Choosing the right virtual wedding co-host

In order to successfully broadcast a wedding to all remote guests, it is essential to choose a reliable and easy-to-use live stream technology, e.g. Lovecast. Once you decide on the technology to use, you now need to find the right person, a.k.a, a virtual wedding co-host, to perform the live stream.  An ideal co-host is someone who is reliable, willing to help, and will be at your wedding.  We wrote this detailed guide to help you navigate all the logistics around delegating a livestream co-host.

Pick a virtual wedding co-host

Ensure you choose someone who you know will physically be there for your wedding, for example, ask if your wedding planner can help out livestreaming. We recommend you avoid picking someone from your bridal party, as they will likely be preoccupied throughout the day and often involved in other duties.

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In addition, we recommend the co-host be able to fully dedicated his or her phone just for streaming. It is best to avoid lending your own phone since it’s likely you’ll need it for other matters throughout the day.  Finally, make sure the phone to be used for streaming meets the following technical specifications:

1. WIFI or LTE Internet connection (An hour streaming usually cost 1GB of data)
2. A healthy phone battery and backup power bank (just in case!)
3. Enough phone storage if you plan to save an HD copy to the phone (1 hour of recording generally requires a little less than 2 GB of storage)

Invite your co-host

Talk to your co-host or send them a message to make sure they can make it to your wedding and are happy to help you livestream. Also, be sure to communicate any specific instruction you have for the livestream, such as

1. Which streaming technology to use (We recommend using something simple such as the Lovecast wedding livestream app so that your co-host won’t stress out with some unfamiliar technology)
2. Instruction to connect to WIFI.
3. Parts of your wedding to be livestreamed (e.g. ceremony,  cocktail hour, first dance)
4. For your wedding ceremony, do you want the camera to be close up or further back to capture all the guests as well?
5. Any additional equipment they need (see more in the next section)

Prepare the equipment

A nice benefit of using a mobile app to stream is that there is no additional equipment required. Choosing a more complex livestreaming solution may require a special video camera, an encoding device, and a computer for streaming the content through the internet. Further, this equipment can take time to acquire and can be difficult to operate.

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Despite a mobile app solution requiring no additional equipment, some simple items can help make the job easier and the stream quality better. A tripod can free the hand of your virtual wedding co-host and ensure the video is not shaky, whereas an external microphone works much better than the phone’s internal mic to capture all the details of your vow.  Our you can get these all as a simplified no-hassle kit.

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Finally, having a charged external power bank is never a bad idea when livestreaming as recording and casting can draw a large amount of energy.

Keep your remote guests updated on your wedding day

Your remote guests are all so excited to see you walk down the aisle, and they might get worried when the event is delayed because they don’t know what is happening at the wedding site. Make sure your co-host sends announcements (via Lovecast app) to your remote guests with the status of the livestream and monitor the camera screen throughout the livestream in case any technical difficulties arises (e.g. Internet disconnected, camera got blocked, phone out of data/battery)

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As always, we’d love to help out with any questions you have. Send us an email at contact@lovecastapp.com and we will be in touch soon!