TL;DR
- Israel is seven hours ahead of New York and two ahead of London, so a 7pm chuppah lands at midday on the US east coast.
- Send the viewing link and the local start time in each relative’s own time zone, not Israel time.
- Private links suit families who want the stream limited to invited guests; public platforms suit larger networks.
- The stream recording is normally available immediately; the edited film follows weeks later.
- Test the link with one older relative several days before the wedding, not on the day.
Start with the clock
Israel runs two hours ahead of London and seven ahead of New York during summer. A chuppah at 7pm in Israel is 5pm in London, midday in New York and 9am in Los Angeles. That is a comfortable window for almost everyone, which is one reason evening Israeli weddings stream so well to Anglo families.
Send each group the time in their own zone. Do not send Israel time and ask people to convert it. That is where relatives miss the ceremony.
Choose the platform for the least confident viewer
- A private link keeps the stream to invited viewers, which many families prefer for a ceremony. It works on phones, tablets and smart televisions.
- YouTube or Facebook Live suits large extended networks and communities, and most people already have an account.
- The deciding factor is your least technical relative, not your most. If your ninety-year-old grandmother is the point of the whole exercise, pick what she can open.
Who is travelling and who is watching
Work out the split early, because it changes both your catering numbers and your streaming plan. Guests travelling in need valid entry documentation; the Population and Immigration Authority visitor visa service page covers the official requirements, and Nefesh B’Nefesh maintains an English guide to visa categories that Anglo families find easier to navigate. Everyone who concludes the trip is not workable becomes part of your remote audience.
Live first, then the film
These are two separate experiences. Live, your family gets the thing that cannot be reproduced: watching it happen in the same minutes you are living it. The recording is usually available almost immediately, so relatives in an awkward time zone can watch the same night.
Weeks later, the edited film arrives. Shorter, scored, cut from many angles, built to be rewatched. Family abroad tend to watch the stream once and the film repeatedly.
We handle both sides of this for couples across the country. Read how we livestream your simcha, how we work as an Israel-based wedding videographer, and what changes when you hire a Jewish wedding videographer who knows the ritual sequence in advance.
What family abroad see, live and afterwards.
FAQ: Watching an Israeli Jewish Wedding From Abroad
- What time will our US family need to be watching?
- For a 7pm Israeli chuppah in summer, that is midday on the US east coast and 9am on the west coast. Send everyone their own local time and add a fifteen minute buffer, since Israeli ceremonies rarely start exactly on the hour.
- Can relatives watch later if they miss the live broadcast?
- Yes. A recording of the stream is normally available right away, so anyone in a difficult time zone can watch the same day. That is separate from the edited film, which comes later.
- Do we have to make the stream public?
- No. Private links are common for weddings and keep the ceremony to invited viewers. Public platforms are the better choice when you have a wide community wanting to watch.
- What if the venue’s internet is unreliable?
- This is the question worth asking early. Streaming should not depend on venue wifi, and a professional setup uses its own dedicated connection. Confirm this before booking rather than assuming it.
- Will guests abroad be able to see the ceremony clearly?
- With a dedicated broadcast camera holding the chuppah frame and audio taken from the ceremony directly rather than from a room mic, yes. Quality drops sharply when a stream is run from a phone on a tripod.
Family who cannot make the flight?
We stream simchas across Israel to relatives worldwide, and deliver the edited film afterwards. Tell us your date.
Founder of LiveStreamSimcha – Reach out with any questions regarding livestreaming your simcha in Israel!
Akiva Tepperman is a professional Jewish videographer and livestream specialist working in Israel since 2014. His team provides high-quality live streaming and video coverage for simchas and events of all kinds, from weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs to brit milahs and corporate broadcasts.