Once Upon Us
An anniversary video for your parents, from the wedding album to today
Their story started long before yours. For a 25th, plan a 3-minute film of 36 photos; for a 40th or 50th, a 5-minute film of 60, about one photo a year. Collect them with your siblings, photograph the old prints, and Once Upon Us turns them into a short animated film of their years together: every photo redrawn in the style you pick and brought to life as a 5-second moving scene, opened with their names and the year it all began.
Example frames in three of the six styles. Your film is drawn from your own photos.
Old prints work
Photograph prints in daylight, straight on, and add them like any other photo. Photos are put in order by the date they were taken, and you can reorder them later, even after your film is made.
Their names open it
The film asks who it is about: enter your parents' names and the month and year they got together, and the opening plays like the start of a movie about them.
Sized for the dinner
36 photos make a 3-minute film, a good length for a toast. Fifty years fit in 5 minutes: 60 photos, a little more than one a year.
The day nobody photographed
No photo of the day they met? Describe it and it is drawn with the two of them in it. You can describe up to two moments like this.
One look for every decade
Faded 1970s prints, 1990s snapshots and last summer's phone photos are all redrawn in one style, so the film plays as one story rather than a pile of different photos.
Music without the search
Pick one of four instrumental tracks: tender piano, sunny acoustic, cinematic strings, or a dreamy piano with an old-tape feel that suits old photos.
For ten other ways to make an anniversary video, see anniversary video ideas, or count their years and days with the anniversary calculator.
How many photos for a 25th, 40th or 50th
A plan by decade, so the early years don't get crowded out by the phone years. Each photo becomes a 5-second scene; the counts match the 3- and 5-minute film lengths.
| Anniversary | Film length | Photos | About | A plan by decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25th (silver) | 3 minutes | 36 | 1.4 a year | 6 from the wedding, 12 from the first ten years, 12 from the next ten, 6 from the last five |
| 40th (ruby) | 5 minutes | 60 | 1.5 a year | 6 from the wedding, 13 from each decade, 2 from this year |
| 50th (golden) | 5 minutes | 60 | 1.2 a year | 5 from the wedding, 10 from each decade, 5 from this year |
| 60th (diamond) | 5 minutes | 60 | 1 a year | 5 from the wedding, 9 from each decade, 1 from this year |
Tradition names the 25th silver, the 40th ruby, the 50th golden and the 60th diamond. A 5-minute film is the longest Once Upon Us makes; for a longer show, play it once at the start of the dinner.
How to make it, step by step
Most of the work is finding the photos. Start two to three weeks before the dinner so prints can be borrowed back from relatives.
- Make a shared photo album and send the link to your siblings and close relatives. Ask each person for their best photos from one decade, so nobody sends the same twenty.
- Borrow the wedding album and the old prints. Photograph each print in daylight, flat on a table, phone held straight above it, without flash, filling the frame. Note down the year of any print that has no date.
- Pick the photos using the plan above: start on the wedding day and end on a photo from this year.
- Add them to Once Upon Us, enter your parents' names and the month and year they got together (their wedding date works), pick a style and a track. You check every scene before it comes to life, and any one can be redrawn 3 times for free.
- At the dinner, play it after the toast, on a TV or a laptop with the sound up. Print the QR card for the table so guests can watch it again on their phones.
- Your film page is kept for 30 days, so download the film and send it to the family to keep.
How it works
Add your photos
Add 3 to 60 photos of the two of you, from the first date to today. Once Upon Us reads the date each photo was taken and puts your memories in order.
Pick a style and your characters
3D animated, hand-drawn, anime, cartoon, claymation or comic book. We draw the two of you in that style three ways; you pick the pair that looks most like you, and we draw your first scene with them free, before you pay. They star in every scene of your film.
Make it yours
Your names open the film in the look you pick. Add words on screen, choose one of four songs and write your closing line. Then look over your storyboard, pick your film's length and pay once.
Pay once, by length
One-time payment, no subscription. Every scene can be redrawn 3 times.
Made with you, scene by scene. Add your photos, pick your characters and see your first scene free before you pay, then check each scene before it comes to life.
Start our filmQuestions
How do I make an anniversary video for my parents?
Collect 36 to 60 of their photos with your siblings, from the wedding album to this year, photograph the prints in daylight and add them to Once Upon Us. Enter their names and the year they married, pick a style and music, and play the film at the anniversary dinner.
How long should a 50th anniversary video be?
Around 5 minutes if it plays during dinner: long enough for 60 photos, about one for every year, short enough that the room keeps watching. For a 25th, 3 minutes and 36 photos is enough.
Can I make it if the photos are of my parents, not me?
Yes. Add their photos and enter their names where the film asks who it is about. Only use photos they're happy to share.
Can it start with their wedding photos?
Yes. Photograph the prints from their album and add them; the film can open on their wedding day and end on a photo from this year.
Can I use their wedding song?
Once Upon Us films come with one of four instrumental tracks, not your own song. If their first dance song matters, play it in the room right after the film ends.
How does Once Upon Us work?
Add 3 to 60 photos of the two of you and pick a style. We draw the two of you as characters in that style, redraw each photo with them and bring it to life as a 5-second moving scene, put in order by date, with an opening that carries your names, words on screen where you want them, the music you pick and your closing line.
What styles can I pick?
3D animated, hand-drawn, anime, cartoon, claymation and comic book. The whole film is drawn in the style you pick.
Will it look like us?
After you pick a style, we draw the two of you as characters three ways and you choose the one that looks most like you. That pair stars in every scene, so you look the same from start to finish. You check every scene before it comes to life, and if one misses, you redraw it for free.
More ideas
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Updated November 6, 2026