must-have moments and showcase wedding details in a fun, engaging way that reflects your personality and wedding style,” she says. “Since we are social media and marketing experts, we leverage that expertise for our couples by creating story captions in advance, mapping out the shot list, sound lists, and editing list, and sharing all content with our social video editing team. If you want to lean into the TikTok-able moments, we can accommodate that, or if you want more of a documentary style, we will capture and edit accordingly.”
Of course, what you wish to share on social media is up to you. You may ask guests to refrain from engaging with their phones with an unplugged ceremony, or ask them to post away. You can put a single photo on your Instagram feed or create a scheduled drop of content in the months following the event. “My number one piece of advice when it comes to your wedding and social media is to have fun with it and to try and not get too caught up with the trends,” says Moran. “It’s so easy to overthink what you’re posting but social media is all about sharing those casual, unscripted moments from your wedding day that show your unique love story and personality.”
