Full-Service Wedding Livestream Platforms Your Venue Should Know

Livestreaming video has absolutely flourished during the coronavirus pandemic – and for good reason. Whether you are the one creating it or consuming it, streaming content has been a prime source of escapism. But if you think the livestream boom will quickly be abandoned once larger in-person gatherings – such as weddings – are once again safe and acceptable, you probably have a different reality coming.

According to an Insider September article covering the recent rise in livestreaming weddings, planners are predicting that livestreaming is here to stay long past this pandemic. Why? Well, why not? It provides another added benefit – a safeguard even – for couples to ensure that their loved ones will be able to experience their special day. And as the pandemic has shown us, we’re often living in an uncertain world, leading to reasons someone (or multiple someones) can’t make the wedding, whether that’s an elderly grandparent, a pregnant friend, relatives who live too far away, or even natural disasters stepping in to spoil things (in fact, 2011’s Hurricane Irene is what led to the creation of popular streaming service, LoveStream, after one-third of the guests couldn’t make the app founder’s wedding as a result of the storm).

As for what this means for you, the wedding venue, it can’t hurt to make streaming options a part of your recommendations to couples now (as many wedding planners already are). Especially, as you’ll undoubtedly be seeing future couples coming to you with the question of “how to stream a wedding?” or “what’s the best way to livestream a wedding?” While the most ideal option would be to build your own venue-branded full-service streaming service right into your wedding package, just simply knowing what’s out there in terms of platforms and technologies, the different features, and how they could benefit certain prospective couples can go a long way in positioning you as the venue they need.

For Your Couples Who Want All the (Wedding) Bells & Whistles

LoveStream

Built by the wedding pros at Bustld, this easy-to-use streaming service is like the Rolls Royce of live-streaming platforms. That’s because it doesn’t just provide user-friendly, one-click HD streaming access for your client’s unlimited guests (no downloading necessary), but it offers a customized website that can include a live chat, virtual guestbook, Spotify playlist, and specialty cocktail recipe. There’s also a built-in production team to control video feeds at important moments during your client’s day, like switching between camera angles or featuring a remote guest’s reading for a ceremony. And proof that this particular service is the crème de la crème (and that this trend isn’t going away): They have had wedding inquiries for dates as far out as October 2021.

Intrigued? Lovestream also offers a venue and vendor affiliate program, which provides you with a 10% discount code for your clients, a custom link with 120-day cookie tracking, promotional marketing materials, and even a 10% commission paid monthly for each LoveStream purchase completed using your link.

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For Your Couples Who Want More Interactive Elements

Wedfuly

Collaborating with video meeting platform Zoom, Wedfuly – previously an online wedding planning service that has shifted its focus almost entirely to virtual wedding livestreams – pulled off its first virtual wedding in March of 2020. What’s particularly unique about this platform is the way it leverages different features of Zoom to makes events interactive. For example, coordinators use screen sharing throughout the entire event for visuals including videos and slideshows, the “raise hand” feature is great for open-floor toasts, and it even places guests into Zoom breakout rooms that function as reception tables, so the bride and groom can then pop into these rooms and speak with smaller groups individually, just like they would at a regular wedding.

For Your Couples Who Want Their Livestream to Look Ultra-Professional

Married LiveStream

This Pacific Northwest-based videography company makes livestreaming look, well, like a professionally constructed video shoot – just all managed to be done live and in-person. Multiple cameras and high-quality audio help tell the full story of the couples’ wedding day from afar, from the start of the ceremony to the last lingerers on the dancefloor at the end of the reception. Not to mention, the full recording is also available to clients quick – within 24 hours. See an example of a previously recorded livestream here.

For Your Eloping Couples Who Still Want a Few Virtual Witnesses

Simply Eloped

Simply Eloped is a wedding planning service dedicated to making eloping easy for couples. So, as other livestreaming providers came into the picture as a result of the pandemic, they, too, began offering virtual ceremonies performed through Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, or the couple’s other preferred video conferencing tools. Multi-tiered packages include virtual tech-support, officiation services, even a one-hour photography portrait session after the ceremony.

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Other DIY Wedding Livestream Platforms Worthy to Note for Them

They may not be full-service, but they still are getting plenty of use by couples nationwide.

Wedsites – A wedding website builder that allows couples to embed links to their virtual wedding right on their wedding website.
Lovecast – A mobile app that features one-click streaming access for guests in HD video, plus a live chat feature.
Joy – A wedding website builder that supports live streaming through pretty much any platform out there: Zoom, YouTube, Google Meet, Facebook Live, and more.