MUSIC LICENSING

Can we choose our favourite song for our wedding film?

Music plays such an important role in a wedding film. It sets the pace, carries the emotion and becomes part of the way you remember your day.

So naturally, one of the questions we’re often asked is whether you can choose a favourite song, maybe the song you walked down the aisle to, your first dance song, or something you’ve loved together for years.

For our wedding films, the answer is simple: we exclusively use music licensed through Musicbed.

It means every piece of music we use has been properly licensed for our filmmaking, while giving us access to an incredible catalogue of artists and songs created for storytelling.

WHY CAN’T WE JUST USE ANY SONG?

Music is protected by copyright.

Having a Spotify or Apple Music subscription, purchasing a song, or using it during your wedding doesn’t automatically give a filmmaker permission to take that recording and synchronise it with a professionally produced film.

Different rights can apply to the composition, recording, distribution and the way a finished film is shared.

Rather than navigating different licences for individual commercial songs, or creating films that may have restrictions around where they can be shared, we’ve chosen to keep things simple and use professionally licensed music through Musicbed for every Wildwood film.

It gives both us and our couples peace of mind and allows us to focus on what matters most: creating a beautiful film of your day.

SO WHAT MUSIC DO YOU USE?

We license our music through Musicbed, one of the world's leading music licensing platforms for filmmakers.

Their catalogue is filled with beautiful independent artists and incredible music spanning cinematic, acoustic, soulful, modern, energetic and understated sounds.

Around a month before your wedding, you'll receive access to our Film Selections questionnaire where you can tell us about the music you love, the atmosphere you're creating and the overall feeling you want your film to have.

From there, we select music that feels right for you, your day and your story.

BUT WE DON'T KNOW ANY OF THE SONGS ON MUSICBED

That's completely okay, and in many ways, we think that's part of what makes wedding films so special.

Think about the soundtrack to a great film. You don't necessarily walk into the cinema already knowing every song. The music works because it belongs to the story unfolding in front of you. It builds anticipation, creates atmosphere and makes emotional moments feel even more powerful.

We approach wedding films in much the same way.

We look at the pace of your day, your personalities, the energy of your celebration, your vows, your speeches and all of the little moments in between. The soundtrack is then chosen to support those moments rather than overpower them.

Often, a song our couples had never heard before becomes inseparable from their wedding.

Years later, hearing those first few notes can instantly take them back.

WHAT ABOUT OUR FIRST DANCE OR MUSIC PLAYING FOR OUR CEREMONY?

If you have your ceremony / first dance captured and delivered as a full film, the ambient music will naturally be captured alongside the moments happening in front of us.

That's different from the soundtrack we intentionally select and edit your finished feature / highlight film to.

The creative soundtrack for your wedding film will always come from music we have appropriately licensed for our work.

CAN WE CHOOSE THE EXACT MUSIC FOR OUR FILM?

We absolutely want to understand what you love.

Our Film Selections questionnaire gives you the opportunity to share favourite genres, artists, songs, moods and examples of music that feels like you.

You can also explore Musicbed and let us know if there are particular tracks from the catalogue that you love.

We do, however, ask that you trust us with the final soundtrack selection.

Music is a huge part of the editing process. The right track needs to work not only emotionally, but also with the pace of the footage, your dialogue, vows, speeches and the natural rhythm of your wedding day.

Just as you trust us to decide where to place a cut or when to let a moment breathe, music is another part of how we tell your story.

A SOUNDTRACK THAT BECOMES YOURS

Our goal isn't simply to put video clips over a beautiful song.

We want to create a film that feels deeply connected to the people, atmosphere and emotion of your wedding.

Sometimes choosing music you haven't heard a hundred times before allows something wonderful to happen, the memories become attached to your film, your people and your day.

From then on, it isn't just a song you discovered on Musicbed.

It's your wedding song.