How to live stream a wedding with a phone and a laptop — free software.

On Windows, add the second phone the way you added the first: another Phone Camera source, another QR code, nothing installed on either phone. Phone 1 keeps the wide shot. Phone 2 stands on its own tripod near the front, to one side, close enough to see faces and hands; ask the officiant and the photographer where it may stand. Each phone sends its own sound track: turn both down and let the vows microphone be heard.

On a Mac, an iPhone can be the camera through Remote Camera in SplitCam's iPhone app (step 4; see its App Store page), or through a Phone Camera layer. The apps are marked Beta (still being tested) on the products page.

Next to the four scenes of step 2, add "Rings and faces" (phone 2, full frame). Each angle scene is one camera plus its name layers, so this one can carry the speakers' name cards for the toasts. A webcam within cable reach, or a network (IP) camera that supports RTSP, can be another angle.

The helper can stay at the laptop and switch with a click, a shortcut (on Windows, Alt+Shift and the scene's number, 1 to 6, from any window) or the SplitCam Remote app on a separate phone that is not one of the cameras (see its store page for its terms). Agree the moments with the couple: close for the vows and the rings, wide for the rest. Five or six changes in a ceremony are plenty.

On Windows, SplitCam can blend one scene into the next instead of jumping: a cross-fade is the default, slide, swipe and wipe are there too, and you can set the speed; a slow cross-fade between wide and close-up suits a ceremony.

A phone's microphone hears the whole room, not the vows. The laptop usually sits at the back, so a wired microphone at the front needs a very long cable: use a wireless clip-on microphone for whoever speaks the vows, with its receiver plugged into the laptop. A clip-on on the officiant hears only the officiant.

With a sound desk at the venue, ask the technician for a feed and connect it through a USB audio interface, a small box that turns the desk's output into a laptop input. Choose that microphone or interface as SplitCam's audio source, and turn the phone's own microphone down: it comes in as a separate audio track.

Upload speed is how fast your connection sends video out, not how fast it downloads. Test it from the helper's chair at the hour of the ceremony: YouTube and Facebook both advise keeping the stream about 20% below it. If you send to two platforms, each gets its own copy, so your upload speed has to cover both added together, plus about 20% spare. Guest Wi-Fi is shared and may ask for a sign-in, so bring a cable or a separate phone as a hotspot. By default SplitCam sends the video straight from your computer to each platform; on Windows an optional slow-internet mode sends it through a SplitCam server instead, so check that setting.

Give the helper one page: the order of the day, the scene names, the venue contact and a number that reaches the couple. Scenes switch with a click or a keyboard shortcut. With the SplitCam Remote app (see products) on a second phone on the same Wi-Fi, a second person can switch scenes and start or stop the stream and the recording; on a Mac, Remote works with the iPhone or iPad app. Check its store page for its terms.

Switch on Do Not Disturb so a call cannot land on the camera phone mid-vow, keep it plugged in and out of direct sun, and check in your rehearsal that its screen does not lock. Stand the phone nearer, at the side, rather than zooming in from the back row, and keep the couple in front of a wall, not a bright window.

Venues and places of worship set their own filming rules. The Church of England, for example, says some churches do not permit filming and that filming music can involve copyright permissions and extra fees for an organist or choir, and it tells couples to discuss filming or live streaming with the vicar first. A live musical performance can need the performers' consent too, so ask the musicians before the day.

Ceremony music counts too: a processional played from speakers is recorded music, and a live singer or organist is a performer whose consent you may need. Ask the couple and the venue what will be played, and expect that recorded songs may be muted, blocked or removed.

Do not assume the venue's music licence covers a stream: BMI, a US licensing society, says its standard venue licence does not include internet transmission, so ask the venue and your country's music rights society.

YouTube scans live streams and may replace your picture with a placeholder, then interrupt or end a stream that keeps the music in; private and unlisted ones are not exempt. Facebook warns that a song playing in the background at a wedding can still infringe the owner's copyright. If music plays from the laptop itself, SplitCam can capture that sound too, so keep it off while you are live.

Tell people the ceremony is streamed: a line in the invitation or a small sign at the door. Point the camera at the front, not at the guests, and keep out of the shot anyone who asks. YouTube's rule says streams with under-16s who are not visibly accompanied by an adult may be removed or have live chat turned off; how it applies to children in a wedding crowd is not spelled out, so ask the families. Content showing children may also have chat, comments or signed-out views switched off, so test the link signed out.

A new YouTube live stream is public by default for adults, so check the visibility box. Unlisted is not secret: anyone with the link can watch without an account and can pass the link on, so send it only to people you trust. Private means only the people you invite, each signed in with the invited email address. On Facebook a profile has an audience selector, a Page is always public, and a private group is limited to its members.