Weddings during a pandemic
Virtual, LIve Stream or zoom weddings
It’s 2020 and we’re going through a pandemic, amongst a lot of other things, but you are still going to say your I do’s & celebrate with your favorite people! Except it may just mean that most or all your guests will be attending virtually online.
While your wedding day may look different than what you originally planned, it can still be celebrated with your closest family & friends and broadcast to those who aren’t able to attend due to the pandemic and current state/county/country restrictions.
Whether you will facetime, do a video conference call via zoom or broadcast live on YouTube, Instagram or Facebook (or heck all three!), here is a quick guide for tips on broadcasting your wedding virtually, plus links to useful articles and videos to help you plan your virtual wedding!
Just the essentials
There isn’t much you’ll actually need to broadcast your wedding to family & friends who aren’t able to be there in person. So here is the easiest and fastest way to go live with equipment you already have and use daily! (YAY!)
But before we get into the equipment, I wanted to make a few suggestions to make the most (fun out) of your virtual wedding by really treating it as if you did have your fave people all around you on your special day by having some of your guests participate in the event in some way, even if they aren’t there in person. For instance, you can have people dress up for the occasion, do games or trivia and even get ready with your best friends on zoom. You can still have your special people give toasts or speeches too. Maybe you have talented friends and they can sing or play an instrument or even dj a set for your first dances and have a big dance off party all together. Or if the planning and coordinating of all that maybe a bit too much to handle right now and you just want to keep it simple and only livestream the ceremony and then say your hellos and share in the congratulations with your online guests. Whatever you decide, your day will be celebrated and shared with those you wish to be there, online and off.
If you will be inviting over 10+ guests virtually online, I recommend assigning a friend or family member - whether in person or virtually (yep, virtually works great actually!) to be your virtual wedding coordinator for your day online. They will act as a your online guest concierge and will help with tech support and help coordinate your guests online and help guide the show on Zoom.
But wait! There is one important thing to check. Your internet or cell service at your chosen ceremony/reception location!! Because without cell or internet services - welp, we wouldn't be able to broadcast live. We could still record though and put up the video later for your guests to view.
*If you are already familiar with Zoom and you have an account, then I'd suggest using that! And for the most part this guide will touch more on setting up your Zoom virtual wedding.
What you will actually need:
Your device - either a laptop, a smartphone, or a tablet with a camera to broadcast to Facebook/Instagram, Zoom or YouTube.
A tripod to secure & hold your device to, or a tray table for your laptop.
Choose your platform -
Zoom,
YouTube
Google meet/hangout
Facebook/Instagram or
even FaceTime
Things to note: Zoom - on the free account limits calls to only 40 minutes and up to 100 participants. -- Also make sure you secure your zoom event with a password!
Facebook livestream is free and doesn't limit the number of people who can join. Other options: Google Meet/Google Hangouts’ free tier limits the amount of people to join to only 25 Facetime also free, limits it to up to 32 people and each guest will need to be on an Apple device
YouTube is the platform we have chosen with our clients and provide an unlisted private link that can be given to guests a month or week in advance. What we like about YouTube is that it provides a live chat which also gets recorded so you can see the chat after the livestream is complete, along with the video itself for posterity. Like zoom, guests with the link do not have to have a youtube account in order to be able to watch the livestream.
Using your smartphone/tablet:
For Facebook: Here is Facebook’s best practices guide to broadcast live on any device.
For Zoom, log into your account to get started and you’ll want to schedule a “meeting”.
For YouTube, you’ll need an account from which you’ll create your channel (if you have a google account, it’s easy!). You’ll need to verify your account and do this at least 24 hours (give yourself more time, just to be safe!) before your account/channel can be activated. Here is a great updated article, if YouTube is your chosen platform.
Once you've selected your time and preferences, you can send the invite to your guests via email, a paperless post evite, Facebook Event, or your wedding website.
And the nice thing about Zoom, unlike Facebook is, your guests don't need to have a Zoom account to attend and watch your event. All they’ll need to do is click on the event link you send them or go to join.zoom.us and enter in the meeting ID and password. (It is recommended to create a password for your wedding and that you don’t post this publicly, just so you don’t get any wedding crashers, aka zoombombers!)
For higher quality video & audio capture and broadcast:
A dslr camera with an hdmi output
A microphone to be attached to you or your camera
A laptop to connect your dslr camera to
An hdmi cord to connect the camera to your laptop (make sure to check your camera’s output slots for the correct hdmi to laptop cord - i.e. mini hdmi to usb port)
A video capture devices like Elgato Cam Link, Magewell USB Capture, AJA U-TAP HDMI and AVerMedia ExtremeCap UVC-BU110 - just make sure it is compatible with your dslr camera.
Connect the video capture device to your computer and install compatible third-party video conferencing/broadcasting software. Software like Ecamm Live (Mac), Vmix (PC), SparkoCam (PC) and OBS Studio (Mac or PC) can take the signal from your video capture device and connect it to applications like Zoom, YouTube, Facebook Live and others.
Here are some helpful videos about a livestream setup:
Re-imagining your wedding day celebration
Perhaps you decided to postpone your wedding day entirely, or maybe you decided to do an intimate ceremony or elopement at a later date in 2020, all while following the social distancing and the required safety & health measures in place as provided by the county. Or maybe you’d like the best of both worlds - an elopement now and a celebration with all your loved ones & favorite people in one place, at last in 2021.
Whatever ideas you have, whatever plans you may be re-imagining, together - we can make it happen! (within reason & the law, of course).
So contact me today and let’s make it work! If you’d like some updates regarding your city or county about the orders and how it may affect your wedding plans - please reach out, even if I’m not your chosen photographer. I’m always happy to help!
I am always in constant communication with my clients regarding rescheduling and the like. You can see my rescheduling & Covid-19 policy here.
I am excited to share that I’ve partnered with an amazing videographer to add livestreaming & Zoom capabilities to our services and can help with this on your wedding day! YAY!
