Wedding webcasts

Springwise loves forward-looking ventures that manage to stick around until their time has truly come. Like webcastmywedding.net, which broadcasts weddings to a couple’s friends and family unable to come over from (or to) far flung places. Customers need a video camera, laptop, and high speed online access. The company then charges USD 395 for setting up a live stream of the event, support for up to 25 simultaneous viewers (who are sent a url and password), and an on-demand archive of the wedding for 10 days. More streams and an annual archive account can be had for an extra fee. Business is thriving, thanks to a powerful mix of tech and social developments: everyone is online; the infrastructure is in place (the web is finally about broadband and video: thank you, youtube!); more and more couples choose to get married in exotic locations far from most of their friends and family; globe-spanning immigration means family members literally live everywhere; while jet setting couples have friends in every major city in the world. Not to mention Generation MySpace, who, when they eventually choose to get married, will have virtual friends in every country with an online connection. This is one of those simple, timely ideas that are ripe to be copied to virtually every country in the world. Perfect for minipreneurs, too. Make it ‘virtual’ like webcastmywedding.com, or go for the premium product, providing a fully equipped online video crew for couples who want the full deal. A match made in online heaven?