What is Satellite Weddings all about.....
Unlike a conventional wedding video, which is usually filmed with a single manned camera, we have perfected the broadcasting of the ceremony via remotely operated cameras.
We can relay the early arrival of guests, showing their wedding outfits –hats, shoes, dresses!- both outside and inside the venue. We can film as close up as possible to show faces, hands and smiles.
So basically we can simultaneously:
- Collect images
- Choose the best
- Relay to satellite
- Distribute around the globe via the internet, to your friends and family.
Q: Can you relay anywhere in the world?
A: Yes it can be watched wherever there is an internet connection. A good test is, if the computer can view video on ‘YouTube’ then it is good enough to view the ‘broadcast wedding’
Q: What is the maximum number of viewers?
A: There is no practical limit to the number of viewers. We normally book up to 100 but this can be extended to 80,000!!!
Q: How will my friends and family view our wedding on the day (tune in)?
A: ‘Satellite Weddings’ have an exclusive website which is yours for the day. Your ’web guests’ simply go to ‘satelliteweddings.co.uk’ and click on Live and after a few seconds the connection is made.
Q: Can you provide this service from any venue?
A: Usually it is possible to relay from anywhere but permission from the owners would be needed and we would do a survey of the venue and area before accepting your order.
Q: How is the broadcast done on the day?
A: Satellite weddings will install up to four remotely controlled cameras. There are no visible camera operators – the whole installation is neat and discreet.
Choosing the best picture: Just like on ‘reality TV’ we ‘live’ vision mix to send out only the best pictures. Our cameras can move and zoom in and out. There will be shots of faces, outfits and greetings to your friends/family abroad.
The ceremony is then linked to our satellite uplink. The satellite we use is the new Avanti which is over North Africa. The Satellite then relays your wedding to the Hughes control centre at Goonhilly Downs. From there it is relayed around the world.
Q: Sounds great but how much does all this cost?
A: There are two main components to our costs:-
- Cameras and satellite uplink equipment: £450 per day.
(Travel expenses over 50 miles at 40p per mile and additional expenses where distance requires an overnight stay) - Satellite Air Time and Global Distribution: £90 per day (up to 100 simultaneous viewers).
Q: Does this include a DVD?
A: Yes we provide a DVD of the broadcast shortly after the ceremony. The rights of the footage are yours to copy/share. We can provide up to 20 copies.
Richard and Emma's Wedding
Emma writes...
"It had always been my dream to get married to the man I loved in the village where I grew up, Priors Hardwick, a sleepy little village in Warwickshire, UK. My mum still lives there and most of my family live nearby. Now living in Australia and having family and friends in far flung places, it was inevitable that when I announced my nuptials would be in England, there was disappointment that many of them wouldn’t be able to make it, but thanks to Charles and Heather at Micro video, their disappointment was short lived."
But it's not unusual for some wedding guests to be unable to make the day, Emma explains what was so important.
"What prompted Richard and I to look at technology to help us share the day was that my brother and his wife were expecting their second child shortly before the wedding and would be unable to travel the 12,000 miles to the church and not having him there wouldn’t have been right."
It was by chance that Richard's father knew Charles of MicroVideo...... and the stage was set. Emma goes on...
"MicroVideo have run live satellite feeds over the internet for music festivals for several years; the question was, could they and would they do it for a wedding? ".....From a bride’s perspective it couldn’t have been easier - they did a recon visit and worked out all the set up details with the Church Warden and as the Vicar was totally on board, all it required was a video licence." ".....Despite there being three cameras, it was totally unobtrusive. You didn’t see where they were and with the feed being mixed live, those watching could see people approaching the church, entering and then sitting down."
Emma points out some of the unexpected advantages of the technology
"The Groom and the Best Man being fans of the technology were quite keen to talk to those watching far far away and could be seen quite often dragging people up to say hello. Having set up a web front page with the Best Man’s mobile number on it, people were also able to talk back. The text certainly replaced the telegram on that day. Guests were also surprised to receive texts themselves complimenting them on their outfits. We even got picture texts from Australia of people watching us online."
The experience of those that watched the live feed are mentioned by Emma
"It was wonderful that on the happiest day of my life so many friends and family could share the day with us. My brother, friends and colleagues toasted our nuptials with a cold one in 30C heat in Cairns, my sisters mother in law tuned in from Florida, live Facebook updates were posted by friends watching in Nambour, Queensland and Queenstown, New Zealand. Older relatives who couldn’t travel watched on from the comfort of their living rooms at home and across the Irish Sea those who couldn’t make it in person could check out the hats, outfits and shoes as if there in person."
Emma mentions our 'hard work' but we really rather enjoyed the experience
"Charles and Heather worked really hard to make our day as perfect as it could be. I don’t underestimate the effort they put in but it was a purely painless experience for us. To a layman a satellite dish and lots of wires culminated in big smiles worldwide and I can’t ever thank them enough for that."
Elsewhere in Emma's letter to us she mentions feedback on the smoothness and image quality of the video stream. This is due to our condiderable experience in live streaming and the use of a dedicated satellite feed with uncontested bandwidth from our Internet service.
We also recorded the live feed of Richard and Emma's wedding and produced DVDs for them right after the event.
Note: These are frames taken from the live video stream, not still photographs