John Roehsler took his wedding vows, exchanged rings with his bride -- and turned to the webcam.
"Whoever's watching ... we're sorry that you couldn't be here. But you are here, so that's great. The 21st century rocks."
Roehsler and his bride, the former Neperthey Velasco, used a webcast to allow friends and family from roughly 10 states and a dozen countries to view their wedding ceremony live. It's a service now offered for weddings and funerals to allow far-flung family and friends to take part. Wedding webcasts have been offered by a few companies for several years, and Las Vegas wedding chapels also market webcast ceremonies. But webcasting a wedding remains unusual.
Wise County was the first in Virginia to acquire the technology in 2000, said Clerk of Court Jack Kennedy, yet no couple there has used the service. Clerks of courts in South Hampton Roads do not have the service.
The still-fresh notion of webcasting weddings echoes the recent introduction of Internet-streamed funerals. That service is offered by a few Hampton Roads funeral homes, but requests have been few and far between.
The Roehslers' June wedding was the first to use the wedding webcast capabilities in Delaware's New Castle County, where the couple live. Their seven-minute ceremony included all the standard wedding prose, along with a few extras for the Web audience.
"John, please take Neperthey's ring, so the whole camera and everyone can see here," said Ken Boulden, clerk of the peace for New Castle County.
The wedding's intended online viewers included members of the bride's family in countries such as the Philippines and Thailand. But members of the groom's family watched online, too, because the wedding took place quickly under terms of the bride's visa. The couple is also expecting a baby in October.
"Our priorities shifted significantly," John...

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