Tips + Techniques


How to Livestream a Wedding: Tips and Photo Equipment

September 25, 2020

By Drew Appolonia

Photo © andreswd/Andres Oliveira

We’ve all become intimately familiar with the video quality we get from our laptop’s webcam over the last few months. To put it lightly, it’s not great. While the majority of us are willing to put up with its limitations for work meetings and meetups, it’s not what soon-to-be newlyweds want to utilize to livestream a wedding, one of the most important days of their lives.

So sure, setting up a computer and performing a wedding via Zoom will provide the experience of “being there” to those who can’t make it to the venue in real time, but it gives those who can’t attend a view comparable to what they would have had if they forgot their glasses at home. It can be so much more.

[Read: Recording Your Clients in Real Time]

As micro weddings and elopements are on the rise, many wedding photographers’ clients are also considering using livestreaming services to share their upcoming nuptials virtually. Selecting the right gear and accessories for the job will ensure your clients’ friends and family who are viewing from home will feel like they were almost there with them. There are a few simple connections, through encoders or capture cards, like the Magewell USB Capture HDMI Gen 2, that will allow you to use the camera gear you already have and dynamic audio sources for the stream. Strategically placed wireless lavalier microphones like the Sennheiser EW122 G4 allow those at home to hear the vows as if they’re right there at the wedding. A compatible lens for your camera setup with a generous zoom range, like a 70-200mm (the gold standard for telephoto lenses) gives at home guests a ”best seat in the house” view. Done right, what you capture live can both be seen again and again, and give you key footage to add into a well-produced final video of the day. In addition to the gear, consider the following:

1. Explain to clients that quality matters for their wedding livestream

Explain to your clients that just because the event has to be scaled down, that doesn’t mean cherished family and friends have to be left out. More and more creators are embracing livestreaming for weddings and elopements, but they should know it is definitely a process best left in the hands of pros. The quality of the stream is more based on knowledge of professional video production, not the number of Zoom calls one has partaken in.

2. Give clients options for different levels of wedding livestream production

Make sure your clients feel comfortable communicating to you exactly what they want and what they expect out of you; it’s really nothing different than the conversations you’re already used to having with couples on their big day. If they tell you they want a camera setup that is out of everyone’s way, you can tell them to rest assured that a single quality video source can roll on the entire event. However, if they request a more unique viewing experience, they’ll need to give you your freedom to roam around the wedding, which can bring different shots to the broadcast, and potentially allow you to use multiple cameras. Be sure they know exactly what you’re capable of, and how you will achieve the perfect shots.

3. Consider using a specialized videographer to help out

Explain to clients that livestreaming weddings is still a fairly new concept, so a lot of pros are learning on the fly in order to provide their clients with the ultimate experience. The more your clients ask you to do, the less energy you’ll likely be able to put toward any one thing. Spending time working on an over-the-top livestream may take you away from capturing the wedding in a more traditional way, so it’s important that you stay focused. On the other hand, you may want to partner up with a specialized videographer to help you out. We know that convincing your clients to add people to their guest list under our current regulations can be a tough sell, but one additional person with the right skillset can bring an amazing experience to dozens of people who can’t be there in person.

Drew Appolonia is the video manager for BorrowLenses and oversees content creation as well as internal video education. Prior to his current role, Appolonia spent four years as an integral part of BorrowLenses Video Customer Service team, assisting customers with gear selection, education, and troubleshooting.