Planning a wedding can be exhausting.
From lining up venues and vendors, arranging seating, choosing the perfect dessert and the myriad other decisions to be made, it’s no wonder that the “-zilla” suffix has entered the world of weddings, as brides and grooms alike are pushed to the brink after months of endless planning. The pursuit of the perfect day can be gruelling, but there are also plenty of small ways to take some of the burden off while also highlighting what is most important in a wedding; friends, family and love.
Getting married in 2024 should be a joyous occasion, and plenty of well-loved tech trends, along with some newer ones, can help to bring the spotlight away from the tedium of planning and organizing and shine it on the things that really matter on your big day.
Consider some of these popular wedding tech trends for your trip down the aisle (or for the afterparty, we won’t judge.)
Disposable cameras
This is a wedding idea that has been around almost as long as the item itself has (and certainly since that one episode of Friends). Photographs from a wedding day are a given. There’s nothing quite like being able to open up a photo album (or flip through your digital photo library) and be able to see the smiles of family and friends. There’s no question that a professional photographer should be a serious consideration for the big day, their expertise and equipment will usually allow for the best possible photographic results of your wedding, friends and family. But consider also the humble disposable camera as a means to capture what your photographer might not; namely, the smaller, more intimate moments between those attending that might get missed in the hubbub. Some wedding planners have planted a camera or two at every table at the reception, allowing for all involved to take photos of their own that later on can be developed and enjoyed by the happy couple. Sure, after a few drinks and some dancing and a hearty meal of beef, chicken or vegetarian, not all of the images might be useable, but the sheer volume of photos taken will ensure that at least some gems are captured and can be looked back on fondly all those years later.
Take to the skies
Sticking with photography here for a moment longer, the technological advances in the world of personal drones means that your canvas for dramatic or striking photos is also much larger than it once was, thanks to the ease of taking to the skies with a high quality camera. Personal drones capable of high-definition photography aren’t always cheap, but neither are they so expensive that someone in your wedding list doesn’t know someone else who has access to one. Sending a drone up at the hands of an experienced pilot, especially if you’re holding an outdoor ceremony or celebration, can offer you unique visuals that wouldn’t otherwise be possible outside of hiring a helicopter or private plane flyby (but you do you, boo).
Record your wellwishers
The guest book is a time-honoured staple of the wedding, allowing your visitors to write down their names and their words of wisdom, advice or encouragement for posterity. However, the physical guestbook can also have some drawbacks. The book is physical, meaning it can be lost or damaged, along the words and memories within. Some couples have instead been taking the guestbook digital, either with an online guestbook that saves everyone’s words to the cloud, or with a recorder that allows guests to leave an audio message in place of text. Either method has its benefits, but for our money, might we suggest going the audio route? There’s something to be said for being able to return to your recordings decades down the road when some of the guests who helped make your day special are no longer around. Being able to relive your grandmother’s words of wisdom for you from your wedding day, 10 or more years down the line, is special beyond measure.
Bring on the sizzle reel
A videographer is a critical component of some couple’s weddings, recording video from throughout the day to compile later for a must-see video event after everything is said and done. One new trend to discuss with your videographer is the sizzle reel, a quick, no-holds-barred highlight of your wedding day that can be completed in less time so that you can enjoy some of the best parts of your wedding video while the videographer takes the time to make the feature film (so to speak) the best it can possibly be. While not every videographer might be prepared to offer a sizzle reel as part of their package, it certainly can’t hurt to ask, and it gives you something you can watch, enjoy, and even share weeks or months before the full video is ready to go.
There’s no right or wrong way to plan a wedding, presuming that you don’t drive yourself to utter despair or bankruptcy in the process. However, in the chaos of planning, it can sometimes be easy to forget some of the smaller, more intimate moments that truly shine months or years down the road. Incorporating some of these tech trends, or using them as jumping off points for your own creative ideas, is just one small way to immortalize the faces and voices of your loved ones on your wedding day, ensuring you have a treasure trove of your very own to return to time and again in the future.
