'Bonus bridesmaid': Why Ballarat brides are hiring wedding content creators

Two Ballarat businesses have pivoted their photography and social media management companies to focus towards event videos.

The trend became popular as social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok have promoted vertical videos, but these Ballarat businesses take a slightly different approach.

Rebecca Start has been running her social media management business for three years but has recently expanded to cover weddings.

She said she likes to capture parts of the day for her couples to look back on without being intrusive.

"That is one of the more beautiful things. Because you're not there with a large camera, you can almost go incognito," Ms Start said.

"You get a lot of natural, raw, magical moments."

Online wedding content creators can be seen going to pricey overseas, multi-day weddings.

In 2023 Texian car dealership heiress Madelaine Brockway went viral for her multi-million-dollar Parisian wedding.

At the last minute she flew Australian Olivia Burrows Sutherland to Paris to film a wedding for her social media accounts.

Ms Start said residents in Ballarat are more likely to look at her offering as a good way to remember an important event rather than trying to push out the videos to increase a social profile.

"It is not just about what is trending, I am there for the long haul not just the TikTok moments," she said.

Ms Start said couples will hire her to take the pressure off family and friends and encourage guests to stay off their phones.

"I had a mother of the groom come up to me and said she was thankful because she had been able to enjoy her day and hadn't taken a single photo," she said.

Ballarat Event Content Creator owner Emily Buchanan said her brides enjoyed going back and watching the parts of the event they missed out on.

"They get every single clip from the whole wedding," she said.

"It would be cool to sit back and go through them all, even with your partner who wasn't there while the bride and bridesmaids were getting ready."

Ms Buchanan said she has been working on a wide range of events, including birthday parties and hens nights.

She tries to be an extra pair of hands to help out.

"I love all of the connections and friendships you make ... you become a bonus bridesmaid," she said.