Some good friends of mine had been planning a destination wedding before Covid hit and changed everything. They ended up doing a Zoom wedding. Except for some minor technical difficulties, it went well and lasted 2.5 hours. I was pretty impressed. Of course, being a zoom wedding, they were able to have about six times as many people attend including many from all over the country and Europe. There were over 110 Zoom connections and probably 250+ people. Here is approximately how it went (I may have screwed up the order a bit)
Start: Organizer explains the Zoom controls to everyone and what is expected.
Pre-ceremony: A slide show of the B&G set to music.
Live music: A piano player performing live from their own home.
Processional: (pre-recorded and live) Various people dressed for a wedding walking down a path in different locations. Mutli-camera view of bridal entrance.
Ceremony: B&G w/officiant. Their love story was told by the officiant with some pictures and videos interspersed. Basic ceremony afterwards.
Cake cutting and toasts: Right after ceremony. Six people gave prepared toasts.
Reception: Guests were placed into breakout rooms. Mine had about 10 people. The B&G made the rounds to join each breakout room before.
Ending: Group pictures of every Zoom gallery page. B&G thank everyone who was part of their day. They do a short dance and say good bye.
Overall, it worked. The emotion was there. Many guests were crying. And best of all, the chicken didn't taste like wood.
They did have some technical difficulties. Most could have been solved easily. The organizers could have been more vigilant about muting and unmuting people. The officiant could have used a monitor or someone to cue her when videos were finished.
The outfit that did all the arrangement starts their packages at $800. Add on packages can easily bring the total to the $2000 mark. They even have packages to rent equipment (cameras, mics, etc. I credit their inventiveness. They clearly captured the emotion of the event. They just need to work on making the technical side smoother.
Start: Organizer explains the Zoom controls to everyone and what is expected.
Pre-ceremony: A slide show of the B&G set to music.
Live music: A piano player performing live from their own home.
Processional: (pre-recorded and live) Various people dressed for a wedding walking down a path in different locations. Mutli-camera view of bridal entrance.
Ceremony: B&G w/officiant. Their love story was told by the officiant with some pictures and videos interspersed. Basic ceremony afterwards.
Cake cutting and toasts: Right after ceremony. Six people gave prepared toasts.
Reception: Guests were placed into breakout rooms. Mine had about 10 people. The B&G made the rounds to join each breakout room before.
Ending: Group pictures of every Zoom gallery page. B&G thank everyone who was part of their day. They do a short dance and say good bye.
Overall, it worked. The emotion was there. Many guests were crying. And best of all, the chicken didn't taste like wood.
They did have some technical difficulties. Most could have been solved easily. The organizers could have been more vigilant about muting and unmuting people. The officiant could have used a monitor or someone to cue her when videos were finished.
The outfit that did all the arrangement starts their packages at $800. Add on packages can easily bring the total to the $2000 mark. They even have packages to rent equipment (cameras, mics, etc. I credit their inventiveness. They clearly captured the emotion of the event. They just need to work on making the technical side smoother.