Ways to Incorporate Vertical Smartphone Videos into Your Wedding Video

Weddings today often feel like a blend of celebration and content creation. In fact, a Marie Claire article noted that “guests are now part of the content engine” (www.marieclaire.co.uk). As a wedding or family-event editor, you’ll likely end up with dozens of vertical-phone clips from guests. The challenge is fitting those 9:16 videos into a 16:9 highlight or slideshow without awkward black bars or chopped scenes. Below are creative techniques – from blurred sidebars to split-screen layouts and AI tools – to smoothly include vertical smartphone footage in your wedding video.

Add blurred or color-filled sidebars

One simple fix is to fill the empty sidebars of a vertical clip. Instead of showing black bars on the left and right, add a blurred or colored background that matches the footage. For example, duplicate the vertical clip onto a lower layer, scale it up far enough to cover the full frame, and apply a heavy blur. Then place the original sharp clip on top, centered. This creates a soft, extended frame in a matching tone. Alternatively, use a solid-color or gradient fill on each side (perhaps a wedding-theme color or blurred wedding venue image). Many video editors and online tutorials recommend this approach to “fill in the sides of your vertical video” with blur or color (www.flexclip.com). It keeps the subject intact and makes the overall image feel more intentional than just having black bars.

• Tip: Some editors have built-in “blanking fill” or background-blur effects for vertical videos. Look for a way to stack layers or use a background layer. Even a simple vignette of the same color can tie things together.

Crop and Zoom to Fit

Another approach is to scale the vertical video so it fills the horizontal frame, then crop off the top and bottom. In practice, you put the vertical clip in the timeline and increase its scale/zoom until the width matches 16:9. This eliminates any empty margin but cuts out parts of the original shot. It works best if the main action is in the center of the frame and the lost edges aren’t important. For example, if a bridesmaid’s phone video lingers on her face, you can safely zoom in on her face without losing context. Many editors let you reposition after zooming; just make sure you don’t cut off subjects’ heads or key details.

• Downside: You will lose some background or peripheral content by cropping in. Use this only when the essential content (like a bride and groom in close-up) remains visible after zooming.

Split-screen collage

Turn the problem into a feature by pairing multiple clips side by side. You can place two vertical videos next to each other so they each occupy half the widescreen canvas. For example, show two guests’ phone angles of the same moment together. Or combine one vertical clip with a related photo or horizontal B-roll on the other side. This effectively creates a collage or “split-screen” frame. It makes creative use of the wide canvas rather than leaving either side empty.

For instance, you might put the groom’s vertical reaction clip on one side and the bride’s vertical reaction on the other. Both play in sync as one composition. Or show a portrait phone-video bride on the left and a wedding album photo on the right. Experiment with scale and spacing so that both streams are balanced. Many editors allow multiple tracks and picture-in-picture placement, so simply drag each clip to position.

• Example: Two vertical videos, each scaled to half the screen, can be used for dialogue, dance, or reaction shots. Or pair a vertical “ceremony video” with a wide shot of the venue on the right side as a still or video loop.

Picture-in-Picture overlay

Picture-in-picture (PIP) is similar to split-screen but layered. Here you play one clip full-size (often another horizontal video or photo in the background) and overlay the vertical video as a smaller window. For example, use a wide-angle shot of the ceremony as the background; then insert the smartphone’s portrait video in a corner with a subtle border or shadow. This way, the vertical clip is treated like an inset. It can show, say, the videographer’s camera view or a guest’s impression while the main action continues in the background.

You could also place a vertical clip onto a plain colored frame (like a Polaroid-like border) floating over the widescreen canvas. Many wedding editors use this to show “reaction cams” or behind-the-scenes moments. To do this, simply add the vertical clip on a higher video track and resize it smaller. Use keyframes or preset borders/frames if you want it to move or animate. This honors the portrait composition without stretching it.

Pan-and-zoom on a still

If you can’t fit the moving clip nicely, consider freezing a key frame and treating it like a photo. Capture a meaningful frame from the vertical video, then use a slow Ken Burns pan/zoom on that still. For example, pause on the couple’s happy embrace in the vertical shot, then slowly zoom in or pan across that frozen image. This avoids black bars entirely (since a photo fits the canvas by itself) while still adding gentle motion. It’s especially useful for slideshows or montage segments where you might already be using stills. The trade-off is you lose the live-motion feel of the clip, but you gain a smooth integration.

• Pro edit tip: If your editing software lets you animate photos easily (like most do), try layering a vignette or light effect to blend the still with your other footage.

Leverage auto-reframe tools

Modern video editors have AI-assisted “auto-reframe” or “smart resize” features that can help. These tools automatically detect subjects and recrop clips to new aspect ratios. For instance, Adobe Premiere Pro’s Auto Reframe effect “automatically adjusts your video’s aspect ratio and framing for different platforms” (helpx.adobe.com). In practice, you give it a vertical clip and tell it to output 16:9; the software will keep the main subject centered by shifting the crop as needed. Other programs like DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro (Shot Flow), or mobile apps like CapCut offer similar options.

Simply apply the auto-reframe effect to each vertical clip. The software will intelligently pan or zoom the shot to fill the horizontal frame as much as possible. This isn’t perfect (the algorithm might miss a foot or hand), but it can be a huge time-saver. After the auto-reframe pass, you can fine-tune keyframes if needed. Even smartphone video editors or online tools often have “smart crop” options now.

Background removal and composite

For a more polished composite, use an AI background remover or rotoscoping tool on your vertical clip. Basically, cut out the subject (people or objects) and place them on a new, wide background. For example, isolate the bride and groom from a portrait video and drop them onto a soft blur or a photo of the venue. This eliminates the portrait edges altogether.

Many advanced editors (and cloud AI editors) offer automatic rotoscoping. With it, the vertical video’s background can become transparent, and you can insert any image, color, or video underneath. You might replace a phone video of vows with a blurred shot of the aisle, or put a guest speaking over an abstract pattern. This takes the thematic content of the clip and lets it fill the frame creatively. It does require a bit of extra editing, but the result can be seamless.

• Pro tip: After background removal, add a subtle drop shadow or glow to the cutout so it doesn’t look flat. This fuses the subject with the new background better.

Create a dedicated vertical reel

If incorporating a vertical clip into the main horizontal edit feels forced, you can still honor that content by publishing a separate vertical “reel” or story for social media. Many couples now expect Instagram Reels or TikTok versions of their highlight. In this approach, you edit the phone footage as a standalone vertical video with music. Then in your main wedding video (or event photo slideshow) you might include a card or slide that says “See guest videos on our Facebook group” or similar, linking to that vertical reel.

This keeps the main wedding movie in a consistent widescreen format while still ensuring guests’ phone clips get shared. For example, a 30-second Reel of the ceremony as filmed by friends can be uploaded to Instagram, with a URL or QR code shown at the end of the slide show saying “Watch more @…” or “Scan here for vertical videos.” This way, content-savvy couples and families have all their footage covered, even if not on the main horizontal timeline.

Common issues & fixes

When working in both formats, you’ll often run into some typical pitfalls. Here are quick fixes for common headaches:

• Black bars or “pillarboxing.” If blank side areas still appear, use one of the above padding tricks: blurred fill or PIP. Make sure your final sequence is 16:9 and that any unfilled space is covered with an effect or graphic, not left as pure black.
• Shaky or poorly framed clips. Phone camerawork can be shaky. Run these through a video stabilizer (Premiere’s Warp Stabilizer, DaVinci’s stabilizer, or VIDIO’s Stabilizer tool) before other edits. Even if it crops the edges slightly, it will drastically improve viewer comfort. Also, if a clip’s subject is off-center, re-center it first (crop or reposition) before doing creative fills.
• Dark/low-quality footage. Many smartphone videos shot indoors are under-exposed or noisy. Use a brightness/contrast or color-correction filter to match the tone of your main footage. Tools like VIDIO’s auto-brightener can help lift a dark clip with one click. For grainy clips, try a light denoise filter or simply rely more on it being a small inset.
• Audio issues. Vertical clips often have low or noisy audio. Either clean it up with an audio denoiser or replace it entirely. You can mute the phone clip and overlay your music track or a voiceover. If you want the phone’s audio (like a guest singing), boost it and EQ out background noise as much as possible.
• Aspect flags/wrong orientation. Some phones embed rotation flags. Always check the clip’s orientation in your editor. If a vertical video ended up sideways, rotate it correctly before applying any of the above fixes. Also ensure your project sequence is set to the right aspect ratio (usually 16:9 for wedding films).
• Resolution mismatch. Vertical clips might be 1080×1920 in portrait. If your project is 4K or higher resolution, those clips could look slightly soft when scaled. If available, use a super-resolution or upscaling AI (like VIDIO’s upscaler) to match detail. Or simply not make them full-screen; PIP or collage works with smaller frames, which hides softness.

VIDIO shortcut

Finally, remember that many of these tasks can be streamlined with AI-assisted tools. For example, VIDIO’s AI video editor offers features that directly address vertical-video editing:

• Smart Resizing/Auto-Reframe: VIDIO can automatically detect people in the vertical clip and expand the frame. It will fill the sides with a blurred or color-matched background so you don’t see black bars. In practice, you just choose a horizontal output and it “pivots” the portrait video to fit.
• Background Removal (Rotoscope) Tool: With one click, VIDIO can cut out the subject of a vertical video and let you place them on any wide background. This makes the overlay/composite trick very easy – no manual masking needed.
• Video Enhancers: If a phone clip is dark or blurry, try VIDIO’s Video Brightener or Upscaler. The brightener will automatically boost exposure or color, while the upscaler sharpens detail up to 4K. These give phone footage the polish of professional cameras.
• Stabilizer: For wobbly footage, the built-in stabilizer can smooth out motion quickly.
• All-in-One Editing: VIDIO’s AI editor also offers automated trimming, scene finding, and even captioning. So tasks like extracting highlights or creating a slideshow from photos (with pan/zoom effects) can often be done with a preset.

Using these tools on a vertical clip can save you manual work. For instance, you might upload the clip to VIDIO, apply the “background remove” filter, and then select a wedding-themed background image. Or just use “auto resize” and let the AI pad it to 16:9 automatically. These shortcuts ensure your content-savvy wedding clients get all their social-worthy footage included with minimal extra effort.