June 8, 2020 /
Have a Zoom Wedding
Okay, okay, don’t click away yet. Hear us out here for a minute. We promise, it’s not as absolutely awful as you think it might be. And it’s being done all across the country. Yes, you read that right. Post #4 is about Having a Zoom Wedding. Welcome, friends. We’re sure you’ve got some questions, and we promise to answer all of them. You remember in Part 3 (Tie the Knot Now, Celebrate Later), where we talked about getting married now, whether it’s in your backyard or just you and your honey at church? This is where Zoom comes into play to help make sure that more of your VIPS can be “in attendance” on your big day.
What exactly is a Zoom wedding? How does it work?
First things first. Schedule your Zoom meeting. Aka, set your wedding date. Then log in to your Zoom dashboard and go ahead and schedule the meeting. Then send that invite to all of your VIPs that you want to virtually attend. Make sure it’s on their calendar. Think about whether you want them to all join muted, or if you want to be able to hear them. There are definitely pros or cons on either side.
Secondly? Build your Zoom Wedding Team. You aren’t going to want to run the meeting while you’re getting married, right? Ask 2-3 friends to help out on the big day hosting the Zoom meeting, running the cameras and devices, and making sure that everything is running smoothly.
Third? Decide on your ideal camera set up. We recommend using three devices for your Zoom wedding: 1 facing where you’ll be standing (opposite your officiate), 1 focusing on your face, and 1 focusing on your honey’s face. Figure out just how close you want each of those devices and cameras to be so that all of your virtual friends can still see, but sot they’re not in the way of your actual guests or distracting to you. Also – we recommend putting your devices on tripods to avoid as much shaky-camera-syndrome as possible. 🙂
Fourth? Start the meeting. It’s as simple as that, friends. 🙂
Now that you know the basics behind how it works, here’s what you should think about before deciding to have a Zoom wedding.
Have a Zoom Wedding
Pros of Having a Zoom Wedding
- More of your VIPS can be there | This works especially well if you have clusters of family and friends from out of town that you still want to be able to come to your wedding. They can just tune in via the meeting and witness your entire ceremony and all of your vows. Grandma, who couldn’t originally come because she’s “at risk?” She can be right there by your side.
- You’ll get some more interaction from your friends and family from afar | You better believe there will be alllll kinds of excitement and shouts and congratulations from allll of your VIPS at once at the end of your ceremony. And you’ll get to see them all at once! Talk about fun!
- You automatically look like the cool, tech savvy couple | Hello – only the cool kids are having Zoom weddings nowadays
- Your VIPs not there will feel like they’re there. | Nobody is stuck at the back of the church peering around and in between anybody else’s shoulders. They’re literally right there with you.
Cons + Things to think about Having a Zoom Wedding
- It requires a little bit of extra effort and some friends | You can’t just go out into the backyard and say your vows. you’ve got to put a little bit of extra effort into setting up your cameras and meetings, making sure the sound and video work properly, and triple checking that your devices are charged. Make sure that your venue/location has either great Wifi or really good cell service so nothing drops. You might need to consider adding a microphone so everyone can hear things. Also, since you’re the ones getting married? You’ll need to recruit someone to be in charge of each camera angle and device.
- It might not go perfectly according to plan | Let’s face it, sometimes technology just doesn’t work. And normally in a Zoom meeting? There’s at least one person that’s not for sure how things work. You might consider walking all of your VIPs through how to set up Zoom and join a meeting before the big day rolls around so they don’t miss out.
- You’ll be saying your vows in front of a phone or iPad, up close and personal | Hope that’s okay, yo. We’re assuming that since your friends and family are on the other side of the device that it’s okay with you. This also means you need to be okay with the devices being in your wedding ceremony photos. Especially if you want your virtual guests to be able to actually see what’s going on.
Pro Tip
Delegate, DELEGATE, DELEGATE!! Yes, you may be having a small wedding. BUT, we can pretty much guarantee that you don’t want to be running around in your wedding clothes double checking the camera angles and Zoom connections minutes before you tie the knot. Well before your wedding day pick your virtual team. Make sure they all know how to run a Zoom meeting and the device they’ll be using to join the meeting so all of your virtual guests don’t miss a thing. Then, the hardest thing of all? TRUST THEM.
Industry Insider Point of View
This is such a fun, unique way to still get married and have all of your guests be able to witness you say your “I Dos.” Really, truly. Live in the moment. And after you get married? Cut your wedding cake. Do your first dance. For a fun twist, open up the Zoom meeting so that your virtual guests can toast you and dance with you. 🙂
Here’s the rest of this series, friends:
1 | Ways to Get Married During Coronavirus
2 | Rescheduling Your Wedding During Coronavirus
3 | Tie the Knot Now, Celebrate Later
