A couple hired a professional content creator for their wedding - and spent £750 to ensure they had the perfect candid videos to post on Instagram. Rachel Winchester, 26, and her now-husband Richard, 36, wanted to make sure they had stunning memories of their big day.
After spending a year and over £40k planning the wedding they wanted to ensure they'd have beautiful videos to share online. They feared they'd miss those "special little moments" during their big day with a photographer alone.
So Rachel and Richard splashed out £750 for a professional content creator to ensure they'd have the perfect reels to share on Instagram after the big day. Despite the expense the couple say it was worth every penny - and left them with thousands of Instagram-ready moments to share just 24 hours later.
They believe the trend of hiring a content creator, which is rising in popularity in the US, will likely catch on in the UK too.
Rachel, a data analyst said: "Some people didn’t understand why we had a content creator but when they saw the result they got it. When we put so much effort into planning the day, we didn’t want to miss out.
"We weren’t the first but probably one of the first in the UK - it was the first wedding we’ve been to where there was a content creator. We don’t have a big following on social media but we love our social media and being able to share them with friends and family.
"Hiring a content creator was one of the best things we did."
Rachel and Richard met five years ago and got engaged in June 2022 and booked a stunning 15th century venue in the Cotswolds for May 28, 2023. They spent over £40k planning everything to a tee - including paying over £3,000 for a professional photographer.
But as the day approached they began to wonder how they'd be able to capture all the behind-the-scenes memories as well as experience the day. Rachel spotted an advert for a wedding content creator on Instagram - Jamie from The Social Wedding.
Rachel said: "It gave us the perfect answer to the concerns we had."
They selected Jamie's most expensive, comprehensive package costing £749 for the full day - which includes a pre-wedding consultation, eight hours of content, unlimited raw photos and videos and four edited TikToks or Reels. Rachel said: "Even costing the extra £750, we knew we wanted it. After one conversation we went straight in and booked."
On their day, while their professional photographer snapped the highlights, Jamie followed the couple around to capture their more intimate moments. These included the family talking, people dancing, cute moments with friends and their nephews playing mini golf.
Rachel said: "We got to see all the little interactions we might have missed otherwise."
While they had to wait weeks for their professional pictures to come through, they got their bundle of 1,500 photos and videos for their social media within 24 hours. This included a handful of ready-made reels perfect to post on Instagram to their friends to showcase their big day.
While Rachel said a content creator could never replace a professional photographer, they worked together "seamlessly". She said: "We made a last minute decision to book a content creator, but we'd recommend it.
"The key thing was we didn’t use our phones the whole day and we still didn’t feel like we’d missed anything. People try and do polaroid and disposable cameras on tables to capture those little moments, but having someone there where that's their role, it was just great.
"Having quick things to post on social media the next day too took all the stress away. £750 for the amount of work put in, if anything, it's not enough - it's a new and emerging thing but there's so much value in it.
"The photographer's photos will be treasured forever but having all the behind-the-scenes pictures and videos to go back and watch was invaluable."
