A same-day edit — SDE for short — is a two- to four-minute film of the wedding ceremony, cut and graded in time to play at the reception the same evening. It is the single most-asked-about add-on we get, and also the most misunderstood.
How the timeline actually works
A dedicated editor travels with the crew and starts cutting the moment usable footage comes off the cards — typically right after the pheras. With a six-hour gap between ceremony and reception, that leaves roughly three to four hours of real edit time, which is tight but workable with the right footage discipline on set.
It needs a second, dedicated shooter
An SDE cannot be built from the same footage as the main film, because the editor needs clean, specific shots handed off in real time rather than mixed into six hours of general coverage. We assign one videographer whose only job that day is capturing SDE-ready material — reactions, details, wides — on a strict shot list.
What it costs and why
Expect ₹35,000–₹55,000 on top of standard videography, covering the extra crew member, a dedicated editor on standby, and the render and export time squeezed into a few hours rather than a few weeks.
When it's genuinely worth it
SDEs land best at receptions with 300+ guests, where there's a natural pause for speeches or a stage moment to screen it. For an intimate 80-guest reception, that same budget is usually better spent on a longer highlight film delivered properly, with time to grade it well.
An SDE trades polish for immediacy. If your reception has a screen and a room that will actually watch it, that trade is worth making.
For the full film timeline instead — not same-day — see our breakdown in what a cinematic wedding film actually costs.
