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Are virtual weddings legal? Plus a virtual wedding ceremony outline!
Virtual weddings aren't just for pandemic times. Are you an introvert? Virtual wedding. All your friends and family are abroad? Virtual wedding. Is your budget... Read more
Zoom has become synonymous with a post-COVID life for many of us, especially if we use Zoom at work. And it's not just work: you might be having Zoom game nights, Zoom family hangouts, and Zoom meetings with your doctor, realtor, tax specialist, etc. It's a Zoom-Zoom world.
Having a wedding on Zoom seems pretty logical since it's become so popular and a lot of your friends and family might be using it. It offers up to 1,000 guests (up to 100 with the free version), live chat, and extended stream times if you opt for the pro version. You can even use your smartphone to stream without any fancy tech setups.
Let's talk about how to make a Zoom wedding work and what it takes to stream your wedding on Zoom.
Set up a Zoom account
Setup your free or pro Zoom account and log in to get started. Make sure you snag a smart phone with a good camera or a video camera with audio.
Create your wedding event
We'd recommend scheduling your Zoom wedding in advance by hitting the big blue Schedule button. You'll see the options below:
Once you've selected your time and preferences, you can send the invite to your guests via email, Facebook Event, etc.
TIP: Your guests don't need a Zoom account if they only want to attend and watch your event. Score! They can either click on the event link you send them or go to join.zoom.us and enter in the meeting ID. Easy-peasy.
Choose your settings while live
On the day, make sure everything is up and running correctly ahead of time. Then designate someone to handle the live stream settings such as auto-muting your guests, disabling file sharing from anyone on the call, and handling any chat questions that come in.
You can even choose a fake virtual background if you want your wedding to look like it's in Tuscany, New Zealand, on the deck of the Enterprise, or anywhere else you can imagine.
Go live and archive!
You're all set to go live on Zoom once your wedding day arrives. If you opted to record the event and save it to your PC, that'll make it easy to upload to YouTube, Facebook, or anywhere else you'd like to share the final version.
Tips for streaming your wedding on Zoom
- Since this will be a live video ceremony, you'll want to set everything up beforehand, preferably far ahead of time. Here are some Zoom streaming tips for your wedding:
- Avoid copyrighted music. Either turn off the sound during those parts or choose some royalty-free music.
- Get the camera framed around you and whoever you want seen. Make sure the lighting is good for the streaming time of the ceremony. Add some studio lights if the lighting isn't ideal.
- Check your audio. Run a soundcheck beforehand to make sure there aren't any noises that could muffle your voices, like wind or construction.
- Charge your batteries and phones, and make sure your internet is strong. Grab any wi-fi passwords for your location ahead of time.
- Turn off any sleep functions on your computer or streaming device and any notifications or noises.
Intimated? Hire a pro package
If this all sounds like a LOT, I get it. All of the streaming platforms come with a bit of a learning curve, and although Zoom is a bit more user-friendly than some, the idea of managing tech issues on your wedding day can be daunting.
Thankfully, if you want to automate the process, you can hire a service like Wedfuly.
They use Zoom to live stream your wedding while acting as tech support and concierge to your guests so you don't have to worry about it.
The service starts at $1200… but you can use coupon code OFFBEAT to get $100 off!
Here's how Wedfully works:
About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.
