Wed in the Time of COVID-19: How to Take Your Wedding Online
Don’t let your guests miss a moment of your Boston wedding because of COVID-19 or other concerns.
The past few weeks have been fraught with coverage of the unfolding crisis with COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus. Corporations and governments are scrambling to reduce the risks of infection by cancelling events and encouraging people to stay home as much as they can to ride out the storm. For couples the fear comes just before the start of wedding season and Boston Brides are wondering how COVID-19 will impact their special celebrations and wonder what can they do to protect themselves and their guests from potential pandemics?
Thankfully, in 2020 there is an alternative to cancelling or rescheduling your event if some of the people you love can’t travel to the wedding because they might be particularly vulnerable.
Get online.
If you can’t reschedule your event, the safest solution is to invite your guests to join your ceremony virtually by broadcasting it online. Going online with your wedding can also allow guests to assess their own risks while still getting to enjoy the wedding.
So what are your options for going live online with your wedding?
Facebook Live
Pros:
Very easy to use.
For most guests they won’t have to sign up for a new service or download a new app.
Their social tools make it easy to curate your virtual guest list and send out notifications so they won’t miss the event.
Allows you to save broadcast to your phone
Cons:
Facebook limits broadcast quality to 720p.
Once it falls off your timeline it can be a little hard to locate the video, but it will remain in perpetuity.
Periscope
Pros:
Easy to use
Allows you to save broadcast to your phone
Cons:
Mobile viewers will have to download and sign up for the app
Far less robust notifications system
The video will be taken offline after 24 hours.
Instagram Live
Pros:
Easy to use
A very popular app that many guests are likely to have installed on their phones
Cons:
Far less robust notifications system, no convenient way to schedule the stream ahead of time.
The video will be taken offline after 24 hours.
No built in ability to save your stream
For most couples, Facebook will probably be the strongest option thanks to it’s ubiquity, long-term storage, and the ability to curate the list of people who will be able to see your broadcast. There are a host of other services, like Twitch or YouTube, but they don’t have the same ability to push notifications or curate an audience.
Tips For Broadcasting:
Check Your Signal - Run a test broadcast from your ceremony spot before the wedding so you can make sure you have good network coverage. If you’ve got a spotty connection it will be a lot more like sitting through a slideshow. It’s also a good time to figure out the best place to put your camera so your virtual guests will get a great view but it won’t interfere with anyone who is there in person.
Stability is Key - Invest in a tripod or other mount that will be able to hold your phone throughout the ceremony. You’ll still want someone to monitor it if possible, but a tripod will make it a lot easier. If you’re feeling more adventurous, there are also stabilizing rigs that will allow the phone to move around without bumps and stumbles that will make your guests seasick.
Accessorize - There are many phone accessories that will modify the capabilities of the camera and the microphone (and some of them are pretty cheap). You’ll also want to consider a battery backup since broadcasting can chew through power and you don’t want to go down right before you say “I Do”
But what if streaming your wedding just isn’t feasible? If you’re working with a videographer for your Boston wedding, then one compromise you can make is setting up a “virtual premiere” of your wedding video for guests that may not have been able to make it to your event. Both Facebook and YouTube offer a premiere function where you can schedule a video to go live at a certain time and invite your guests along to watch it with you. Facebook again offers the ability to tailor the audience for your video and makes notifications simple. YouTube can give you higher fidelity video (up to 4K), but making sure people are notified of your premiere isn’t as integrated into the platform unless guests are subscribed to your channel (or your videographer’s channel). One thing to watch out for is that the use of copyrighted music can sometimes be flagged by automated systems on either platform that can block your video.
Even without COVID-19, streaming your wedding can be a great way to bring in people that can’t travel for reasons of health or budget. Are you planning on streaming your Boston wedding? Do you have anything else that you think couples planning on streaming their weddings should know?
Ryan Richardson is a wedding and engagement photographer serving Boston and beyond; including Cape Cod Weddings, New England Weddings, Massachusetts Weddings and Rhode Island Weddings.