Planning a virtual Wedding, keeping your family and friends connected.

Weddings are a time of celebration, an opportunity to gather together with friends, family and loved ones and share your love and happiness. We know that whilst lots of couples have sadly been forced to postpone their nuptials, many are looking at creative ways to continue with their big day and bring their months of careful planning to life.

Whilst it is anticipated that weddings will be able to go ahead from June, limits to the number of guests that are able to safely attend are expected to apply. Virtual weddings are a great solution for happy couples who want to share their celebrations and give friends and family the chance to witness their special day, even if they aren’t able to be physically present.

We’ve pulled together a helpful guide of things you need to consider to make your virtual wedding a success. From the tweaks you’ll need to make to the traditional planning process, to the new technological choices you’ll need to make.

We all know how much planning goes into the big day, from flower arrangements to table settings, ceremony music to vows. For virtual weddings, in addition to the usual wedding check-list, there are a couple of other decisions and considerations you’ll need to make:

The Guest List can sometimes be a tricky task to navigate but the good news with virtual weddings is you can, in theory, have as many guests as you like. The more challenging task however, is deciding which list your guests are on. With restrictions in places for the number of people able to gather at once, you will have to split your list into those guests who will be attending your nuptials in person, and those who will be joining virtually from home.

Virtual weddings can accommodate unlimited guests so this could be an opportunity to invite guests who originally didn’t make your list and celebrate your special day with even more friends and family from around the world.

It’s important to let all your guests know the details for the wedding ahead of time, even those who you are expecting to attend from the comfort of their homes. Whilst a recording of your wedding can be made to be played back at a later time, we’re sure most of your guests would love to join in and watch live. We recommend sending invites out via Social Media, Email or SMS to ensure that your guests receive all the information in good time and you can even include links and joining instructions so that everything runs seamlessly for your guests on the day.

Whether you’ve already booked your venue, or you’re still searching for the perfect place, it’s important to check whether your venue allows, or is set-up to accommodate web streaming. At present, we are unsure whether all Registry Offices will permit weddings to be streamed live, so it’s important that you confirm with them. Typically hotels and other venues do allow web streaming and also benefit from better internet and more space which works best for web streaming. Don’t worry about the venue having the right technical equipment, if you work with a professional events company they can usually provide everything you need.

Traditionally, weddings begin with the ceremony and exchanging of vows, intimately shared with just close friends and family. Other elements, such as cake cutting, first dances and speeches often come later in the day when more guests have arrived.

As many of your guests will be joining in live from home, you may want to reconsider your order of the day, bringing the special moments together for your virtual guests to enjoy with you live. Unfortunately, your virtual guests will not be able to enjoy canapés and champagne on the lawn whilst you have your photographs taken, and will not want to watch on as you enjoy your Wedding Breakfast before the speeches!

Consider reordering your day to accommodate your virtual guests and ensuring all the important moments are brought forward to be captured and live-streamed. A Toast Master, or Master of Ceremonies is useful for keeping to time and your running order. You can then spend the rest of the day having your photographs taken, enjoying your Wedding Breakfast and dancing into the night with those guests who were able to join you in-person.

Speeches are often the most memorable part of the wedding, and the good thing with Webcast Weddings, is that even if your Best Man, Maid of Honour, or even Father of the Bride can’t join you in person, they can still dial in to deliver their well-rehearsed speech live. Unfortunately, the speech maker will only hear the applause and laughter of those that were able to attend in person, but hey, they can still take part and get feedback from other virtual guests later on! You’ll need to identify anyone who will be making a speech virtually and ensure they are set up with the right technology to dial in.

Now we’ve outlined the tweaks you’ll need to make to your traditional plans, it’s important to consider the technical side of virtual weddings and the decisions you’ll need to make:

There are various options when it comes to which platform you’d like to use to stream your ceremony with pros and cons for each one. We’ve listed the options below for you to consider which one would work best for you:

Whilst it is possible to use a personal mobile phone to live-stream a wedding, not only is the audio and video quality compromised, it also relies on a guest to take charge of the filming and miss out on being present for the event. It also limits the options to stream to different platforms and any connection issues will cause a glitchy stream for your virtual guests watching from home.

To get the best results, which will make all your guests feel as involved and engaged as possible, it is essential that the correct, professional equipment is used – especially if you want close-up shots whilst observing social distancing. A stable internet connection is also important to reduce buffering and poor video quality.

By working with a professional team you and your guests can focus on what is important and leave all the technical management to the experts. Professional teams can provide multiple cameras that can capture the ceremony from different angles – from the entrance of the happy couple to the reactions of your guests. The audio and video quality would also be much higher, doing justice to the incredible day you’ve planned.

At AYRE Event Solutions we have extensive experience in the events industry, offering technical solutions and streaming services to all kinds of events from weddings and birthday celebrations to international conferences and gala dinners. We have a host of equipment at our disposal including high-quality remote controlled cameras and microphones which can allow us to capture your special day from a safe distance, without affecting your allowed venue capacity.

Whether you’re considering postponing your wedding, or just starting to plan your dream day, speak to our experienced team today to see how we can make your virtual wedding an effortless, professional reality.