The Ultimate Wedding Livestream Equipment Guide For 2022

Are you thinking about doing a wedding livestream or Zoom wedding for your guests who can’t make it to your special day? The good news is, you can easily do so with your smartphone via one of the popular livestream platforms (e.g., Lovecast, Zoom, Facebook Live).

While you plan the livestreaming logistics, you may have questions about the additional equipment you need to get for the best audio and video quality. We have put together this handy guide for our favorite mobile phone add-on equipment. You can ensure your wedding will have great looking video, fantastic lighting, and clear audio that even the pros would be jealous of!

Do you need any add-on equipment?

First of all, you may not need any additional equipment! In many cases, your smartphone alone is usually enough. This guide is for those who want to go to the next level.

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If you’re too busy to read this guide (perhaps you’re preoccupied planning a wedding?), this kit is a safe option and a definite upgrade over using just your phone.

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Otherwise, keep reading for an in-depth guide on how to assemble a customized kit!

Tripod

The tripod is the No.1 saver for shaky hands and tired arms. See below for two real livestreamed wedding examples. One is with a tripod, can you guess which one?

Recommendations:

When choosing a tripod for your phone, be sure to pick one that comes with a “rig” to mount your smartphone and any additional equipment. And depending on your venue setup, you can choose one of the two types of tripods.  

• Full-height tripod: Amazon Basics Tripod + ULANZI  Smartphone Rig
• Mini-tripod: Moukey-Vlog Tripod

External Microphone

How will your guests hear the wedding vows? In some cases, using just your phone’s internal mic might be enough (e.g., when you set up the phone to be close to you when you say the vows or already have an amplifier such as this wedding livestream).

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The best way to know is to test things ahead of time. Just take a short video and see how it sounds! Just remember that the environment will play a factor too. Whether that means you might have a small child making sounds in the audience or if there’s heavy (or even rain!) you should account and prepare for those situations.

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In case your audio doesn’t turn out to be optimal, no worries; we have you covered!

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Recommendation:

• Moukey Microphone & Tripod Kit. This kit has a cardioid microphone with a built-in advanced cardioid capacitor box-which can achieve the highest audio recording, and reduce background noise.
• Lewinner Wireless Lavalier Microphone. Lavalier microphones usually give better sound quality than the wired microphones because they can ensure the mic part is right next to the speakers. This Lewinner one comes with a transmitter (to be clipped on the groom or the officiant), a receiver (to be plugged into the phone), and all the adaptors needed for all sorts of phones port.  It is an easy and affordable choice.

Wide Angle Lens

A wide-angle lens can help widen your view, but generally, we don’t recommend this add-on. By widening your view, you end up stretching other parts of the view. This can lead to some odd-looking videos.

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However, if you have a special reason to require a wider angle than your phone allows, we have tested this lens and it does help capture some extra content for the video.

Battery

Most phones should have no issue streaming for at least 1-2 hours with a full charge. It never hurts, however, to be prepared for the unknown. Save yourself from any unprecedented interruptions and bring a portable power bank. Just make sure to bring your charging cable with you too!

Adapters

Now that you have the essential equipment, you’ll need to connect the above equipment (external mic, and optionally power bank) all to your phone. If you have a modern phone, you will probably need an adapter. It is, however, possible that you won’t need any adapter. We will show you how to figure this out!

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First, if you have a 3.5mm audio jack on your phone (pictured here), then you’re all set. No adapter needed and you can skip this section. However, if you don’t, then you’ll need to read on.

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Before we start, a quick word of caution. This is one area where we recommend you buy from a reputable name brand, suck as Belkin or Apple. Our team has tested cheaper alternatives, but have never had one work reliably.

Recommendations:

iPhone
If you have a modern iPhone (iPhone 8 or newer) chances are you’ll need a lightning adapter. We recommend this Belkin iPhone adapter or as it will let you charge while using a microphone.‍‍

Android
Certain Android devices won’t have a 3.5mm audio jack (newer Pixel phones, for example). In these cases, you’ll most likely need a USB-C adapter. We recommend this Belkin Android adapter as it will let you charge while using a microphone.

Bringing it all together

Having all the perfect equipment is only part of the equation. The other piece is using the right technology.

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The Lovecast App was built specifically for weddings and allows you to experience the wedding you’ve always envisioned, while still accommodating those who are unable to attend in person. It’s as easy as a few clicks to start your wedding livestream. Also, Lovecast lets you invite a co-host to handle all the logistics (including starting the livestream) from their phone, so you can focus on the important stuff, like getting married, and stay rest assured that your wedding is live-streamed in near-professional quality.