Over the weekend my cousin and his finance had a beautiful wedding beach side in beautiful Noosa, Queensland. She looked stunning in her dress, he looked stoked to be there, I watched on with Mr Bean bumbling around in the background and my own father in law giggling like a loon at his antics...
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| Yeah, kind of like this.. |
This was not the first time a Zoom call was involved in a wedding I was a part of. Last year there was someone streaming the action at a wedding we attended, for the entertainment of anyone who couldn't make it there. This time around, I was a late arrival on a zoom call (I wasn't originally invited, mum passed on the link to me earlier on in the day and I promised I'd be fashionably late just in case there was a cap on virtual audience members.)
So five minutes into the proceedings I logged in, just in time to see the beautiful bride make her arrival on the grass. I stayed for the ceremony, watched them sign the official record and then logged off to make myself the fourth coffee of the day.
It's the quickest wedding I have ever been a part of and I can really see the benefits (and occasional downsides) to streamed weddings.
THE GOOD
-No need to get dressed unless you're planning to have your camera on. Mum did, not sure why but since nobody could see my ensemble of jeans that needed a wash and a basic tee-shirt thrown on last minute, I certainly didn't bring down the tone or the style of this beautiful day.
-No travel, no accommodation. I logged in from where I'm writing this which is the same place I write a lot of my stuff: On my desk in the corner of the house. I didn't even have to bring a present!
-No microphone, no chance to interrupt the ceremony. I mean there was every chance the camera/computer doing the Zoom had the watchers muted anyway but my point is, even if you're slightly drunk and ready to either crack jokes or commentate as things happen, only those in your own house will hear you. Lucky them.
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| None of this, thankfully |
-Unless they're watching the streamer list, nobody can see you come and go. In the middle of this wedding I was helping my nephews design stuff for the 3d printer, stopping the occasional yelling match coming from the son's room, making coffee, answering questions from the in laws and texting mum about how well everything was going. You try doing this unnoticed in the middle of a grand ceremony.
-It was over in 20 minutes. I hung around for the exchanging or vows, the kiss and the certificate signing and figured that was enough wedding action for one day and signed out. No waiting around for hours, no having to wrangle my kids back into the area from wherever they've wandered off from, no worries about getting too drunk before the speeches started or falling off the stage dancing like an drunken idiot. Quickest and most stress free wedding ever!
-I'm not sure if the reception was streamed (didn't check) but I still missed out on drunk uncle speeches and possible best man fumbles on the microphone. Awesome! Also I didn't have to MC which is something you get asked to do a lot when you work in radio. Double awesome!
THE NOT SO GREAT
-The quality of the feed was okay but it wasn't cutting edge 4k. So while you got a fair indication of the bride looking amazing (as they do) but it certainly wouldn't look as amazing as if being right there. No fine detail on the lace parts, you couldn't see any signs of nervousness (or much of the facial features on anyone really.) Signal feed came and went so you'd go from clear to VHS to clear quite a few times. But hey, you were watching it as it happened and that's pretty damn amazing.
-The sound didn't work so well. You could hear the celebrant and the two girls next to the camera/computer laughing at all the amusing stuff said by other party but nothing coming from the bride and groom. I'm not much on lip reading but from the general look of things I think it went well!
-BYO catering. Sadly the zoom call didn't have anyone siding up to me with a offered metal tray, packed with tasty tid-bits like tempura prawns, mini pizzas or even party pies. But hey, I didn't pay anything to be part of this experience so damn right I should feed myself.
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| Care for one of these sir? |
-Because of the success of this one, Zoom will now be my preferred choice of any and all upcoming weddings. 'Look an expensive trip sounds great and just what our savings need...but is there a zoom option?'
I'm not sure how this is going to go with my wife, especially if it's one of her family members
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