Real Estate

Mark Benno and Catherine Poling used LoveStream, a livestream platform that allowed friends and family to enjoy the couple’s wedding from viewers’ homes.

to May or June, thinking we’d get back to normal by then,” Samie says. “But by the end of April and early May, people realized this would last.”

They launched LoveStream in midApril and booked their rst virtual wedding less than a week later. “We did many hours of research in that month we sent our team to work from home,” Ryan says. “We learned every piece of video production and quickly became experts.” Ryan’s tech background helped, too, and he had contacts at NASCAR and ESPN to talk his team through some of the hurdles.

Couples can opt for one of three packages that range from $350 to $1,350. LoveStream builds a custom website for the couple, and guests can watch the wedding on any device by clicking one link. “There’s no downloading or registration—none of that,” Samie says. “This isn’t like a Zoom meeting; it’s more like a TV production.” And unlike Zoom, couples can have unlimited guests.

It’s also signi cantly cheaper than a traditional wedding, which averages $29,500 in North Carolina. Catherine and Mark chose the $850 package, which includes a 60-minute stream, a virtual guestbook, and a live chat where guests can chime in to say congratulations. They had 24 in-person guests (a trend Samie calls a “micro-wedding”) and a ceremony on the lake at the Peninsula Yacht Club. Catherine and Mark said their vows on an antique boat, and their guests watched from additional boats. The bride and groom even wore masks that coordinated with their wedding attire.

Catherine’s mother gave a virtual toast, but there was no rst dance (“our 10th-grader wouldn’t let us,” Mark says) or a traditional wedding cake. Instead, they opted for peach cobbler, Mark’s favorite, and hired Bakery 28 to make and ship mini peach cobblers to close family members—including some not in attendance for a virtually shared dessert.

“It’s not an ideal situation for anybody, but having this option to include your loved ones is a great alternative,” Samie says. As of early August, she and Ryan had already booked 60 weddings for fall, and it’s a trend they believe will be around for a while. “There’s always a grandma who can’t make it or a friend about to give birth,” she says. “Micro-weddings were becoming popular before COVID19, and now they’re popular by default.”

As for Catherine and Mark’s honeymoon, they’ll have what Mark calls a “familymoon” at Oak Island. “We’ll have our daughter and the dog with us,” Mark says, laughing. “We’ll do a real honeymoon later.”

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