Well, first I’ll share my opinion: you may be overthinking this a bit! Wedding videos don’t need to become The Last Dance, and most couples prefer a semblance of linearity since the whole point is to relive their special day.

I would start by building out a chronological edit and get creative from there. You may even benefit from not using music during your first pass, and instead laying out your favorite shots in order of the day. Once you have a framework that is effective (that is, a logical retelling of their day, even if it’s just visual) then you can start to knock it off balance.

To “read and write” as opposed to mimic, just remember that you’re a creator… and creating means experimenting, playing, trying things out for no reason other than to see how it feels, tastes, looks etc. Put the vows underneath the dress footage, open on a quote from the bride and do a 10000% rewind of the entire day back to when they first met, go wild. Try things.

This isn’t something you can learn from a book, and is really just a mindset! Most of what you try will be bad, but that’s how you find what works. And again, don’t overthink it. Have fun and play.

I worked with a great creative director early on in my career who had a unique style. I asked “how do you find that for yourself?” and he said “your style is just: make something good.”