When 34-year-old Jonathan Dubin and 30-year-old Madison Bigos Dubin held their wedding reception last October, they carried their guests to Upper Antelope Canyon in Arizona.
Only the reception was held at Cipriani 25 Broadway in downtown New York.
The couple achieved this type of fragment through video mapping, or video projections that effectively depict large surfaces such as walls and ceilings.
“The atmosphere was so immersed I had to remember that I was in the ballroom,” said guest Hatton Cooney, who jumped out of Chicago.
Dubin said the images of the Upper Antelope Canyon were intended to evoke the feeling of celebrating within a canyon near a resort where the couple is taking their honeymoon in Utah.
Panoramas of the New York City skyline continued. The finale featured a DJ and saxophonist directed Jay-Z's “Empire State of Minds,” with many of the 250 guests singing and dancing.
New York real estate entrepreneurs Dubin and Dubin said video mapping appealed to them as they immersed their guests in places they loved. For Dubin, who is from Minnesota, it was an opportunity to give family and friends a “typical New York experience” from home.
According to event planners and other wedding experts, video mapping is gaining popularity in rituals and receptions as couples are increasingly integrating innovation into their weddings.
Julie Novack, founder and CEO of PartySlate, an event planning platform, said video mapping has roots in the corporate and non-profit world. (It has also been used for a long time in contemporary art.) “It was first widely adopted about a decade ago, to launch products and project their logos,” she said. “Now I'm finding a way to a social event like a wedding.”
Dubin's mother and New York event planner Victoria Dubin said such predictions were elements of the wedding elements she plans to (including her son). The couple she worked in May 2022 chose a pair that evokes Italian Renaissance gardens with walls, fountains, statues and frescoes that were shown on the walls. “The bride and groom considered getting married in Europe, but chose to bring their vision of Europe to New York,” she said.
Video mapping can be offered at a high cost, and prices are within a wide range. “The Victoria Dubin project has been a great opportunity to see the Victoria Dubin project,” said Patrick Theriot, predictive designer and founder of Shear Productions and founder of Shear Productions.
Video mapping is expected to be in a $3.9 billion market worldwide in 2023, surpassing $4.8 billion this year, according to Joy's data. Vishal Joshi, the company's chief executive, estimates that wedding video mapping is currently a US $100 million industry, with couples projecting it across cakes, dance floors or even venues.
Temple House in Miami has an in-house production team that creates content. Couples can choose from a large projection library, including starry nights, fireworks, sparkling rain, disco balls and the Italian Riviera. You can also request a custom project.
“We hold about eight weddings a year using video mapping, and the number is steadily increasing,” said Omar Lopez, event director for Candela La Brea, a venue set in a 1920s building in Los Angeles' Miracle Mile.
Henry Rodriguez, 46, who works for an education nonprofit, and Sriel Castro, 35, an office manager in Long Beach, held a ceremony and reception last August, with 225 guests.
Both events included a cherry tree background. When it was time to dance, the room alternated between spinning disco balls and flashing lights. “We wanted to create a nightclub vibe,” Rodriguez said. He said they spent over $3,000 to include forecasts and “the cost is well worth it.”
Video mapping is not limited to indoor areas.
Alyssa Karai, 27, and Daniel Karai, 26, creative director and founder of production studio servers in Charlotte, North Carolina, were included in her wedding reception last April. The celebration, which featured 75 guests, was at Andrews Farm in Midland, North Carolina, in an outdoor area with a pool and the White House.
Using video mapping in his work with music artists, Karai designed an abstract chrome silver projection that resembles moving water, which appears outside the house.
“As you passed by, it felt like you were moving through the water,” he said. “Our guest told us that the predictions were different from what they had seen.”
