So you’ve decided to capture your wedding day on video. Great decision and if you have room in your budget you should absolutely include this in your wedding plans. Most couples will tell you that their wedding day was a blur, an assault on the senses - there’s so much to take in, it’s simply not possible to remember every detail. But in order to capture the mood just right, you will need to think about the music which will essentially be the soundtrack to your big day. A wedding video is an exceptional chronicle of your wedding which has to be done just right. This is why, before you set your heart on the wedding video songs that best capture one of the best days of your life, you’ll need to consider a number of things - especially if you’re going down the DIY route.
DIY or Do I Buy:
The first thing you’ll need to decide is whether to hire a professional or go it alone because this will have an impact on the wedding music you choose for your wedding video. On the one hand, there are so many free and paid-for tools available online to help you make a high-quality, professional film with little or no impact on your wallet. If you have a friend or a relative who is willing to wield a camera throughout the wedding and forgo some of the celebrations themselves then this is definitely an option to consider.
That being said, there are so many things to consider in the making of a wedding video and the process itself is very time-consuming. Hiring a professional therefore removes any unnecessary stress and worry as well as guaranteeing that your wedding video will actually be done. How many wedding albums are out there that - months, sometimes years after the wedding day - are still waiting to be assembled? Hiring a professional means that you’ll be able to look forward to receiving a completed, stunning record of your big day, rather than trying to find time in the hectic aftermath to sit down and spend enough time on it to do your wedding video justice. The choice is yours - just make sure you have the skill and will to pull it off if that’s the route you choose to go down.
Things to Remember
One of the things that you will need to keep in mind if you’re choosing to DIY is that the music you play in the wedding video may be subject to permissions. In the age of social media and multiple video sharing platforms, your wedding video - or at least an element of it, may well go viral. This is something you absolutely need to bear in mind when you’re choosing your wedding video music. You need to make sure that any songs you choose to play are legal to use. Imagine having your wedding videography being splashed across multiple sites with music that was used without the appropriate permissions and without due consideration of the implied royalties. The repercussions could be pretty tricky to deal with. You don’t want to be receiving written warnings around the use of a particular song in your wedding video and being made to take the music out of it altogether, nor do you want artists’ lawyers banging on your door for compensation. Ok, these may well be extreme examples but they are best avoided if you want to watch your wedding video in the future without a legal-action-induced, sour taste in your mouth.
Wedding Music Inspiration - What to Play and When?
Music creates emotions and a well-made music video will make you re-capture those emotions for years to come. This is why you need to consider the key moments you want to capture in your wedding videography. There are certain parts of your wedding day that lend themselves particularly well to being filmed and we’ve got some of those outlined below.
Introduction: this sets the scene and captures the anticipation and excitement of the wedding day; getting ready, having the bride's and bridesmaids' makeup done, arranging the dress, handing out flowers are just some of the scenes you might want to capture
The introduction can also include guests meeting and taking their places, the processional, caterers setting up the tables, and so on.
Bride’s Entrance: Capturing the reactions of guests on camera as you walk down the aisle, in all your bridal glory is priceless. Those are the emotions you wouldn’t be able to see otherwise as you would be solely focused on your husband to be. And having spent so much time and effort (and money) on your bridal look, it is a moment that will justify all the stresses and worries that came as part of that process.
The Vows: This is the most important part of your wedding day and it is therefore really key to capture this right. Emotions tend to reach a crescendo at this point. Standing up there in front of everyone is an overwhelming experience and simply impossible to put into words. Watching this moment back will undoubtedly bring tears to your eyes for years to come so make sure your videographer has the right vantage point.
The Reception: After the formalities are over, it’s time to celebrate, and getting the fun, speeches and dancing on camera is sure to give you a few laughs down the line. Practice that first dance and you may have a performance to rival Strictly!
Royalty-Free Songs
When it comes to selecting the music for your wedding video, here’s the boring, but very important, element to get right. If you want to keep things as simple as possible websites such as Royalty Free Music offer free music so you don’t need to worry about anything other than finding the perfect clip. If you want to go down the popular music route, here are the top 10 of the most popular songs, frequently featuring in wedding video across the world:
Nine Billion Bicycles - Katie Mellua
Saving All My Love For You - Whitney Houston
At Last - Aretha Franklin
From This Moment On - Shania Twains
I Hate Love Songs - Kelsea Ballerini
Halo - Beyonce
Make You Feel My Love - Adele
Perfect - Ed Sheeran
More Than Words - Extreme
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You - Andy Williams
If songs don’t quite fit into the video style you would like to create, instrumental love songs work just as well if not better, and here are our top 10 picks of the most romantic melodies:
Anyone - The Piano Guys
Thinking Out Loud - Daniel Jang
I’m Yours - Vitamin String Quartet
Rewrite The Stars - The Piano Guys
Beneath Your Beautiful - Floritatura
Everglow (Piano Version) - Ron Adelaar
If I Ain’t Got You - Brandon Myles
What A Wonderful World - Collin Hill
Here Where We Dream - Mark W Griffiths
La Vie EN Rose (piano) - Laura Sullivan
Best Videographers in Scotland
If you’ve decided that DIY wedding videography is not for you and that you’d rather leave it to the professionals to sort your wedding video from start to finish, we don’t blame you. Scotland is awash with talented wedding suppliers, wedding videographers being amongst them. Professional wedding videographers will capture your day in an unobtrusive manner so if you’re worried about having the camera in your face the whole day - don’t be. Subtlety is an art and the truly talented videographers have been honing it throughout their extensive careers. With a professional, you will feel like the star of your big day, and the memories that will be captured in your wedding blockbuster will certainly be treasured forever. Want to have a look at some examples of professional wedding films? Head on over to Wild Call Films or Cherry Tree Films for an idea of what to expect.
And if you want to look like you’re really having the time of your lives - well, you know who to come to to get the party started! Have a look at some of Music For Scotland’s professional videos of our phenomenal bands to get the mood of your big day just right.