How to Deliver Wedding Videos to Clients (from Google Drive, Playable on Any Phone)
Export settings that play everywhere, why H.264 beats HEVC for viewing copies, how to organise films in Google Drive, and how to send them as one gallery link that streams on any phone and lets clients download the originals.
Short answer
Export a 1080p H.264 MP4 viewing copy of each film with fast start on, keep 4K or ProRes masters as download-only files, organise everything in numbered Google Drive subfolders with a still frame as the cover, share the folder as Anyone with the link, and send it as a GalleryLink gallery that plays on any phone and lets the client download the originals.
Delivering photos has a hundred well-worn answers. Delivering video is where things still go wrong: a transfer link that expired before the couple's honeymoon ended, a 9 GB file that will not play on a phone, a Drive link that says "Couldn't preview file" in front of the client's whole family. The film is often the most emotional thing you deliver, and it deserves better than a download page.
This guide covers video delivery from the export settings up: which files to make, the formats that play everywhere, how to organise them in Google Drive, and how to send them as a proper gallery that plays on any phone and still lets the client download the full-quality file to keep.
- The short version
- What clients actually need from a film delivery
- The files to deliver
- Export settings that play everywhere
- H.264, HEVC and ProRes: why the codec matters
- How big your files will be
- Uploading and organising in Google Drive
- Turning the folder into a gallery
- What the client sees
- Downloads, big files and Drive's limits
- Photos and film in one place
- Keeping it private, and for how long
- How this compares to WeTransfer, YouTube and Vimeo
- Seven mistakes worth avoiding
- What it costs
- The whole thing on one page
The short version
Export a viewing copy of every film as an H.264 MP4 (1080p, about 12 to 16 Mbps, with "fast start" on). Put those files, named in the order you want them seen, in a Google Drive folder for the job, with a still frame exported as a JPEG to use as the cover. Share the folder as "Anyone with the link" and turn it into a GalleryLink gallery. The client gets one link that plays every film in the browser on any phone or TV, with a download button on each file. If you also deliver 4K or ProRes masters, put them in their own subfolder as download-only files.
What clients actually need from a film delivery
It is worth being clear about this before choosing tools, because "send the file" is only one of four jobs:
- Watch it, right now, on whatever is in their hand. Usually a phone, often on mobile data, sometimes cast to a TV that evening. If it does not start playing within a few seconds, the first impression of months of work is a spinning wheel.
- Share it with people who were there. Parents, grandparents, the wedding party, the marketing team. These people will not install an app or create an account.
- Keep a copy for good. The full-quality file, downloaded to their own computer or cloud, so the film outlives any link you send.
- Post a piece of it. A vertical clip for Instagram or TikTok, ideally one you cut for them rather than a screen recording of the highlight film.
A raw transfer link handles job 3 and nothing else. A YouTube upload handles jobs 1 and 2 but not 3. The workflow below covers all four with one link.
The files to deliver
Most video packages come down to some combination of these. Decide upfront which ones this client gets, and name them consistently every time.
| File | Typical length | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Teaser or trailer | 30 to 90 seconds | The first thing they watch; often delivered early as a sneak peek |
| Highlight film | 3 to 8 minutes | The film they will rewatch and share most |
| Feature or documentary edit | 15 to 40 minutes | The longer story of the day |
| Ceremony, speeches, first dance (full) | Varies | The complete, mostly uncut moments families care about |
| Social cuts | 15 to 60 seconds, vertical | Ready to post at 9:16, so nobody screen-records the film |
| Masters | Same as above | Highest quality (4K, high bitrate or ProRes) for archiving, download only |
The same structure works for non-wedding work: a brand film, cut-downs for each platform, and a master for the client's archive. For events, a recap film plus a few short clips for the organiser's social channels.
Export settings that play everywhere
The single most useful habit in video delivery is exporting two versions: a viewing copy tuned to play smoothly anywhere, and a master for keeping. The viewing copy is what plays in the gallery. Most clients only ever press play on that one.
Settings for the viewing copy:
| Setting | Viewing copy | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Container | MP4 | Plays in every browser and on every phone and smart TV |
| Video codec | H.264 | The one codec every device can decode (see the next section) |
| Resolution | 1920 × 1080 | Sharp on phones, laptops and most TVs; 4K belongs in the master |
| Frame rate | Same as your timeline | Converting 25 to 30 fps or similar adds judder |
| Bitrate | 12 to 16 Mbps (VBR) | Visually clean for most footage while streaming comfortably |
| Audio | AAC, 48 kHz, 256 to 320 kbps | Universal and transparent for speech and music |
| Fast start | On | Lets playback begin before the whole file has loaded |
Fast start deserves a word, because it is the setting most often missed. An MP4 has an index (the "moov atom") that tells a player where everything is. By default some exporters write it at the end of the file, so a browser has to fetch the end before it can play the beginning. With fast start on, the index goes first and playback begins almost immediately. In Premiere Pro and Media Encoder it is usually on by default for H.264; in other tools look for "Fast start", "Optimize for web" or "Web optimized". In HandBrake it is the "Web Optimized" tick box. DaVinci Resolve's H.264 MP4 exports are generally playable as they are; if a file seems slow to start in the browser, re-export it through HandBrake with Web Optimized on.
Vertical social cuts use the same settings at 1080 × 1920 (9:16). Our Instagram sizes guide lists the current dimensions for Reels, Stories and feed posts.
Masters are whatever you consider archival: 4K H.264 or H.265 at a high bitrate, or ProRes if the client has asked for it. They only need to download correctly, not play in a browser.
H.264, HEVC and ProRes: why the codec matters
When a film plays in a gallery, the browser decodes the file you uploaded. GalleryLink streams your original file from Drive rather than re-encoding it, which keeps the quality exactly as you exported it. It also means the codec decides whether the film plays on your client's device:
- H.264 (AVC) plays in every modern browser on every platform. This is the codec for viewing copies.
- H.265 (HEVC) gives smaller files at the same quality, and plays in Safari and on most recent Apple devices, but support in other browsers depends on the device's hardware and operating system. A film that plays perfectly on your Mac can show a black frame on a client's Windows laptop or older Android phone. Fine for masters; risky for the viewing copy.
- ProRes, DNxHR and other editing codecs are not meant for browsers at all and will not play in them. Download-only.
- iPhone footage straight off the phone is often HEVC in a .mov file. If you include raw phone clips (from a guest or a second shooter), convert them to H.264 MP4 first.
If you take one rule from this guide: every file you expect someone to press play on should be H.264 MP4.
How big your files will be
File size is just bitrate multiplied by length. A useful rule of thumb: every 1 Mbps for one minute is about 7.5 MB.
| Film | Bitrate | Length | Roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social cut, 1080 × 1920 | 12 Mbps | 45 seconds | 70 MB |
| Highlight film, 1080p | 14 Mbps | 5 minutes | 525 MB |
| Feature edit, 1080p | 12 Mbps | 30 minutes | 2.7 GB |
| Highlight master, 4K | 45 Mbps | 5 minutes | 1.7 GB |
| Full ceremony, 4K master | 45 Mbps | 40 minutes | 13.5 GB |
Two things follow. First, a highlight film at 14 Mbps streams comfortably on a decent 4G or home connection, which is why the viewing copy should not be the 45 Mbps master. Second, a full wedding delivery with masters can run to 20 to 40 GB, which matters for Google Drive storage (Google's free tier is 15 GB; Google One plans add more) and for the download notes further down.
Uploading and organising in Google Drive
For large video files, the Google Drive desktop app is more reliable than uploading through the browser: it resumes after interruptions and does not need a tab left open. Drop the files into a folder in the synced Drive and let it upload in the background. Browser uploads work too, but keep the tab open until they finish.
Organise the job like this:
Emma & Josh – Wedding film/
00 Cover.jpg
01 Films/
01 Trailer.mp4
02 Highlight film.mp4
03 Feature film.mp4
02 Full ceremony and speeches/
01 Ceremony.mp4
02 Speeches.mp4
03 First dance.mp4
03 For social/
01 Reel – vows.mp4
02 Reel – party.mp4
04 Masters (download)/
Highlight film – 4K master.mp4
Ceremony – 4K master.mp4
A few details that make a difference:
- Number everything. GalleryLink shows each subfolder as a section of the gallery and sorts files by name, so
01,02,03put the trailer before the feature, and the films section before the masters. - Export a still for the cover. The gallery's cover is a photo, so grab your favourite frame from the highlight film, export it as a JPEG, and put it in the top of the folder (
00 Cover.jpg). It becomes the image people see first and the preview when the link is shared in a chat. - Give Drive a few minutes after uploading. Google generates a thumbnail for each video after it arrives; until then a tile may show a plain placeholder. Playback itself does not wait for this.
- Share the top folder once. Right-click, Share, set General access to Anyone with the link as Viewer, and copy the link. Every subfolder inside inherits it.
If you are already using Drive for photo delivery, our guide to organising Google Drive for a photography business has a folder structure that works for both.
Turning the folder into a gallery
A Drive folder link opens on Google's file browser. For video that is a particularly poor experience: files listed by name, a preview that sometimes says it is still processing, and a viewer that plays one file at a time with the Drive toolbar on top. Clients without a Google account may also be nudged to sign in.
In GalleryLink:
- Paste the folder link on the create screen. The gallery reads the folder straight away and shows what it found, videos included.
- Name it after the couple, the brand or the event.
- Choose the cover: the still you exported.
- Write a short note in the description: what is here, which film to start with, and that each file can be downloaded. For example: "Start with the highlight film, then the full ceremony. Every film has a download button so you can keep your own copy."
- Pick a look. Darker themes suit film; a grid layout keeps video thumbnails even and calm.
- Leave downloads on so the client can keep the files.
Because the gallery reads the folder live, adding a file later (a re-export with a fixed title card, an extra reel) is just a matter of dropping it into Drive. If you replace a film, keep the same file name and it stays in the same place.
What the client sees
The client opens the link in any browser. They see your cover and title, then each section of films. Tapping a film opens it full screen and it plays in the browser, with normal controls for scrubbing, volume and full screen. If the gallery has photos as well as video, a Videos tab lets them jump straight to the films.
On a phone, the film plays right in the gallery; the player's full-screen button and a turn of the phone give it the whole screen. On a laptop, most browsers can cast to a TV (Chrome's Cast option, or AirPlay from Safari), which is how a lot of families end up watching the film together the first time.
No app, no account, no "request access". The same link works for the couple, their parents and anyone they forward it to. For family members who will not tap a link in a chat, GalleryLink also makes a printable QR card when the gallery is created.
Downloads, big files and Drive's limits
Every file in the gallery has a download button that fetches the original from Drive, so the client always gets the exact file you exported. Three things are worth knowing, and worth telling clients about in advance:
Google's virus-scan notice on large files. Google Drive does not virus-scan very large files, and for those it shows a short notice saying it can't scan the file, with a Download anyway button. It is Google's standard notice and the file is fine; a single line in your delivery message ("for the big films, Google shows a note about virus scanning: just click Download anyway") saves a worried email.
Drive's download limits. When a file is downloaded many times in a short period, Google can temporarily stop further downloads of it, usually for up to a day. This is rare for a single client, more likely for a public event film shared with hundreds of guests. Our post on Google Drive's "download quota exceeded" error explains when it happens and how to avoid it.
Downloading everything at once. On Pro, a gallery can offer a single "download all" ZIP for Drive galleries (in beta). For a video delivery with masters that can be tens of gigabytes, so large sets come down in parts, and any file Drive declines to send at that moment is listed in a note inside the ZIP instead of breaking the download. For very large master sets, many videographers still prefer to let clients download the masters one by one.
Tell the client plainly: download the films you want to keep, and store them somewhere of your own. A gallery is the best way to watch and share; it should not be the only copy anyone has.
Photos and film in one place
If you shoot both, or work alongside a photographer, one of the nicest things you can give a client is a single gallery with both. Put the photos in their own numbered subfolders alongside the films:
Emma & Josh/
01 Films/
02 Ceremony photos/
03 Portraits/
04 Reception photos/
05 Masters (download)/The gallery shows each folder as a section and adds the All / Photos / Videos tabs automatically. One link for the whole wedding is something couples remember, and it is the simplest possible thing to forward to relatives.
Photographers who add short clips to their photo deliveries (a 30-second highlight, behind-the-scenes, a reel) can use exactly the same approach. Our guide to sending a wedding sneak peek the next morning shows how a short highlight clip fits into a first-look delivery.
Keeping it private, and for how long
A gallery link is unlisted: only people with the link can open it. For most deliveries that is the right balance between private and easy to share. When a client wants more:
- Password protection (Pro) asks for a password before anything loads. Useful for corporate films under embargo, or a couple who would rather the full ceremony did not travel too far. See password-protecting client galleries.
- A closing date (Pro, beta) closes the gallery for visitors at the end of the day you choose, which suits time-limited reviews and gives clients a clear deadline to download their films.
- Your own domain (Pro) means the link reads as your studio, not ours.
How long to keep films online is a business decision; our post on how long to keep client galleries online covers the trade-offs. With Drive-linked galleries the films live in your Drive, so the cost of keeping them online is your own storage.
How this compares to WeTransfer, YouTube and Vimeo
| Transfer link | YouTube (unlisted) | Vimeo | Drive + GalleryLink | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plays in the browser | Preview at best | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Client can download the original | Yes | No | On paid plans, if enabled | Yes |
| Link lasts | Days on free plans | As long as the video is up | As long as the video is up | As long as the gallery and Drive files are up |
| Your branding | Limited | No | On paid plans | Your theme, logo and domain (Pro) |
| Photos and films together | As files | No | No | Yes, in sections |
| Re-encodes your file | No | Yes | Yes | No |
None of these is wrong. Transfer services are fine for sending raw footage to an editor. YouTube is great for public, shareable films. Vimeo is excellent for review and approval workflows. For handing a finished film to a client in a way that plays everywhere and can be kept, a gallery made from your own Drive folder covers the most ground for the least money. If you also deliver large photo sets, our comparison of ways to send large files to clients goes into the transfer options in more detail.
Seven mistakes worth avoiding
- Delivering only the master. A 45 Mbps 4K file is the right thing to keep and the wrong thing to stream on a phone. Always include a 1080p H.264 viewing copy.
- HEVC viewing copies. They look perfect on your Mac and fail on a client's laptop. Use H.264 for anything people will press play on.
- Fast start off. The film takes ages to begin, so people assume it is broken. Turn on "Optimize for web" or "Fast start".
- Folder still set to Restricted. The client sees "You need access" instead of their film. Check the link in a private browser window before sending.
- No cover still. Without a good frame as the cover, the first thing people see is a random thumbnail. Export your favourite frame as a JPEG.
- Unnumbered file names. "FINAL_v3_export.mp4" sorts wherever it lands. Name files in the order they should be watched.
- Not warning about large downloads. One sentence about Google's virus-scan notice and how much space the masters need prevents most support emails.
What it costs
- Google Drive: 15 GB free with any Google account. Video fills that quickly, so most videographers use a Google One plan for more storage. Your films stay in your Drive, under your control.
- GalleryLink Free: one gallery, shared free for 24 hours with a small "Made with GalleryLink" badge. Enough to try a delivery end to end. A one-off $10 keeps that gallery online.
- Pro, $5 a month or $50 a year: unlimited galleries that stay online, no GalleryLink branding, every theme and layout, password protection, closing dates (beta), download-all ZIP for Drive galleries (beta), gallery stats, and your own studio website and domain.
- Studio, $15 a month or $150 a year: everything in Pro plus 250 GB of hosted storage, for uploading films directly to GalleryLink instead of linking Drive, with video streaming built in.
Full details are on the pricing page. If video is most of your work, our page for videographers shows how other studios set it up.
The whole thing on one page
- Decide the files for this client: trailer, highlight, feature, full moments, social cuts, masters.
- Export viewing copies as H.264 MP4, 1080p, 12 to 16 Mbps, AAC audio, fast start on.
- Export social cuts at 1080 × 1920 with the same settings.
- Export masters at whatever quality you archive in; they are download only.
- Export your favourite frame as a JPEG for the cover.
- Upload to a Drive folder for the job with numbered subfolders: Films, Full moments, For social, Masters.
- Share the top folder: Anyone with the link, Viewer. Test it in a private window.
- Paste the link into GalleryLink, name it, choose the cover still, and write a note saying where to start.
- Send the link with one line about downloading the films to keep, and Google's note on large files.
- Check in a week later that they have downloaded what they want to keep.
Your film is the part of the day people will rewatch for decades. A delivery that plays the moment they tap it, on whatever they are holding, is a small amount of setup for the first impression it deserves. You can create a free GalleryLink account and paste your first folder link in under a minute.