0612-Please Log In to Our Wedding ...

By SEUNGHEE SUH

When the wedding invitation comes in the mail these days it's something an invitation to witness the ceremony virtually rather than attend in person. Companies like I Do Stream find many couples just want to share their big day with a larger audience. Seunghee Suh takes a look. Photo: Courtney Goodings.

When Courtney Goodings watched her old friend Jaclyn Lusk get married, she didn't have to worry about what to wear or getting to the venue on time. She viewed a live-streaming of the ceremony at her Austin, Texas, home while sharing a slushie with her 2-year-old son, Callum. "I cried as if I was actually at the wedding," says Ms. Goodings, 33.

Brie Ruse

Jaclyn Lusk and Eric Ruettinger invited guests to watch a live-stream of their Breckenridge, Colo., wedding.

As wedding season arrives this summer, more guests are being invited to witness nuptials virtually. Live-streaming started out as a way to accommodate friends and relatives who were in far-flung countries or in poor health. But increasingly, couples just want to share their big day with a larger audience.

Meanwhile, professional wedding live-stream services, such as I Do Stream and My Streaming Wedding, are making virtual guests as simple to order up as the cake. The companies can set up couples with a login to give their guests, sometimes providing cameras and crew as well. On the big day, guests simply go to a website and enter the login to watch the ceremony.

Philip Ly, managing partner of I Do Stream, says that more couples are streaming their weddings for their Facebook FB +4.46% friends—people with whom they have largely virtual relationships. I Do Stream, which can work on about eight to 10 weddings per weekend in peak season, has streamed around 2,500 weddings since its start in 2008, he says.

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Courtney Goodings

Courtney Goodings

The wedding industry is taking note of the trend. Brides magazine recently streamed a wedding on Facebook, and TheKnot.com, an online wedding community and publication, held a similar event on its website in February. Lisa Gooder, a digital content director at Brides, says the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, inspired brides to feel like sharing their big day was "a natural thing to do."

Ms. Goodings's friend, Ms. Lusk, exchanged vows with Eric Ruettinger on April 6 in a small wood cabin in Breckenridge, Colo., with 25 people in attendance. "Eric has been a firefighter for many years," says Ms. Lusk, 33, an area manager for a health-care company. "He knows just about everybody in town, so the idea of inviting everyone was just not feasible. We wanted the wedding to be small and intimate, with close friends and family, but we wanted everyone to be part of the day."

Courtney Goodings

A shot of the Ruettingers's live-streamed wedding.

A Web search led the couple to I Do Stream, which provided them with the Web page where guests could log in to view the event, as well as an online guest book for congratulations. As many as 50 live viewers could watch the live-stream at a time, though there wasn't a record of how many did watch.

The do-it-yourself package chosen by the Ruettingers cost $200. The couple set up their own videocamera on a tripod, with camera help from the husband of their still photographer. I Do Stream, based in Tolland, Conn., also offers a fuller package that comes with a professional videographer.

My Streaming Wedding, which provides a list of trusted videographers with training in live broadcasting, and a custom event page, charges from $800 to $3,000, depending on the location, for an unlimited number of "guests."

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Jadrian Rawlings

Mike Verheeck and Jadrian Rawlings were married on the beach in St. Lucia, with 16 guests in attendance.

Of course, there is potential for awkwardness or confusion when a guest receives an invitation to view a wedding online rather than to attend in person. To add a personal touch to their virtual ceremony, the Ruettingers mailed out custom-made postcards, in addition to sending the email invites that I Do Stream provided. The cards explained their reason to stream: "Even though the actual event is small, we still wanted to share our big day with so many of you who have made such an impact on our lives…."

One common question: Are online guests on the hook for a gift? Jamie Miles, online editor at TheKnot.com, says the etiquette of online interactions is still being worked out, but it is a "nice gesture" to send a gift because the couple still is sharing their day with you.

Jadrian Rawlings

The couple sent around 225 invitations to view the ceremony online.

For some guests, it wouldn't feel right to attend the proceedings in pajamas. Melissa Weis dressed up her two daughters, Katie, 7, and Maddie, 3, in island dresses to watch her brother, Mike Verheeck, and his fiancée, Jadrian Rawlings, tie the knot on the beach in St. Lucia, via live-stream. The wedding was too far away for them to attend.

"We tried the best we could to enjoy the day without actually being there," says Ms. Weis, 36, an elementary-school teacher from Branchville, N.J.

One concern is the possibility of an iffy Internet connection. I Do Stream says it offers viewer support during the ceremony, with staff monitoring the feed and on call during the streaming, in case of a technical glitch, though it says it can't be responsible for a poor signal at a venue.

Most virtual guests are forgiving. GaLena Wertz had planned to be Ms. Lusk's maid of honor, but a house fire prevented her from attending the event the next week, so she watched from her Amarillo, Texas, home, taking photos of the ceremony on her computer screen. "It was a lot like being there," she says. "The audio on the video wasn't that great and there were some parts missing, but it was amazing to participate in the wedding as much I could far away."