How to find the vows, speeches and toasts in hours of wedding footage
The fastest way to find the spoken moments of a wedding is to have every clip transcribed, then search by what was said. Basecut does this on your own Mac or PC: type "I promise" or "raise your glasses" and jump to the line, instead of scrubbing a four-hour reception take on every camera.
Last checked 2026-10-26, against Basecut 4.1.1.
Where a step names Basecut, it is our product, so judge that part on your own footage. The habit of searching by words instead of by timecode is worth keeping whatever tool you use.
What to search for
| Moment | Try searching | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Vows | "I promise", "I take you", "in sickness" | Most vows share a few stock phrases, even personal ones. |
| Ring exchange | "with this ring" | Short, distinctive and almost always said. |
| Pronouncement and kiss | "you may kiss", "husband and wife" | Lands you seconds before the kiss. |
| Toasts | "raise your glasses", "cheers", "best man" | Speakers tend to open and close the same way. |
| Parent speeches | "father of the bride", "when she was little" | Meaning match helps when the wording varies. |
Step by step
1. Import the wedding as it came off the cards
Point Basecut at the card dump or the wedding folder. It reads the files where they are and never changes the originals.
2. Write a brief that names the spoken moments
In the optional brief box (up to 400 characters), write what matters for this wedding, such as "the vows, the ring exchange, the toasts, the father of the bride speech". Clips that match rank higher and carry a Brief match tag.
3. Let the analysis transcribe and rate everything
During the run Basecut transcribes what is said in every clip and rates each one. Long ceremony and reception takes (over 90 seconds) are judged section by section, so the card shows the best moment and the time it happens.
4. Search for the words you remember
In the Library, type what was said or a short description: "I promise", "raise your glasses", "best man". Spoken matches show an excerpt of the transcript around the words and the time in the clip, so one click opens the preview at that line.
5. Check the warning tags on talking clips
Tags such as Dead air, Restart take, Rambly or Fillers flag problems in a spoken take. A toast with a Restart take tag usually has a cleaner second attempt nearby.
6. Send the moments to your editor
Resolve, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro all get the clips with markers on the best moments, so the vows and toasts are waiting on the timeline instead of buried in a four-hour reception take.
Where it goes wrong
- Transcripts follow the camera's own microphone. A camera at the back of a loud reception may only catch part of a toast, so search the closest angle first.
- Vows said quietly or in another language can transcribe poorly. Search for the words around them, such as the officiant's lines.
- Search finds the moment. Whether the take is usable (focus, framing, a blocked view) is still your call, so check the warning tags and the preview.
For the whole sorting pass, see How to cull wedding footage with AI, step by step.
More guides
Questions people ask
Can I search wedding footage for something someone said?
Yes, when the clip has speech. Basecut transcribes every clip during analysis, and search reads the transcript. A match shows an excerpt around the words and the time in the clip.
Do I need the exact words?
No. Search matches words and also meaning, using a small model on your computer, so "toast" or "speech about the groom" can find the right section even when the speaker never said those words. Exact phrases work best when you remember them.
What about audio from a separate recorder or lav?
Basecut analyzes the audio inside each video file. Separate recorder files are not analyzed or paired with the video, so a speech recorded only on a lav will be found through the camera's own audio track.
Does it search across more than one wedding?
Yes. Search covers every shoot in your library, and folder names are searched too, so the couple's name or the job name narrows it to one wedding.
Does this upload the wedding?
Not with Argus, Basecut's own AI, which runs on an Apple Silicon Mac with 16 GB of memory or a Windows PC with an NVIDIA card with 10 GB or more of video memory. Basecut Cloud, included on paid plans, is a faster option that sends reduced-size copies of clips to Google. Search itself always runs on your computer.
Find the vows in seconds, not hours
Basecut transcribes every clip, lets you search the whole wedding by what was said, and marks the moments for Resolve, Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. Mac and Windows. 14-day free trial, 5 free exports, no card.
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