By Michael Palmrose
Wedding season is upon us! Live streaming a wedding can be crucial when you have a destination wedding or relatives that simply don’t have the means to attend your special day.
If you try to live streaming a wedding on your own, you may run into a number of unexpected issues:
● You can hear the officiant, but you can’t hear the bride and groom
● You can only see the bride’s reaction or you can only see the groom’s reaction
● All you get is shaky, low-quality video from someone’s hand-held device
● Your Wifi could cut out in the middle of the ceremony - especially if it’s outside
● You could face some serious lighting issues if you use a tablet or other mobile device
Relying on your wedding videographer also comes with it’s challenges. They typically do not own live streaming equipment and are more focused on getting the right shots after the ceremony - such as cake cutting, first dance, etc. A live stream team can record the ceremony and provide a copy ASAP, whereas a videographer will take months to produce your wedding ceremony video. Ideally, having a live stream setup is perfect if you have a large audience watching your ceremony overseas OR if you are an influencer and you’d like to bring your fans along for the ceremony. You can even charge fans to join your live stream at a price, if you’d like.
Things your live stream team will need from you in advance
So... you’re sitting down with your potential live stream provider. Here are a few questions that you should be prepared for:
● Do you want closeups of the wedding party?
● Do you want just the bride and groom reactions?
● Do you want reaction shots from the family?
● Are there any religious aspects that should be covered?
● What is the schedule for the ceremony?
● Will there be more than one speaker during the ceremony?
● Do you want any wide shots of the ceremony (a tree, a wedding arch, the beach, etc)?
● How soon will you need the live stream URL in advance to send to family and friends before the ceremony?
● How soon will you need the live stream recording afterwards?
● Would you like to add graphics to your ceremony? Like a logo, name(s) or hashtag for your wedding?
● Would you like to include a slideshow while people are watching and waiting for the ceremony to start?
Here are some other considerations when planning your wedding live stream event:
How much does it cost to live stream a wedding?
A top of the line professional live stream package with fail-proof audio and video, multiple camera angles and an HD camera shoot would be in the range of $2,000-$3,000. The budget is always negotiable, depending on your preferences.
Have multiple cameras to capture all of the reactions
A professional live streamer should provide you with multiple cameras. That way, you don’t miss the reactions on both the bride and the groom’s side. Close ups on faces are very important. In so many cases I see great shots of the officiant, but not a great shot of the bride/groom’s side reactions. You can also toss in a reaction shot for the family’s reaction if you have the budget to do so!
What platform should I stream my wedding on?
If you want a secure website link to send just for your family, you need to make sure its password-protected or has a unique URL (meaning it is not searchable by others). Our company uses Vimeo, which is 100% password-protected. This can be embedded onto the couples wedding page so that it's easier to find prior to the start of the wedding. If you’re an influencer and you’re looking to reach as many people as possible, I would recommend YouTube. Keep in mind, if there is a copy-written song playing in your wedding ceremony, YouTube could cut your stream. This is something to think about. Facebook Live would by my third recommended option, but it can be tricky. One of the issues that I run into is that if someone wants to stream to multiple destinations, YouTube will block all the other streams. So as of 2019, you cannot do Facebook and YouTube at the same time, in one stream.
Always have a backup ceremony location
Make sure there is a rain contingency. If there is no backup plan to move the outdoor ceremony into an indoor venue in case the weather gets bad, I would not consider hiring a live stream company.
The live stream team schedule
Your live stream team should do a location survey at least a week before the ceremony. The live stream company should arrive at least 2 hours before the ceremony to set up. This needs to be done in order to confirm there’s modem reception and electricity access for all of the equipment. The live stream must be able to test and record, ready to go at least an hour before the ceremony. If the bride and groom do not want to rely on the officiant’s microphone, the bride’s and groom’s microphones must be hooked up and ready an hour before the ceremony starts.
Should I tip my live stream team?
It’s not necessary to tip your live stream team. All costs are included within the quote.
Point of contact for your live stream team
Have a wedding coordinator or venue point of contact? Send over their contact info to your live stream team. The only thing the couple should be thinking about on the day of their wedding is enjoying their special day!