7 Reasons Why You Should Livestream Your Wedding

Livestreaming has increasingly become popular due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic caused so many wedding cancellations, downsizing, and postponements that it showed couples to expect the unexpected, and to think outside the box. Livestreaming your wedding is a wonderful way to allow those who cannot attend your special day for any reason to still be a part of it. In fact, according to rsvpify, only 83% of people who used their platform for wedding invitations typically accepted. That means there is a high chance that approximately 17% of your attendee list won’t attend your wedding! If you’re having a destination wedding expect that decline percentage to be 30% or higher. The reason for the decline is not usually because your friends and family don’t want to see you. Sometimes people get sick, people live far away. or schedules just don’t always line up.

Luckily, there is a solution for this! Here’s why high-quality livestreams are becoming more popular of a decision to capture a wedding day.

Livestream Vs High-Quality Livestream

It is important to first distinguish between a regular livestream and a high-quality livestream when it comes to weddings.

A regular wedding livestream is when you use one camera, or a phone in the back of the ceremony location, and go to your favorite social media app, and you just hit the live button.

A high-quality livestream, however, has many more moving parts. It looks more like a live show. There are multiple camera men for angles, there’s a dedicated person interacting with the comment section of the stream and director to organize it all. These are just some features that separate a high-quality livestream from a regular stream. Now, let’s get into why you should livestream your wedding.

Number 1: You want to share with loved ones afar

Unfortunately, sometimes not all guests live close, or are well enough to attend in-person. Livestreaming allows your loved ones who cannot be there in-person to still be able to attend virtually. They still get to see you on your big day, and they can even leave comments for you to see afterwards. It allows for your loved ones to not miss the actual ceremony and vows.

Number 2: You want your wedding to be a good show for those who cannot attend

High-quality livestreaming will allow for those who cannot attend the ability to experience a good show and see your wedding from different angles and to be able to participate in the comments. Some livestream vendors like Aaron Michael King Weddings even offer packages to help promote the wedding stream with video promotions before the actual event!

Number 3: You’re having a destination wedding

Destination weddings are very beautiful. And they’re not as expensive as some might think. People have actually started to realize that due to all-inclusive packages, this wedding option can actually be less expensive for the couple getting married. According to theknot.com, the average cost of a destination wedding is $32,700, which is a little under $5,000 more than traditional weddings.

The problem you run into is that though it may be more affordable for the couple, but it is not more affordable for your guests. In 2018, LendingTree surveyed one thousand Americans that attended a destination wedding. They found that wedding guests spent around $1,422 on average, including travel, gifts, and spending on personal items. For destination weddings that were outside the U.S., that number grew to $2,514. Due to these travel costs, some guests won’t be able to attend in-person. Livestreaming will allow those guests who don’t have the funds to still be a part of your day.

Number 4: More people can help with wedding costs

The truth is weddings are very expensive. Especially with higher inflation, wedding vendors are passing on costs to the couples. The average wedding costs around $32,700. And that’s after the ring! When you livestream your wedding, you give more people the opportunity to attend, even if your venue is at capacity. This gives those in virtual attendance the chance to also give donations and gifts in addition to those who are there in-person. It has become more widely accepted to ask for donations on a wedding livestream as well for things like honeymoon funds and wedding registries, which can be a significant help.

Number 5: Your venue won’t fit everyone

You might be getting married in a small church, or your budget won’t allow for the grand ballroom that would house everyone who you want to experience your wedding (or you just want to invite everyone you know). Either way, if your venue doesn't fit everyone you want to invite, livestreaming your wedding day fixes that problem. You can invite as many guests as you want using a platform specifically designed for weddings.

Number 6: You’re eloping

If you have chosen to elope this means your wedding will have thirty people or less in attendance. In fact, sometimes elopements only involve the couple and the officiant. You may still want to be able to share the moment with family and friends without incurring the big price tag. This allows your loved ones to still share one of the most important moments in your life. You can still let your intimate elopement be special to you and share with others at the same time by livestreaming.

Number 7: You can have it as a keepsake for yourself or send it to people who were unable to attend

The lovely thing about livestreams is that you can keep them and replay them whenever you want. Being able to watch the full details of one of the most important days of your life at your leisure is amazing. Wedding videos capture the important moments, but livestreams capture all the details that might not have made it to the final wedding video. You can also save the comments from the livestream as a guestbook and send the video to those who couldn’t attend who want to see all the details of the ceremony.