Couples are saying 'I do' to wedding content creators

Couples who want to share images from their weddings almost like breaking news — the first look, dance, kiss and beyond — are hiring wedding content creators to do just that.

This nontraditional member of the vendor team can — often in less than 24 hours after the big gig — produce candid, short-form vertical video clips of special moments for posting on social media or for personal use. Armed mainly with an iPhone or two, the content creator is being roundly hailed as the service that seizes the day fastest and first.

It’s a newish way to look at things

When Erica Surgeary started her Port Washington-based business, Empire Content Creation, three years ago, she says, "People would ask, ‘Who is this girl walking around with an iPhone?’ There weren’t content creators."

Today Surgeary, 31, estimates that while 60% of weddings still have traditional videographers, 40% have content creators either in place of them or as an add on. "We fulfill that very modern need of ‘I want it now. If it’s not now, it’s too late,’ ” she says.

Instead of posing people, she says, "I tell my clients that I’m like a wallflower." She works on capturing authentic moments "like your grandparents crying at the ceremony." The only time she sets up shots is "when they’re specifically wanting to make a TikTok. My clients say, ‘We just want to relive our day and extend our adrenal high,’ and it’s nice to fulfill that instant gratification pretty much within hours."

Rather than waiting weeks or months (the typical amount of time to get professional photos and videos, Surgeary says she sends raw footage the very next day, with "a few pictures that I deem Instagram worthy."

Edited posts — short 25- to 45-second snippets — come back in about a week with clips that define the various highlights from romantic to fun to emotional. "It’s storytelling about their day," she adds.

The price is right

"The industry is evolving," explains Rick Sanabria, 35, of Slick Creations in Northport, who calls himself a "Nextdayographer," which he says is trademarked.

Sanabria transitioned from being a DJ in late 2024 to offering content creator services and has a bustling business. He says his staff of 10 is booked for some 100 weddings this year and beyond: "People want different things and if you don’t change with the times, it’s either sink or swim."

That’s true, says Danielle Caldwell, a luxury wedding planner whose eponymous company is in Smithtown. "The industry is constantly changing, and people are becoming more creative," she explains. "There’s not one way to do this anymore."

Caldwell estimates the average price for good quality wedding videography on Long Island is around $6,000 to $6,500. Surgeary’s fee is $1,550 for a six-hour wedding package up to $2,100 for a 10-hour day. Sanabria’s prices go from $1,800 to $3,000.

Different strokes

Among the biggest differences between the videographer and the content creator are "the equipment and the deliverables," Surgeary says. One of her clients, Lauren Smith, 28, of Commack, who married her high school sweetheart, Nicholas Smith, 28, in September at Larkfield in Northport, used a photographer but only hired a traditional videographer for the church service.

"I wanted to have fun at our wedding, and I didn’t feel forced to take videos," says Smith, who adds working with Surgeary was "seamless. She was organic."

Proud of the DIY aspects of her wedding, which included a novel T-shirt toss to her guests, Smith says Surgeary "captured so many special moments. After all the hard work I did, I have the videos to fall back on now. I don’t have to sit down and look on my laptop."

Likewise for James, 40, and Fabella Terry, 36, of Coram, who were married in June 2025 at Crescent Beach Club in Bayville, and opted out of hiring a videographer completely, instead booking Sanabria’s Slick Creations.

"It was my idea," Fabella says. "We wanted a keepsake, and instead of wedding videography which is so expensive, for us it was more about curated content for our page and snippets of behind the scenes. We didn’t want to have to sit down and watch a whole video."

Her husband says, "I was very skeptical at first. She had to talk me into it. But when all was said and done, I knew it was a good idea. It was in the moment, like [the content creator] got a picture of me kind of crying a little bit when my dad was giving a speech. I didn’t know he got that."

Fabella believes that videographers are more about the big picture. "Content creators capture behind the scenes and all the details including the bloopers. It’s really cool to watch."

Are videographers finished?

Will content creators replace traditional videographers? That’s "a flat out no," says Brian Ozegovich, owner of Park Ave Studios in Ronkonkoma whose company does "about 700 weddings a year." Ozegovich says out of 100 couples, "80% will get a wedding video and only a small amount will get content creation as an enhancement.

"It’s less expensive, it’s true," he adds, "but years down the road, you’re going to be disappointed and like ‘that was quick.’ The whole idea of a wedding video is that you’re actually watching the whole wedding."

Less adamant is Justin Geisel, owner of Lotus Wedding Photography in Melville who says, "There’s no one size fits all. Some people want to get clips for Instagram, some couples want to sit down and watch a long, more polished video."

He admits that at first he thought the whole content creation genre "was a trend or fad." But now he offers it. And in lieu of set wedding packages, he says, "I let couples choose what they’re going to pay for."

That said, Sanabria, who touts his process as speedy and cinematic says, "I’ve been called a memory magician. Some of my clients are choosing this over traditional videography so they can extend their wedding bliss."

The whole concept is pretty simple according to him. "Everybody loves being able to watch things on a phone. Maybe not everyone’s into social media videos, but any memory we have goes into our phone these days. It’s no longer a picture in our wallet." He adds, "Even Grandma has an iPhone."