A strong personalized video request names the recipient (with pronunciation if it's unusual), states the occasion, includes one specific personal detail, notes anything to say or avoid, and identifies who the message is from. Those five short answers are usually enough — a creator only needs to record the right video once, not decode an essay. Personalized Videos let a follower pay upfront for one personalized video for themselves or someone they care about: you set the price and the delivery time, then record it on your schedule.
No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate. pricing
Creators who accept Personalized Videos collect all five of those details in a request field; followers then pay upfront, so the video gets recorded correctly the first time rather than needing back-and-forth. If you're wondering what to type into that field, the short version is: treat a personalized video request as a five-line brief, not a letter — and if you're still deciding whether the format is worth it, see what a personalized video shoutout typically costs before you write anything.
What information should a personalized video request include?
A personalized video request should include five things: the recipient's name plus how to say it, the occasion, one specific personal detail, anything to include or avoid, and who the message is from. Brillay collects those details in a request field on the creator's page, and followers pay upfront (how it works, step "Followers pay for interactions").
On Brillay the request text is part of the Personalized Video order itself: the follower pays upfront and tells the creator "who it's for and what to say, so you have everything you need before you hit record". The two names — recipient and sender — are the fields you can least afford to leave blank. Cameo, a separate personalized-video marketplace, contractually requires its talent to "use your name (please introduce yourself), the User's name, and the name of any third party that the User identifies as a recipient" in each video (Cameo Terms of Service). A Brillay creator asks for the recipient's name and the sender's name for the same reason: a video that names neither person is not a personalized one. The video request lives in your own bio link: one tap from the post they just watched takes a follower straight to your page, not to a marketplace roster.
Skip any question whose answer won't change what the creator records. A recipient's job title matters if the creator will reference it; their shoe size almost never does — though niche creator types can flip which details count as relevant, since ordering a personalized video from a cosplayer usually means naming the character or fandom detail, not a job title. The goal of the request field is to give the creator just enough to personalize the video, not to document everything you know about the person.
| Detail | Why it matters | Example wording |
|---|---|---|
| Recipient's name + pronunciation | Prevents an awkward mispronunciation in the final video | "Her name is Siobhan — pronounced shiv-AWN" |
| Occasion | Sets the tone (celebratory, comforting, funny, encouraging) | "It's her 30th birthday" |
| One personal detail | Gives the creator something specific to reference | "She just finished her first marathon" |
| What to say or avoid | Prevents an unwanted topic or an inside joke gone wrong | "Please don't mention her ex" |
| Who it's from | Lets the creator address the message correctly | "It's from her sister, Maya" |
How much detail is too much, or too little?
Two to four sentences is Brillay's editorial guidance, not a platform rule: long enough to name the recipient, the occasion, one personal detail, anything to avoid, and the sender, and short enough to absorb in a single read. Followers submit written instructions for a Personalized Video, so keep them concise and focused on what the creator needs to record.
"Say hi to my mom" is too little for a creator to personalize anything. A page of family backstory is more than fits the finished recording: Brillay tells creators that "most personalized videos are short — often under a minute". Extra request text does not buy extra runtime. Short runtimes also hold attention: Wistia's benchmark data from its own video platform reports that videos under one minute average a 52% engagement rate, meaning viewers watch roughly half the runtime (Wistia, "How to Choose the Right Marketing Video Length for Any Goal"). Wistia's benchmark covers marketing videos rather than personalized videos, so treat the 52% figure as directional context, not a Personalized Video statistic.
The finished length is set by the creator, not by how much you submit; for typical ranges, see how long a personalized video should be. Give the creator one strong, specific detail rather than five vague ones — a single concrete reference ("she just got into vet school") does more work in a short recording than a paragraph of general background.
How do you make sure an unusual or non-English name is said correctly?
Write the name out phonetically in plain English syllables — "Nguyen — pronounced win" — the way you'd explain it over the phone to someone who has never heard it. Unusual names are ordinary in the US: the Census Bureau's 2010 surname file lists 162,253 surnames that occurred 100 or more times (U.S. Census Bureau).
If the name has multiple common pronunciations, say which one the recipient actually uses. A voice-note style spelling ("ee-shan, rhymes with mission") is more useful than a phonetic-alphabet breakdown most people won't parse quickly while recording. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 78.3% of the US population age 5 and older spoke only English at home in the 2018-2022 American Community Survey, down from 78.7% in 2013-2017. The remaining 21.7% of US residents age 5 and older spoke a language other than English at home in that same 2018-2022 American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau press release CB23-208), which is why a written pronunciation note is worth the extra line in a personalized video request. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the US foreign-born population at 46.2 million people, or 13.9% of the total population, in 2022, so a creator taking requests from a US audience regularly meets names they have never said out loud. When in doubt, compare the name to a common word or name the creator already knows how to say.
What should you write if the video is a gift for someone else?
Say at the top of the request that the video is a gift, name the sender, and state whether the recipient knows it's coming. Those three facts change how a creator opens the video: "Hey, this is a surprise from your friend Alex" reads very differently from a message the recipient is already expecting.
A personalized video competes for the same gift-message slot a card occupies. The National Retail Federation's 2026 survey with Prosper Insights & Analytics found that 84% of US adults planned to celebrate Mother's Day, spending a record average of $284.25 per person, with 74% of celebrants planning to buy greeting cards. Father's Day gifting runs at a similar scale: the National Retail Federation's 2026 Father's Day survey with Prosper Insights & Analytics found that 77% of US consumers planned to celebrate and expected to spend an average of $226.58 each, a record $27.9 billion in total. A recorded message earns its place in either occasion by being specific in a way a printed card can't be.
Include the same five basics — name, occasion, one personal detail, what to say or avoid, and the sender — plus anything tied to the occasion itself. For a birthday, keep it to one specific detail and the occasion itself, and for a holiday gift, how to request a personalized Santa video message covers the extra details that occasion calls for. Gift requests need a little more sender context than a request for yourself, since the creator has no other way to know who's asking.
What personal information should you leave out of the request?
Leave out anything a creator does not need to record the video: home address, phone number, financial details, or full legal names. The creator delivers the finished video through their Brillay page, so the follower receives it directly on the page.
The reason to be strict about personal details in a personalized video request is fraud, not tidiness. The Federal Trade Commission received 3 million fraud reports from consumers in 2025, who reported $15.9 billion in losses, up from 2.6 million reports the year before. Impersonation is the specific risk of oversharing: the FTC received more than 1 million reports about imposter scams in 2025, the most of any fraud category, and describes that as "nearly one in three fraud reports" (FTC testimony press release, March 25, 2026 and FTC press release, June 15, 2026):
"New data from the Federal Trade Commission reveal that people reported losing a staggering $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025, with reported losses increasing nearly three times since 2020."
— Federal Trade Commission, press release, June 15, 2026
Details about a third party — a recipient who is not the person paying — deserve the same restraint. Cameo's terms tell followers not to submit information "that you do not have the right to disclose or that you or any Recipient do not wish to be disclosed" — a workable test for how much you share about a recipient who isn't the one buying. The FTC's own consumer guidance is blunter still: "Don't give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn't expect" (FTC, "How To Avoid a Scam").
A personalized video request is not itself dangerous; the practical rule is that any payment or personal detail should stay inside the platform's normal checkout and order pages rather than moving to a separate DM, email, or link a stranger sends. For a broader look at what makes paying a creator directly online safer or riskier, see is it safe to pay a creator directly online.
Should you write a full script, or just describe the topic?
Describe the topic and let the creator write the actual words: describing the topic is Brillay's editorial guidance for personalized video requests, not a platform rule. "Wish my dad a happy retirement and mention he's finally taking up golf" gives direction without dictating sentences, and creator phrasing usually sounds less stiff on camera than lines read verbatim from a request field.
A short quoted phrase is fine when the exact words matter ("please say 'go get 'em, champ' — it's a running joke"), but a paragraph you expect read word-for-word limits how natural the delivery sounds — and no platform promises verbatim delivery. Cameo states the point in contract form:
"You acknowledge and agree that the Talent User has sole discretion to determine how to fulfill your request and the content of the CAMEO Video created, and may not follow your request exactly."
— Cameo Terms of Service
Content limits are industry-wide: Cameo's community guidelines bar requests that violate "any law, regulation, court order, or other legal process, including attempts at phishing, money laundering, theft, or fraud" (Cameo Community Guidelines).
What happens if the creator can't deliver what you asked for?
Followers pay upfront; you can decline a request. On Brillay, the creator decides whether a request fits what they offer.
If a paid order is later refunded, the money goes back to the original payment method; the follower's bank determines when it appears. Stripe's own documentation puts that wait at a specific range: a customer "sees the refund as a credit approximately 5-10 business days later, depending upon the bank" (Stripe, "Refund and cancel payments"). The creator sets their delivery time, up to 5 days, so check it before ordering for a birthday or other dated occasion. For a 3-5 day creator-set window, submit a dated request with time to spare before the occasion.
Multi-day delivery time windows are normal across the personalized-video format. If your request involves a sensitive topic — an apology, a difficult family situation, encouragement through a hard event — read how creators set boundaries for custom video requests first, so your expectations match what's likely to be accepted.
Personalized Video or Paid Question — which fits your request?
Choose Personalized Videos when you want a recorded video message for someone, and Paid Questions when you want a private answer to something you're asking yourself. For Personalized Videos, the follower submits a written request, and the creator delivers one video.
If what you actually want is advice, an opinion, or an answer to something specific rather than a recorded message for someone else, Paid Questions fit better, and they're written differently: state your question directly instead of describing a recipient and an occasion.
| If you want | Choose | What the follower submits | What the creator sends back |
|---|---|---|---|
| A recorded video message for another person | Personalized Video | Request text only | A recorded video delivered on the order page |
| A private answer to your own question | Paid Questions | One written question | One private written reply |
| Something the creator does for you (edit, review, custom work) | A custom request | The brief the creator's form asks for | Whatever the service listing promises |
Table sources: Personalized Videos, Paid Questions and how it works.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about writing a personalized video request cover four things: which fields are actually required, whether you can ask for a specific delivery date, how to correct a mistake after paying, and how much personal information about the recipient is safe to include. Short answers to each follow.
Do I have to fill out every field in the request form?
Fill out whatever the creator's request form asks for; followers submit the request text as a required part of a Personalized Video order. If an optional field isn't relevant, a brief "n/a" is fine — but Brillay's guidance is never to leave the recipient's name or the occasion blank, since those are the two details a creator can't record around.
Can I ask for a video to be delivered by a specific date?
You can note a target date in your request, but delivery timing is set by the creator, not booked as a slot: Brillay's personalized video delivery times are commonly 3–5 days, with a product maximum of up to 5 days. If timing is tight, say so clearly and check the creator's stated delivery time before you pay.
What if I make a mistake in my request after paying?
Check the request carefully before paying. If a key detail in a Personalized Video request is wrong, contact Brillay support or let the creator decline the request so you can submit a corrected one. An incorrect recipient name is exactly the kind of factual issue to raise with the creator, who can address it before recording or issue a refund.
Is it safe to include a recipient's full name and address?
A first name and its pronunciation are usually all a creator needs; a home address or phone number generally isn't, because delivery happens through the creator's page rather than the mail. Keep financial details and home addresses out of the request text, and follow the FTC's guidance on unexpected requests for personal information.
Creators who read this from the other side can set up their own request field once and let followers do the rest: Create your free Brillay page.
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