A video wedding invitation that opens like a film

A video wedding invitation is a short film that opens your invitation before a guest reads a word. At Tying The Knot it is silent, made with AI tools for your venue, colours and style, and checked by a person frame by frame before you see it. The examples run 5 to 10 seconds, then hand over to a full invitation website: the day, the way there and the reply.

This page covers what the film is, how it is made, why it has no sound, what guests see on a phone and how it compares with cheaper ways to get a video invitation. Every price is dated and sourced at the end.

What is a video wedding invitation?

Sellers use the phrase for several things: an animated card, a clip you send on WhatsApp, a slideshow with music. A Tying The Knot film is different. It is the front door of a full invitation website, not a file you attach to a message.

A guest taps your link and sees the film's first frame, with a prompt to open it, such as "Open the booklet" or "Set sail" in two of the examples. The film plays. In all twelve examples its last frame is the top of the page, so the film flows straight into the invitation. The guest then scrolls through the day.

That split matters. A film cannot hold a schedule, take a reply or tell a cousin flying in from Boston which airport to use. The page does that work. The film sets the tone.

What do the Tying The Knot films look like?

Each example has its own opening, and the films were made with AI tools. Here are five of them:

• Laura & Conor: an envelope on green linen, sealed with navy wax. The flap lifts and the invitation card rises out of it.
• Ellen & Pádraig: a slow push-in onto a painted map of Killarney lying on a hotel desk, with a brass room key and a cup of tea at its edges.
• Fionn & Grace: a tilt from a lighthouse at blue hour down to a calm sea, which becomes a sea chart.
• Róisín & Hazel: a wreath of Irish wildflowers growing from a single sprout.
• Niamh & Oisín: a wax-sealed envelope beside a branch of lemons, opening onto a painting of Lake Como.

The films are made in portrait to fill a phone held upright, most at 720 by 1280. They run from about 5 to 10 seconds, and each file is under 2.5 MB. All twelve are on the examples page.

How is the film made?

Plainly: with AI. AI image and video tools generate the scenes, guided by what you tell us about your venue, your colours and your style. The film is AI-assisted, not shot on a camera, and we say so on this site.

A person at Tying The Knot then checks every film frame by frame before you see it. That check is for the usual faults of AI video: an object that appears twice or vanishes, a building or a floor that warps, and an ending with no calm space for your names and details. A take that fails is thrown out and made again.

Your names and details are not drawn by the AI. They are ordinary text on the page, laid over the film's last frame, so a name cannot come out garbled. You see the film and the site together in your preview, and you get two rounds of changes.

Why is the film silent?

There are four reasons.

1. Guests open links anywhere. On a train, at work, in a waiting room, beside a sleeping child. A film that starts with sound is a poor first impression.
2. Browsers are strict about sound. Mozilla's developer documentation says media with sound is generally blocked from autoplaying until the user has interacted with the site, while muted media is generally allowed (MDN, autoplay guide, checked 12 October 2026). A silent film does not depend on that rule.
3. Accessibility. The W3C's WCAG 2.2, criterion 1.4.2 (Level A), says that if audio plays automatically for more than 3 seconds, there must be a way to pause or stop it, or to control its volume separately from the system volume (W3C, checked 12 October 2026). A film with no audio track never raises the question. The twelve example films have none.
4. Songs belong to your guests. Each guest can request a song for the dance floor when they reply, and the requests become one list for your DJ or band.

What do your guests see on a phone?

Both kinds of phone matter in Ireland. Android had 52.62% of mobile traffic in September 2026 and iOS 47.37% (StatCounter, by page views, checked 12 October 2026), so open an example on each if you can.

This is what a guest does:

1. The link arrives in a WhatsApp message, a text or an email. Put your names and the date in the message and the link on a line of its own, so it reads well with or without a preview.
2. They tap the link and see the film's first frame, with a prompt to open it.
3. They tap, and the film plays: 5 to 10 seconds, silent, in portrait.
4. The film ends on the first screen of the invitation. They scroll through the day, the venue, how to get there, where to stay and what to wear.
5. They reply, request a song, and add the day to their calendar with one tap.

There is no app to download and no account to make.

How does it compare with cheaper ways to get a video invitation?

There are cheaper routes, and good reasons to take them. Prices below were checked on 12 October 2026.

These are not like for like. Most of the options above give you a video, or add a video to a digital invitation. Tying The Knot gives you the film and the invitation site it opens, made and checked together. If a short animated card is all you want, a cheaper option may suit you better.

Template prices vary by seller and by plan, so check the exact template you choose, and what it will cost you to edit it, host it and collect replies.

Do you still need printed invitations?

That is your call. Tying The Knot itself is fully digital, but nothing stops you posting a card with your link on it.

Posting costs money. Since 3 February 2026, An Post stamps cost €1.85 within Ireland, €3.50 to Britain and the rest of Europe, and €3.95 to the rest of the world (An Post, checked 12 October 2026). Eighty invitations to Irish addresses and twenty to Britain or Europe come to €218 in stamps before any reply postage (our arithmetic: €148 plus €70). A link has no stamp.

For scale, couples in Weddings Online's December 2025 survey (1,014 couples, one directory's users, so a guide only) spent €327 on invitations on average.

What does it cost?

A Tying The Knot site is €750 including VAT, one price, for a year online. The film is part of it, with the invitation site, the travel planner, RSVP, your dashboard and the table plan, two rounds of changes and a web address.

Extras are optional: rush delivery €250, an extra event page €120, a second language €300, guest photos €300, an extra round of changes €100, and extended hosting €150 for each further 12 months. The pricing page has the current figures.

How Tying The Knot handles this

You tell Tying The Knot about your venue, the season and the colours you like, by typing or by voice note, and you upload your photos. Tying The Knot makes the film and builds the site. You review a preview and can ask for changes in two rounds. Then you share one link with every guest.

The how it works page walks through the steps, the examples show the range, and get started is where you begin.

Sources, checked 12 October 2026

• Copulous Media, custom animated wedding video invitation
• Evite You, pricing
• Etsy, wedding video invite search and Canva, wedding invitation videos, seen in search results (the pages themselves would not open for our tools that day)
• MDN, autoplay guide
• W3C, WCAG 2.2 understanding audio control
• StatCounter, mobile operating system share in Ireland, September 2026
• An Post, stamp price changes, press release of 12 January 2026
• Weddings Online, the 2025 Irish wedding survey