4 Ways to Live-stream your Queenstown Wedding
The current worldwide Covid-19 climate means that, if you are getting married in Queenstown in the next 6 months or so it is fairly likely that there will be at least some important international family members or guests who can’t attend the wedding in person.
Luckily however, we live in the digital age and modern technology makes it possible for you to livestream your wedding ceremony. That way, friends and family who can’t be there in person can still be a part of the magic.
I have put together all the info you need to live-stream your Queenstown Wedding Ceremony right here. I hope you find this blog post helpful.
Some general live-streaming tips before we get started
If you are planning an outdoor wedding ceremony in Queenstown, several locations have poor to zero cell signal and therefore you won’t be able to live-stream there. Some of these locations include Moke Lake, Bob’s Cove/Twelve Mile area, Paradise (north of Glenorchy). You can select your cell phone provider and see on a map what sort of cell service you can get in Queenstown here.
Option #1 – Hire a pro (spoiler alert – I’m not that guy).
Obviously, hiring a pro to handle the live-streaming of your Queenstown Wedding is going to be your most expensive option but hopefully most stress-free.
A bit of Googling shows that despite the current worldwide demand for live-streaming for weddings, Queenstown isn’t exactly overflowing with options. Below are 2 local companies offering Livestream Services.
EUREKA FILMS
My good friend and talented Wedding Videographer Cristian from Eureka Films has recently started offering live-stream wedding coverage. Here’s some info from Cristian about his live-streaming packages;
Livestreaming description: We can live stream any event providing the location has a solid internet signal source such as WiFi, 4G signal etc. Usually, we will go to the location prior to the Livestream and check the strength of the signal.
In addition to equipment, we usually will have 1 professional just in charge of the Livestream service, this way we can overcome any technical difficulties on-site and the other videographer will focus only on the wedding video.
Price:We sell Live-stream services in 2 ways – as an Add-on to an existing Film Package or as a Standalone Service.
Add-on: If you purchase Live Streaming service as a complement to your wedding film. then the price for Livestreaming is $493.
Standalone: if you do not wish any other service and only wish Livestream your wedding, then the Livestream service is $1000 – with 15% discount for some months (enquiry to check what month this discount applies)
The reason a standalone package is more expensive is that we need to book crew and equipment for only your wedding Livestream and there is an extra cost just to book that date and get the crew there,
where if you already booking an existing wedding package, most of the cost is already accounted for in your wedding package and using a Livestream as a add-on becomes much cheaper.
Some other Livestream advantages and features you should know about:
- Livestream with HD Quality, with professional wireless microphones.
- live chat so family and friends can comment live to each other and to the couple, anyone with any device can comment on it.
- Ability to Livestream in private mode, so only the people you want can watch.
- After Livestream, that same link becomes a full video at the same link, the couple and parents can review the comments that were made live and review the full wedding ceremony just moments after the ceremony if they wish to.
- Stream even can be created as early as a week or month before the event date, so you can promote and share the live stream info prior to the wedding date.
SURGE MEDIA
Another local provider offering Livestreaming is Surge Media. I haven’t had an opportunity to work with Surge Media yet but when I do, I will provide more info here.
In the meantime, here is what Serge from Surge Media has to say about their Livestreaming services;
“Surge Media produces a high quality live stream from anywhere with cellular service. It takes only a few minutes to set up. Our system doesn’t just select the best quality connection from different cellular providers, with cellular bonding technology we can livestream from places that was not possible before with confidence that our video will get out to our viewers without interruption.
The process is simple: viewers get a link to the Surge Media website where livestream is scheduled. From there you can click the link to Youtube Channel where you can leave some comments in a live chat. After the ceremony newly married couples could read and comment back to viewers while enjoying the bubbles.
Audio is an essential part of the video. Our viewers will be able to enjoy the high quality audio no matter where the wedding takes place.
Our preferred streaming platform is YouTube. In terms of privacy now one can see this stream unless they have a link”.
Option #2 – Use Watchmywedding.co.nz
Watch My Wedding is a New Zealand company located in Auckland who provide hardware and software to make live-streaming your wedding easy and give you better quality. (Note: their website appears to be down right now as of 8/6/21).
Key features are;
- Start recording at the push of a button
- Their units come with 3 built-in data connections and will automatically select the best quality connection at your wedding location.
- Their specially-designed video compression algorithm will give viewers the best user experiencing, maximising quality for the available connection.
- Guests don’t need any special user accounts to view the wedding (ie you don’t have to set Grandpa up with a Facebook account AND explain how the hell to use it!).
- USB recording option – you can watch a USB recording of your wedding after the live-stream
- Private streaming
Option #3 – DIY live-stream your wedding using a smart phone
Here’s a list of what you will need
- Any modern smart phone with a good camera (any recent model iPhone or Android phone will do, avoid iPads because they are HUGE and distracting during the ceremony)
- Live streaming service (like Facebook live). Make sure you have the account set up and provide your live-streaming person with the user name and password for the account you want them to use and make sure they are able to log in.
- A backup plan in case your live stream doesn’t work. The simplest backup plan is simply to record the wedding video and upload later.
- A charger or power supply. Live streaming will chew through your battery fast and you don’t want to run out of juice and miss a crucial moment!
- Tripod with phone mount
- Somebody to monitor the live-streaming phone and tripod. Tripods get knocked, people stand in front of the phone, the live stream has a hiccup and you need to record instead…you get the idea. Technology is awesome but you want a human keeping an eye on things.
- Optional: A (local) mobile hotspot if your phone is not from NZ. (If you use an overseas phone’s mobile data in NZ on roaming it will likely cost you a fortune. Another option is to see if the ceremony venue has and will let you use their Wifi.
- (Optional) A microphone like the Movo Smartphone Video Rig for better audio quality
Set-up tips
- Go to the ceremony location the day before the wedding with the actual phone you will use for the live-stream and the human in charge of the live-stream. Do a livestream test to make sure that the Wifi connection is good enough, the audio setup will actually provide decent audio, the live-streaming service (Facebook Live etc) you want to use will work and the human in charge of the live-stream knows how to log in to the live-streaming account and record if the live-stream encounters any errors. Ideally, have somebody remotely watch your test livestream and make sure they can actually see and hear everything ok from their end.
- If you have a professional photographer shooting your ceremony, be considerate of them and your guests when positioning the live-stream tripod. Also, make sure it is not in a position where it is likely to be knocked or stood in front of (ie don’t put it in/near the aisle!).
- Make a schedule of what you will live-stream and when and where. Then, if there are any changes on the day, notify viewers via the live-streaming platform you are planning to use (ie messaging the Facebook Group you have created for your Facebook Live stream).
- Start the live-stream 10 minutes before the action begins. This gives viewers a chance to login and also gives you time to test (and if necessary tweak) the live-stream setup.
Option #4 – use a video camera to record your live-stream
Here’s a list of what you will need.
- A video camera or digital camera with an HDMI or SDI outlet port capable of shooting video. (Note: digital stills cameras that can shoot video usually only allow single focus. Ie you will have to focus once – either manually or via auto-focus – and then switch focus off as the camera will be unable to adjust focus itself well).
- HDMI or SDI cable to connect your camera to your converter box.
- A laptop with access to wifi or an Ethernet connection
- A signal converter box to connect your camera to your laptop and convert the video feed into something your computer can understand.
- Live streaming service (like Facebook live). Make sure you have the account set up and provide your live-streaming person with the user name and password for the account you want them to use and make sure they are able to log in.
- A backup plan in case your live stream doesn’t work. The simplest backup plan is simply to record the wedding and upload later.
- A charger or power supply for your . Live streaming will chew through your battery fast and you don’t want to run out of juice and miss a crucial moment!
- An external power supply for your laptop
- Tripod with phone mount
- Somebody to monitor the live-streaming camera and tripod. Tripods get knocked, people stand in front of the camera, the live stream has a hiccup and you need to record instead…you get the idea. Technology is awesome but you want a human keeping an eye on things.
- Tripod with a mount that will fit your video camera
- (Optional) if you are planning or panning or tilting with the camera while shooting you will want a video/fluid head on the tripod for smoother camera movements.
Set-up tips
Check out this blog-post for in-depth instructions on how to live-stream using a video camera from somebody that really knows their stuff.
- Go to the ceremony location the day before the wedding with the actual camera, laptop, converter box, cables, audio setup, tripod etc you will use for the live-stream and the human in charge of the live-stream. Do a livestream test to make sure that the Wifi connection is good enough, the audio setup will actually provide decent audio, the live-streaming service (Facebook Live etc) you want to use will work and the human in charge of the live-stream knows how to use the camera, converter box and laptop (including knowing login passwords for the laptop and live-streaming software), log in to the live-streaming account and record if the live-stream encounters any errors. Ideally, have somebody remotely watch your test livestream and make sure they can actually see and hear everything ok from their end.
- If you have a professional photographer shooting your ceremony, be considerate of them and your guests when positioning the live-stream tripod. Also, make sure it is not in a position where it is likely to be knocked or stood in front of (ie don’t put it in/near the aisle!).
- Make a schedule of what you will live-stream and when and where. Then, if there are any changes on the day, notify viewers via the live-streaming platform you are planning to use (ie messaging the Facebook Group you have created for your Facebook Live stream).
- Start the live-stream 10 minutes before the action begins. This gives viewers a chance to login and also gives you time to test (and if necessary tweak) the live-stream setup.
That’s it, that’s all. I hope you found this blog post helpful. If you have any questions re live-streaming your Queenstown wedding or if you need any info or advice at all, I’m happy to help. You can reach me by email at patrick@fallon.co.nz or on my mobile at +6741737356.
Cheers, Patrick