Grooms can go high tech with a webcast of their wedding ceremony. All grooms need is an internet connection, a camera and GroomGroove.com's "our pick for grooms": Wedding Webcasts from WebcastMyWedding.net. In this most modern method of connecting families and friends, now no one has an excuse not to show up at the wedding.

In 2004, Ariel Andres was filming church services and webcasting them. Sensing an opportunity to bring weddings to the internet, he began offering a service whereby weddings, filmed with a video camera equipped with firewire connectivity coupled with an internet connection, could be streamed over the net to up to 100 viewers. Presto: Remote viewing of the wedding ceremony. Andres, himself married for 22 years, has been featured in magazines and newspapers, and now on GroomGroove.com.

How it works and what is required

The company provides the software to allow multiple users to login over the internet and watch the wedding real time. While you may own a camcorder with cassette or MiniDV camcorder, you'll need a firewire connection or converter. A strong internet signal is also required, along with a computer to connect to the company's servers. Finally, as the groom, you're better off letting someone else film the wedding! The process is simple enough that the company generally does not need to provide videographers. Get Uncle Larry to do it.

High tech and cool...

"Destination weddings are particularly popular," says Andres. "Because of the time and expense of traveling to a foreign destination, not everyone can afford to get to such a wedding. We can connect everyone, even if the wedding is on the beach." Slightly incredulous, we asked how he could wire a beach wedding. "Easy," says Andres. "Many hotels are now offering wifi internet connections so that beachgoers can surf while lounging on the beach. Hooking up a videocam and streaming the feed over the internet is no more difficult." It makes sense to us.

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