Wedding Webcasts for Distant Guests

It may be the most revolutionary concept in nuptials since the invention of the maternity wedding gown, according to D.L. Stewart at the Dayton Daily News.

Then again, to a generation accustomed to working at home in itspajamas, sending party invitations online, conducting cyberspaceromances and blogging its blather all over the world, Webcast weddingsprobably were inevitable.

Brides and grooms having their weddings streamed over the Internetis not really a new concept. The practice is older than this century;the first Webcam wedding on record took place in Australia in 1999. TheWise County Circuit Court in Virginia has been offering the servicesince 2000 and calls itself the first Webcast wedding site in thenation. But as weddingbee.com reports, "many wedding-videographycompanies are now offering live Webcasts, so anyone in the world can be'at your wedding.' "

Compared with the average cost of an average wedding, in whichpeople actually show up and drink your booze — currently around $25,000— the $400-$750 cost of a Web wedding is a bargain. And it's theperfect solution for the best man who has football tickets for a gamethat starts half an hour before the ceremony, the mother of the groomwho has nothing decent to wear for walking down the aisle and thefather of the bride, who really would love to be there, but is serving15 to 20 for stock fraud.

The way things are going, eventually no one will have to be at thewedding — including the bride and groom — and the whole thing will beconducted with a conference call. Until then, I predict Webcastweddings will become increasingly popular. Especially when brides andgrooms grasp the ultimate beauty of an event that people can watchwhile they sit at home in their pajamas.

If guests don't have to spend all that money on transportation,lodging and other expenses, they can afford a more expensive weddingpresent.

technorati tags:wedding-webcasts, webcasts, videography, photography