How to make an engagement video that tells your love story
To make an engagement video that tells your story, write how you met, one moment from the middle and the proposal as three or four short scenes, about 150 to 450 words, and turn them into a film of one to three minutes. In Nima's Long-form Video you paste the text, pick a look such as claymation or felted wool, approve how the two of you are drawn, choose your voices, and get a short animated movie of your engagement for the party, the wedding website or a save-the-date.
Your first trailer is free.
How to make a movie about your engagement
Three scenes carry it. Write each one as a moment, with a place and a line someone said:
| Scene | What to write | Length |
|---|---|---|
| How you met | where, when, and the first thing one of you said | 30 to 60 seconds |
| The middle | one moment that shows who you are together: a trip, a terrible first apartment, the dog | 30 to 60 seconds |
| The proposal | the place, the nerves, the question, the answer | 30 to 60 seconds |
End on the yes, or have the narrator say the wedding date. A whole engagement film is often 150 to 450 words, one to three minutes.
Engagement video ideas for couples
- How we met, told straight. The classic, and the one guests ask for.
- The proposal from the other side. What the one asking was thinking, said aloud.
- Told by the dog. Write it in your dog's voice and the narrator reads it.
- A proposal video. The film tells your story and stops on the question. You ask the rest in person.
- A save-the-date. Thirty seconds, vertical, ending on the date.
- Your parents' engagement, for their anniversary, from the story they always tell.
How to write your how we met story
The same text works on your wedding website and as the film's first scene. Write it as one moment, not a timeline, and keep one line of dialogue. An example, invented:
How we met (113 words)
Priya was in the wrong line at the passport office, and Sam was the only person who told her. "This is renewals," he said. "You want the one with the crying baby." She thanked him and did not move. The crying-baby line was forty people long, and his was six. "I'm going to stay here and be wrong," she said. He let her go first. At the window the clerk sent her back anyway, and Sam, who had finished, walked over and stood in the long line with her for an hour and ten minutes. He said he had nothing else on. Two years later she found out he had missed a flight.
That is about 45 seconds of film: two people, one place, a line each, and a turn at the end.
Step by step
- Write your scenes. At least 150 words in all; add the detail of the place if you are short.
- Paste them. Open Long-form Video and paste the text.
- Pick a look. Detailed claymation, felted wool, comic book ink, acid pencil or cut paper.
- Approve how you are drawn. Nima draws each of you from how you describe yourselves in the text: hair, height, what you wore that day. Leave a note on any picture and it is redrawn.
- Pick the voices. Five voice auditions for each of you.
- Watch your free trailer. 15 to 20 seconds, as a storyboard first, then animated, free.
- Make the film. Download it, or share it with a link.
Where to show it
- The engagement party, on the TV, in widescreen.
- The wedding website, with a link.
- Instagram and TikTok, in vertical: films come in both shapes.
- The rehearsal dinner or the reception, before the speeches.
Have photos you want animated instead? Wedding photo animation makes one photo move and talk.
What it costs
Films are made on a monthly plan metered in minutes of finished film, with one, two or five rounds of notes on each film. The plans are on the pricing page. Film length follows the text at about 150 words a minute with the narrator on.
A two-minute engagement film uses two minutes of a plan.
Formats and extras
Films come in widescreen and in vertical, so the same film plays on a TV, a website, Instagram, TikTok or Shorts. Music can be added. A title card, your own artwork for the characters and your own voice for the narration are available on request. Write to hello@nima.mov and tell us what you need.
Common questions
How do I make an engagement video?
Write how you met, one moment together and the proposal as three short scenes, then make them a film. In Nima's Long-form Video you paste the text and both of you are drawn, voiced and animated.
How long should an engagement video be?
One to three minutes for the party, about 150 to 450 words. A save-the-date is better at 15 to 30 seconds.
What do you put in an engagement video?
How you met, one moment that shows you together, and the proposal, each with a line someone said.
How do I write our how we met story?
Write one moment, not a timeline: where you were, the first thing one of you said, and what happened next, in about 100 to 150 words.
Can we use our own voices?
Your own voices are available on request: write to hello@nima.mov. Otherwise each of you picks from five voice auditions.
Can I make it as a proposal video?
Yes. Write your story up to the question and end the film there, then ask in person.
How much does it cost?
The first trailer is free, and films are made on a monthly plan metered in minutes of finished film. The plans are on the pricing page.
Write how you met. The trailer is free. Make my free trailer.