Google analytics says “virtual marriage” is trending…
Authored by: Anette Marchant
January 19, 2021
You are not alone in wondering if a virtual wedding is for you. Your hesitation in moving forward is understandable in light of Covid-19 restrictions. Your carefully selected wedding date along with all your plans, on pause. The simple desire to celebrate with family and friends is hard to ignore…
But sometimes there are special considerations to make. As one couple decided, they wanted her grandfather to see them get married. They went ahead with a virtual wedding and one month later he passed. Now they cherish the fact that they didn’t wait.
Though restrictions vary from province to province, couples can plan on having 10 people attend in person. If you look at it this way, you can invite more people than you initially planned to a live-streamed event!
It may be difficult to make this decision but virtual or live-streamed weddings aren’t going away any time soon. Many couples are already making this choice as they have family and friends all over the world.
Live Streamed weddings are every bit as special…
“It wasn’t how either of us had imagined we would get married, but it was so full of love and pure joy…we still hope to celebrate sometime soon with family and friends in person, but for now, we are so glad to be officially husband and wife.”
—Julie and Benjamin
It is important to clarify that you can’t have a fully virtual wedding in Canada. For legal purposes, your marriage license must be signed and witnessed in person, with your officiant on the wedding day.
We’re finding that couples have a hard time letting their wedding day pass and don’t want to postpone. So honor the wedding date you’ve picked. Your full wedding plans can be realized down the road should you choose. You can do both—we encourage it!
Enduring Promises offers a special package for those couples wanting to take care of the legalities now, followed by a ceremony with family & friends at a later date.
Don’t leave out any of the trimmings! If you’ve already booked a florist, see if you can have curbside pick up of smaller bouquets or, maybe they offer a virtual tutorial on how to make your own bouquet.
You will want the memories and photos of your special day; so it’s still a good idea to hire a photographer.
Do all the special moments you want! A cake can also be ordered for curbside pickup, or be brave and make it yourself. Stack up the happy memories, and show us that love conquers. It will be a day to remember for all involved.
Though you can’t be with all your guests, make it special for them! Click the link at the end to get some ideas of what you could do.
A few things to keep in mind…
The first thing you need to consider is what platform you will use to make your virtual wedding possible. Google Hangout, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and Zoom are the most popular options.
Live streaming options such as Facebook or Instagram, allow guests to view the wedding and use the chat feature, sending their love and happy wishes.
Zoom and Google Hangout are video conferencing apps where guests are encouraged to use ‘Speaker View’ to see you, but can also see and interact with each other. Zoom also allows a virtual waiting room where guests can log in and mingle, adding to the wedding atmosphere.
Ask someone to be the technical administrator for your day. They can be the virtual host to welcome guests when they log in, moderate the waiting room, mute and unmute, and even make sure the video call is being recorded as a special memory.
Please keep provincial marriage license regulations in mind. If your original wedding day has passed since the license was issued, confirm with your registry office that the license is still valid.
What Enduring Promises can do for you…
We will tell your story the way YOU created it! Our online console is accessible to you once you’ve booked your wedding with us. We have always been about minimizing the stress of your wedding day. We want to help you celebrate and we’re not camera shy!
“We used Enduring Promises to design our ceremony and couldn’t be happier. Using the ceremony builder you can really make it your own. We received so many compliments about our beautiful and unique ceremony! Our officiant did an amazing job and was such a pleasure to work with! I could not recommend this company enough!”
—Samantha & Jordan
You may not have expected to do your wedding this way, but we’re here for you! Now more than ever, we need a reason to celebrate–bringing a little joy into each other’s lives. Imagine the stories you’ll tell and happy memories you’ll create!
5 Tips For The Best Guest Experience
About the Author:
Annette Marchant is a copywriter and homebody from Calgary. She writes—and is a happy contributor to this blog. Her love of words is fueled by black tea and a great set of headphones. Her home is filled with boys and one of them is an Officiant with Enduring Promises.
