The current pandemic has changed the world that we live in and changed the way that we carry out many of our daily activities. More than that, it has changed the way that we celebrate the biggest events in our lives, including weddings. Limits on social gatherings and concern about the spread of the disease mean that you aren’t able to bring all your friends and family to the event in the way you normally would. But that doesn’t mean that you aren’t still looking for a great way to shore your special day with everyone that you love. It means you need a new option.

Streaming Your Wedding

Streaming your wedding through a video sharing platform is one of the best ways that you can still share your big day with everyone that you want without having to worry about putting anyone at risk. But figuring out just how to use a streaming platform can require a bit of technological savvy. Or at least, a little bit of help working out the kinks. Let’s take a look at some of the most important tips you need to know to make sure your wedding day video stream is perfect.

Test It From the Venue

The most important thing is that you check the platform and equipment that you’re going to use before your wedding day. Make sure that you bring all of the equipment you plan on using including the computer, a Wi-Fi hotspot if you need one, the camera if you’re using an external one and even speakers if you’re using them. Set everything up exactly the way you plan to on the wedding day and see how it works.

You might want to have a few friends and family on a list to test it out for you so you can live stream your practice session and they can tune in from home to see if it works for them. They will be able to let you know where lighting is a problem, if they can hear clearly, if the picture comes through well and if there are any problems like lag or glitches in the feed.

Pick a Simple Platform

Use a platform that’s going to be easy for all of your guests to access. If you pick an obscure platform that they’ve never heard of it might be harder for everyone to download (if it needs to be downloaded) or access. You likely also want to choose a platform that doesn’t require a lot of bandwidth to stream through. Remember, your guests all have different internet providers and some may not have fast speeds. If your streaming platform takes up too much bandwidth it may not be usable for some of those guests.

When it comes to the platform you also want to make sure you can have as many people as you want tuning in. With some platforms you may be limited to a set number of guests. For example, Skype only allows you to have 50 people tuning in at once. Apple offers an option for streaming as well but they allow only 32 people. Not to mention all of those people need to have Apple devices. Platforms like Facebook allow you to have as many people as you want tuning in.

Double-Check the Link

You want everyone who wants to watch to be able to do so and that’s only going to happen if they have the correct link. Make sure that you are sending out the link very carefully. If you can email it directly by ‘sharing’ your video directly from the platform. If not, copying and pasting the link is the second best option. If, for any reason, you have to write out the link yourself be careful of each letter or number in the link. You don’t want to send out the wrong link and have your friends and family miss the big event.

Provide Simple Instructions or Tech Support

Do you have a few relatives that would love to tune in but aren’t quite sure how to download anything let alone check out a streaming platform? Well, you’re not alone. Create a sheet of step-by-step instructions that make it as easy as possible for those individuals to get to the video.

Another option is to have a single person charged as tech support. If possible, you could have one person in charge of setting up the systems for each of those more technologically challenged individuals. This might entail going into homes, which means that individual would need to be even more careful. Or it could entail setting up computers or other devices and dropping them off so all that individual needs to do is turn on the computer and it will be ready to go.

Know Your Limits

If the platform you choose has a limit to the number of people who can tune in make sure that you know well in advance what that number is. Then, make sure that you invite well below that limit. Even though Apple allows 32 people to join in you could start to run into problems with the streaming if you max out that number. Instead, you’ll want to leave a little bit of a buffer. Not to mention you could have someone who gives the link to another person you haven’t invited, which could cause problems for those you did invite trying to get in.

If you don’t have a limit you still want to keep in mind that people you didn’t invite may be getting the link. You may have additional guests you didn’t plan on and your wedding may actually be viewed by people you don’t even know who were given the link. The more people who are viewing the video you stream the higher the chance that there will be a problem, so make sure you let those you do invite know this. Tell everyone that you need to be notified before the link is passed on to additional people so you can make sure everything is working properly for your invited guests.