Family, friends, and distant loved ones no longer need to fly halfway around the world to attend your wedding. They can simply sit at home and connect to the internet to witness the moment the bride and groom walk down the aisle.
Easy and Engaging
Like many wedding websites, webcasting is becoming the latest tool for couples to share their special day with as many people as possible.
“Every wedding today has a professional videographer, and most hotels have internet connectivity. So, it’s really easy; you just have to want it,” says Ariel Andres, author of webcastmywedding.net. You can even include thank-you messages in your wedding DVD.
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| Source: Alohasanwedding |
“It’s like you’re creating a public event for your wedding,” says Kathleen Murray, deputy editor of The Knot, a website offering all wedding-related information. Murray has witnessed the rise in popularity of webcasting over the past few years and predicts that this trend will continue in the future.
Bridging the Gap
The world is witnessing a surge in “destination weddings” (referring to wedding venues that are not the same as the couple’s residence). The guest list can be quite long, but the number of attendees may not be.
Webcasting has become a fantastic, cost-effective tool to eliminate this geographical distance. For a service fee of $400-$750, you can set up a live webcast for a month, allowing anyone to tune in.
One of the most popular wedding webcast services today is Yourwebcast.com. Five years ago, when it first launched, the site primarily catered to events like graduations, where international students wanted their parents to witness their achievements.
Quirky Love Stories
According to Brian Rothstein, co-founder of the site, the wedding business has only taken off in the past 6-12 months as broadband connectivity has become widespread. Now, he films, edits, and posts about 25-30 wedding webcasts to his server each month.
In July 2005, Nader Goerge, 27, and Layal Boukhzam, 22, exchanged rings in front of 250 guests in Los Angeles. Additionally, 35-40 people living across Canada, Dubai, Egypt, and Lebanon witnessed their wedding through webcastmywedding.net.
In their invitation, the couple wrote, “No matter how far away you are, we are delighted to invite you to our wedding!“.
The wedding of Patrick and Susan Johnson in Hawaii was particularly interesting. Only 18 guests attended in person, but over 50 others watched the ceremony through their computer screens. Neighbors of the young couple viewed the event live at the Johnsons’ home.
The groom’s brother emailed him a five-minute congratulatory speech in MP3 format, which was played during the ceremony using… a laptop.
Another amusing detail: In a bid to make their wedding lively and attract a large “audience,” Patrick chose the “golden hour” for their ceremony, 9:30 AM GMT.
“My friend said that next time he gets married, he will definitely webcast it,” Patrick laughed.
Destiny
