Is an SDE really a must-have for weddings?

A wedding can pass in a blur, but a same-day edit video brings its heartfelt moments back to life through a cinematic recap of the special day.

Preparations, walking down the aisle, exchanging vows, and sharing heartfelt moments with loved ones—these are memories newlyweds will want to relive long after the celebration is over. An SDE recaps these moments together in a short film, often shown toward the end of the reception, allowing couples and their guests to look back on the day together.

Recently, a bride went viral after sharing her “P175K wedding disappointment,” with much of her frustration centered on her SDE. In a series of social media posts, she detailed how the final video fell short of her expectations, which sparked discussions within the wedding community.

While SDEs have become a staple at many weddings, the controversy raises an important question: Do you really need a same-day edit?

Laurence Mauleon, Creative Director of Sundowner Films, shared with PhilSTAR L!fe what the production team does for the SDEs.

"Same-day edit [is] a full-day sprint," he said. "While everyone is enjoying the wedding of our couple, our team behind the scenes is working, thinking, and anticipating what will happen next on the wedding day itself."

He shared that the team usually begins filming about six hours before the ceremony and works continuously for approximately 11 to 15 hours, covering preparations through the reception and SDE viewing.

What you pay for an SDE

Like most suppliers, putting together a photo and video team for an SDE involves several costs—not just the equipment used on the wedding day, but also the skills, experience, and support that go into delivering the service.

According to Mauleon, one of the things couples pay for is the equipment. He shared that a decent set of equipment for a videographer—including full-frame cameras, a lineup of lenses, lights, and other essential gear—requires a significant investment. A single setup can typically cost around P300,000 to P500,000.

There’s also the value of skills and experience, noting that some members of the team have been in the industry for more than a decade, which gives them extensive experience with weddings and a strong understanding of how the day unfolds.

He added that there’s back-office support that couples don’t necessarily see on the wedding day. Outside of the event itself, the team also has expenses for people such as a secretary, social media manager, and in-house editor, along with taxes and other miscellaneous costs involved in running the business.

Mauleon said that, with the pressure of producing the film on the same day, one of their biggest challenges is balancing a couple’s expectations with the spontaneity of the day.

Amid the discussion, many weighed in on their own experiences with wedding planning and dealing with suppliers. Social media personality David Guison recently shared his thoughts on SDEs, saying he isn't a fan of rushing the creative process during weddings.

"[Because] you can't rush art! And sometimes they stretch the reception program because everyone's waiting for the video," Guison wrote on Threads. He recently tied the knot with beauty queen-content creator Angelique Manto in back-to-back weddings in May.

Many echoed his sentiment. For Rei Love Chua, who got married in March 2025, skipping the SDE was simply a matter of staying true to who she and her husband are.

"When my husband and I were in the early stages of planning our wedding, I already told him and my wedding coordinator that I didn’t want an SDE. There’s no dramatic reasoning behind it. Personally, my husband and I are quite awkward, and we’re not the kind of couple who can easily pull off a goofy personality or a dramatic scenario," she shared with L!fe.

"Both of us are very reserved, and since it was our wedding, I wanted it to be all about us and, mainly, the union itself," she said. "It saved me a lot of time and allowed me to really sink in and enjoy my wedding day instead of constantly focusing on getting the perfect shot."

Chua said she didn’t feel FOMO looking back, and was happy with their decision to skip the SDE, especially since it meant avoiding the extra hours of filming and preparation before the wedding.

Instead of opting for an SDE, Chua and her husband chose a photographer who understood their preference and had their photos developed into a physical album.

"For me, there’s something really special about being able to look back at those printed photos rather than only having everything saved digitally," she said.

On the other hand, newlywed bride Angela Patricio-Gamit said having an SDE gave them heartfelt moments she believes they would not have experienced had they chosen not to avail of one.

"It added so much fun and emotion to our wedding day. From shooting with our entourage, telling the story of our love through our vows, to seeing the happy faces and even the tears of our guests, it made the experience even more meaningful. For me, an SDE is not just about us as a couple. It’s also about everyone who celebrated, laughed, and shared that special moment with us," she told L!fe.

For Irra Bulalacao-Flores, she and her husband also recognize that not everyone will be able to attend their wedding. Since they can’t invite everyone, the SDE gives their friends who couldn’t be there a glimpse of the celebration and lets them share in the experience.

Both Patricio-Gamit and Bulalao-Flores shared that the SDE gave them a different perspective of their wedding and allowed them to see the emotions of their loved ones.

"Feeling ko 'pag hindi kami nag-SDE, we will miss out on something," Bulalacao-Flores said. "Gusto ko rin makita is 'yung nagpe-prepare ako and how others perceived our wedding during that day...Kaya okay sa amin talaga na may SDE because it’s something na hindi lang ite-treasure, but makikita rin natin yung other parts of our wedding that we weren’t able to see during the prep," she added.

The two also said that getting an SDE was worth it.

Bulalacao-Flores, while agreeing with Guison that you can’t rush art, noted that an SDE can still capture real moments and turn them into art, even without grand gestures or effects.

"Imagine mo, in one day, it's just, I think, 10 hours of your life during this day, and na-capture niya lahat—faces of the people you love, faces of the people who joined you in your wedding, ganyan. I think it's rather the art itself; it's the moment that you're capturing," she told L!fe.

"Hindi siya kailangan maging performative in a manner na dapat perfect lahat because you're just capturing a moment of a couple who celebrate their union," she added.