Wedding Week on WTOP is a three-part series that dives into Gen Z brides and grooms to be as their generation puts a spin on tying the knot. This is part 2.
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The overwhelming popularity of TikToks and Instagram reels has some young couples looking for a different kind of video content on their wedding days.
Armed with smartphone cameras, wedding content creators are being hired to capture raw, vertical footage of the wedding festivities.
That’s a stark contrast from a traditional videographer — who would typically turn horizontal footage into an edited, professional montage of the biggest moments from the celebration.
“It’s a really great way if you want video content, but maybe not necessarily high quality,” said Jordan Snider, who plans weddings through her company, Boundless Love Events. “The iPhone does wonders these days, but it’s just a very different final product than your typical videographer.”
What’s the appeal of a wedding content creator?
Wedding content creators are tagging along for whatever moments the couple wants to capture.
Some are kicking off their workday by filming the bridal party getting ready and ending it as guests boogie on the dance floor. Other content creators are just shadowing the day for a few hours to memorialize a particular moment.
Social media: ‘I want to feel like a princess’
For wedding content creators, requests from Gen Z brides are often guided by social media influencers and trending videos, according to wedding experts.
The setup offered by wedding content creators is ideal for couples who want to share stories straight to Instagram or overlay clips with a trending audio on TikTok.
Faith Housley, of Northern Virginia, has 2.5 million followers on TikTok, where she posts about her upcoming wedding in February 2026 alongside other lifestyle content.
Housley is also looking to build out her portfolio as an aspiring wedding content creator. She plans to provide her content creation services at some friends’ upcoming weddings, as well as some very trusting brides and grooms.
Housley described young brides’ thought processes when hiring a creator: “I want to feel like, I have X amount of followers, and this is the royal wedding, and I want to feel like a princess.”
The price tag
It’s not just a thing for influencers or couples dreaming of social media stardom.
Oftentimes, it’s cheaper for everyday couples to hire a content creator over a traditional videographer.
“It is a great option, especially for those couples that maybe don’t have the funds to allocate toward a full-on videographer, but they still want some video clips to be able to look back on their day,” Snider said.
A content creator can be particularly affordable for people who are only looking for a few hours of coverage. Typically, videographers and photographers are booked for a full day of coverage.
“I’ll come to the bridal suite,” Housley said. “I’ll do some fun videos. They’ll have the music playing, they’ll be drinking champagne.”
Other couples may just want videos of their ceremony or clips of toasts during the reception.
The price tag has made content creators popular with millennials as well as Gen Z.
‘They’re like, ‘I can’t afford a videographer. What can you do?'” Housley said of millennial couples. “‘We don’t really want to do a super trendy video, but we want to show us having fun. And we kind of want a synopsis of everything for social media.'”
Speed
Budgets aren’t the only benefit.
Professional videographers could take months to edit a fully produced video. But many content creators AirDrop or text their clients the videos at the end of the night.
That has hooked in lovebirds.
With near instant delivery, couples can watch short highlights while on their honeymoon and in the blissful weeks of decompressing that so often follow a wedding day.
Some couples even bundle a professional videographer with a content creator to get quick results and a more polished video down the line.
“You do get that instant gratification that I think our society has trended toward, and you get to see those clips,” Snider said. “But then you also get that more professional, more curated video of your wedding day.”
Check out Wedding Week part 3 on how young couples are balancing big expectations and slim budgets.
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