Wedding Social Cuts Guide: 15s, 30s & 60s Variants for Instagram & TikTok

TL;DR — Wedding social cuts are short-form videos edited specifically for Instagram Reels, TikTok, and Stories. They come in 15-second, 30-second, and 60-second formats, always in vertical 9:16, and cost £300–£1,500 as an add-on depending on how many variants you want. If your teaser is your trailer, your social cuts are your ongoing content — the posts that keep your wedding alive on social for weeks after the day.

Social cuts are one of the fastest-growing requests we receive at Make It Real. Couples aren't just sharing a single Reel the week after their wedding — they're scheduling content for their anniversary, for Valentine's Day, for "a year ago today." A properly produced social cut pack gives you a content library that lasts. Here's everything you need to know.

What Are Wedding Social Cuts?

Social cuts are purpose-built short-form videos cut from your wedding footage for social media platforms. Unlike a teaser (which is a single 60–90 second film), a social cut pack gives you multiple individual videos, each optimised for a different platform format, post type, or moment.

They are not clips. They are not exports from your highlight film. Each social cut is individually edited — with its own music sync, its own colour treatment, and its own in-and-out point — to perform as a standalone piece of content on whichever platform it's made for.

Key differences from other deliverables:

Always vertical 9:16 aspect ratio (or 1:1 square for certain Instagram formats)
Designed for sound-off viewing — text overlays and strong visuals compensate for muted autoplay
Cut to trending audio or a licensed track chosen for virality potential
Shorter than a teaser — built to be watched in one sitting during a scroll session

The 3 Standard Lengths and What Each Does Best

Format	Length	Best Platform	Best Use Case	Price (per cut)
Micro Cut	15 seconds	Instagram Stories, TikTok	Single moment highlight (first look, ring exchange)	£150–£300
Standard Cut	30 seconds	Instagram Reels, TikTok	Best-of montage, speech clip, ceremony reaction	£250–£450
Extended Cut	60 seconds	Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts	Full emotional arc — arrival through first dance	£350–£600

Most couples book a Social Cut Pack — a bundle of 3–6 cuts across different lengths and moments — rather than individual cuts. Packs start at £600 (3 cuts) and run to £1,500 for a full 6-cut content library.

Why Social Cuts Are a Separate Service from Your Teaser

Your teaser is one film. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It is cinematic. It tells a story. A social cut does none of those things — and that is its strength.

A social cut is a moment extraction. It takes one emotional peak — the ring going on, the first look, the best man's funniest line, the sparkler exit — and builds 15–60 seconds around exactly that moment. No setup, no outro. Just the thing that made the room react.

This distinction matters for how you use each deliverable:

Teaser: Post once, within 5 days of the wedding, to announce that the film is coming. Pin it. Let it be your signature post.
Social cuts: Use across weeks and months. Post on your one-month anniversary. Post a "getting ready" cut on a Tuesday afternoon. Post your first dance every year on your anniversary. Build a content calendar with your cut pack.

What Makes a Good Social Cut?

After producing hundreds of social cuts for UK couples, here is what separates a post that gets 3,000 views from one that gets 300,000:

The hook is in the first 1.5 seconds. On TikTok and Reels, if you haven't done something interesting by second 2, the viewer is gone. The best social cuts open in motion — a turn, a reveal, a reaction — never on a static establishing shot.
The music choice matches the platform's current mood. A slow emotional ballad performs better on Reels than on TikTok, where trending audio drives most discovery. We advise on this at booking.
Sound design is layered. Even with music playing, the best cuts have a whispered word, a laugh, or a crowd cheer mixed in. Pure music-only cuts feel flat.
The vertical crop is intentional. We film with vertical in mind, not just crop a widescreen shot. Faces are centred, movement is tracked. This is why you need a videographer who thinks social-first.
Length matches intent. A single moment — first look, ring shot — is 15 seconds. A full ceremony narrative needs 60. Don't pad and don't rush.

Social Cuts Pricing: What to Budget in the UK

Here is a realistic UK pricing guide for 2024–2025:

Single 15-second cut: £150–£300
Single 30-second cut: £250–£450
Single 60-second cut: £350–£600
3-cut pack (one of each length): £600–£900
6-cut content library (mixed formats): £900–£1,500

Rush delivery (within 3 working days) adds £100–£200 to any pack. All social cuts are delivered without watermarks and formatted for direct upload — no additional export or format conversion needed.

When to Book Social Cuts

Book at the same time as your main package. Pricing is always better when combined. Adding social cuts after delivery means returning to archived footage — which is possible, but adds £100–£300 in retrieval and setup time.

If you are unsure at booking, add the option to your contract with a 4-week decision window. Most couples who see their teaser immediately want social cuts once they realise how shareable the footage is.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use social cuts as Instagram Stories?

Yes. All 15-second and 30-second cuts are formatted for Stories dimensions (9:16, 1080x1920). 60-second cuts are optimised for Reels. If you want Story-specific assets with swipe-up graphics or text prompts, that's a small add-on at £50–£80 per cut.

Do you cut to trending audio or original music?

Both options are available. Trending audio (Instagram Reels sounds, TikTok trending tracks) can increase discovery reach significantly — but the licence terms mean you can't download and repost to YouTube or third-party platforms. Licensed music gives you portability. We advise on the trade-offs at booking.

How many social cuts do I actually need?

For most couples: a 3-cut pack is the sweet spot. One for the first post (emotional), one for a second post 2–4 weeks later (fun/candid), one held in reserve for an anniversary post. If you're active content creators, the 6-cut library gives you 6 months of content.

Can I request a specific moment for a social cut?

Yes — you can brief us with up to 3 specific requests per pack ("I want a cut of my dad seeing me in the dress for the first time"). We can't guarantee every moment made it to footage — some things happen faster than cameras can catch — but we'll always tell you honestly if a moment wasn't captured.

Is there a difference between social cuts and the teaser?

Yes. The teaser is one film, 60–90 seconds, cinematic. Social cuts are multiple individual short-form pieces. See our Teaser Guide for full details.

Can I post the cuts on TikTok without crediting you?

You own the content and can post it freely. We ask (but don't require) a credit to @mktrlwedding. On TikTok specifically, discoverability for us comes from those tags — it helps us, it costs you nothing, and it might get your video onto a wedding editorial's radar.

What's the turnaround for a social cut pack?

Standard turnaround is 5–7 working days alongside your teaser. If you've booked both, they're often delivered together. Rush options available at surcharge.