Tips for Live Streaming Your Wedding

There have always been a plethora of reasons that people who are important to us are not able to attend our wedding. Sometimes those we love are not well enough to travel the distance to see us on our special day. Perhaps, as members of the armed forces, they are deployed. Family duties or business responsibilities can keep people away as well. Throughout 2020, we learned that totally unexpected events, like the COVID-19 pandemic, can make it impossible for us to keep our commitments to our loved ones.

If our loved ones can’t come to our wedding, we’ll simply have to bring our wedding to them—by streaming it through different Internet sites. Here are five tips that can make live streaming of your nuptials a reality.

Get Everybody Wired

Even in this age where legal documents are sent via email and commerce takes place almost completely on the Internet, the US postal service is our best resource to get people apprised and involved with your nuptials. Enclosed with a save-the-date letter, you can include some information to tell folks how to watch the wedding on their tablets, computers, and even smartphones.

Soon after the letter is sent, the best way to follow up is by contacting those you invited to take a headcount not just of attenders but more than that, those who will be staying home. Explain to them just how much fun they will have when watching the ceremony as it happens and that you will be delighted to help them find and open the apps they probably already possess that will allow them to see you get hitched.

Use Multiple Platforms/Multiple Videographers

Let’s face it, if you have an aunt on Facebook, she’s not going to want to leave her favorite site for another, even if it’s easy, free, and superior in quality. Others, who also won’t be able to attend, will want to watch the event on Zoom, Google Duo, or another platform they are accustomed to using.

Since you can’t physically make them all go in the direction of acquiring the same app. What you can do? The answer is having different videographers using their cellphone or tablets to stream and/or record the wedding as it occurs. Assuming you can get copies of the files they produced as well, you can compile an interesting, informative video afterward that is a distinct compilation from different positions.

The acid test of whether all of your potential audience will be able to watch is a dry run—not a rehearsal per se, which we’ll talk about below. Rather, this is you sending some streaming footage for those who will be watching the wedding. For these practice sessions, it’s not necessary to have every one of your friends on Zoom at the same time. Having just a handful at a time enables you to understand and respond to each individual question or problem. Close your sessions by asking them each if they understand the process and if they will commit to watching the wedding.

Plan the Shoot the Way You Planned Your Ceremony

Few things in the life of a typical individual are as meticulously planned as a wedding. You know the direction each person will turn. You know the colors of the bridesmaids’ dresses. You know the condition and direction of the light each will face during the wedding. Place your videographers at points where different angles of the same person will appear. This would be a good time to tell your videographers precisely what your expectations are for the finished video; only remember, these folks are probably volunteers. So go easy on them.

Interface with the Disc Jockey

There are a number of reasons it’s important to discuss the plans and go over the playlist and timing with the DJ. First, since you likely will not use videographers with the best sound equipment, you’ll want the DJ to know what you’re trying to accomplish sound-wise. This will allow the best placement of speakers so as not to overwhelm the recording equipment of the smartphones. Moreover, music sets the mood for the entire service. You’ll want to work with the DJ to achieve the sound that puts everyone who is streaming in just the mood to remember your ceremony always.

Do a Dry Run

Weddings have rehearsals and part of rehearsing your wedding will be rehearsing the streaming feeds. Make sure that each videographer has his or her device on “record”, which will allow you to review the video afterward and adjust positions as necessary.

Conclusion

A live stream of your wedding posted on the Internet will be cherished by loved ones and friends who will not be able to attend the ceremony. By extending an invitation to those you know who cannot be there and granting them what amounts to “the best seat in the house,” you impart to them the gift of a wedding they never believed they would see. If you want to see some examples of DJs who get it right, check out https://soundwavesentertainment.com/.