The wedding itself is no longer the only moment couples want on camera. Hen and stag parties, day-after brunches, full wedding weekends with close friends and family — these surrounding events are taking up more and more space in the overall wedding experience. So should you book a content creator for each of them too?
The hen or stag do: an often under-documented moment
Unlike the ceremony, a hen or stag party usually has no dedicated provider — photos and videos rely entirely on guests' phones, with results that are often scattered and inconsistent, spread across ten different people's phones and never brought together in one place.
The case for booking someone: it's a one-off moment, often full of emotion and laughter, that will never happen again. Well-captured content can make a genuinely lovely gift for the couple, screened for example during the wedding itself, as a surprise in front of all the guests.
What can hold you back: budget, already stretched by the main wedding, and the fact that this moment is often more informal — some groups would rather keep that spontaneity without a "provider" in the room, to avoid changing the relaxed mood of the event.
The day-after brunch: a different moment, just as worth keeping
Far more relaxed than the ceremony, the day-after brunch usually brings together the closest friends and family, in a calmer, more low-key atmosphere. It's also often when the couple, less under pressure than the day before, comes across most naturally on camera — a nice contrast to the higher-energy pace of the wedding day itself.
How to decide if it's worth it for you
Ask yourself these 3 questions:
- Does this event bring together people who won't be at the main wedding? If so, the value of filming it goes up, since it'll be the only record of that specific gathering.
- Do you already have a provider who can cover multiple days? Some wedding content creators offer multi-day packages that bundle in these extra events at a lower combined rate, rather than paying full price for several separate bookings.
- Are you after a captured keepsake, or a moment lived without a camera around? There's no wrong answer here — some couples deliberately want the hen do or brunch to be a fully unfilmed, off-the-record moment, to feel completely free.
An option worth considering: guest-generated content
For a hen or stag do especially, a simple alternative is to appoint one or two friends to handle phone filming throughout the day, with a few basic guidelines (keep it steady, shoot vertically, avoid long repetitive clips). It won't match professional quality, but it's often enough for this kind of more casual occasion — and it costs nothing extra.
The special case of a full wedding weekend
More and more couples are planning an entire weekend (arriving Friday, wedding Saturday, brunch Sunday), especially for countryside or destination weddings. In that case, a multi-day package makes real sense: rather than booking three different providers for three separate moments, one content creator present throughout the weekend guarantees a consistent style across the whole experience.
In short
There's no universal answer here — it all depends on your budget, how emotionally significant these specific moments are to you, and whether or not you want to experience some of them entirely free of a camera. If you're unsure, start by prioritising whichever event brings together people you're unlikely to see again in one place.
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Want to capture several moments around your wedding at a bundled rate? See my multi-day packages.