A guide, with the questions

Group time capsule: 40 questions for weddings, classes and trips

A group time capsule is a video that opens on a day set in advance, the same day for everyone: the couple’s first anniversary, the last day of school, the night everyone gets back from the trip. It goes one of two ways, and it’s worth knowing which one you need: either you record and everyone gets it, or a lot of people record and it goes to one person. Either way, the hard part is that twenty people told to “say something” all say the same thing. You give them one question, the same for everyone.

By Fabrizio D’Urso, who created Lumideo. Written October 2026.

Why the question has to come from you

“Record a video for the couple” gets you twenty sets of good wishes. It’s the same sentence twenty times, and nobody watching them back remembers a single one. That’s not the fault of the people recording: a request with no edges gets answered with the safest thing, and the safest thing is good wishes.

A specific question splits the group on its own. “What did you think the first time you saw them together?” gets twenty different answers, because everyone was somewhere different that day. That’s the difference between a reel of congratulations and something people watch again years later.

How to set it up, in five steps

1. Pick the opening day first. Everything else follows from it: one year after the wedding is a toast, ten years is a different thing entirely. Up to two years is free; past that you need Premium, or the first thirty days after you sign up, which count like Premium for dates.
2. Decide which way it goes. These are two different things: either you record one video and everyone gets it on the same day, or a lot of people record and the video goes to one person. The first one uses a group; the second one is just everybody using the same date.
3. If you’re the one sending to everyone, make the group. Up to thirty people, and you can have five groups: the same on every plan. A group takes people who already have Lumideo and who you’ve already exchanged a capsule with, or who are already in your contacts. You can’t add a stranger by name.
4. If a lot of people are recording for one person, give them the date and the question. Each of them creates their own capsule for that person, with the same day on it. They don’t end up inside one single video: they arrive separately and open together. The person getting them doesn’t need the app, they get an email with a link. The people recording do.
5. Set your own deadline, earlier than the date. A capsule created after the day it opens doesn’t exist, and a group always delivers at the last minute. Ask for the videos a week early, and remind them once.

40 questions, sorted by occasion

Give the group one question, the same for everyone. For a big occasion you can give two and let them choose.

For a wedding

1. What are you wearing today? Describe it, so we can all laugh in ten years.
2. When was the first time you saw them together, and what did you think?
3. What should they remember about tonight on the day they fall out?
4. Tell us one thing about the two of them that none of the other guests know.
5. What were they like before they met? One thing, the true one.
6. What advice did you not give today because it wasn’t the moment?
7. Where do you think they’ll be in five years? Be specific, so we can check.
8. Which song from tonight is going to stay in your head?
9. Say who you are and how long you’ve known them. In ten years that matters.
10. End with a question for the two of them, to answer the day this opens.

For a class, a school, a course

11. What was the first day here like? What did you think was going to happen?
12. What’s the dumbest thing we did in all this time?
13. Who surprised you the most, and why?
14. What do you think you’ll be doing next year? We get to check.
15. What’s the line a teacher said over and over that we’ll never forget?
16. What were you afraid of at the start that makes you laugh now?
17. What does this room look like right now? Describe it, you’re not coming back.
18. What would you tell whoever sits in your seat next year?
19. Say your name, your class and what today’s date is.
20. What do you hope hasn’t changed by the time this opens?

For a trip, a team, a group at work

21. What are you expecting from this trip? Three things, so we can count them.
22. What are you scared of, and who haven’t you told?
23. Who in this group do you think is going to surprise you?
24. What are you bringing that everyone makes fun of?
25. Describe where you are right now, before we leave: the room, the time, who’s there.
26. What do you hope doesn’t happen to us?
27. What’s the first thing you’ll do when you get back?
28. What are we getting wrong that nobody says out loud?
29. Where do you think this group will be in a year?
30. Say your name and one thing that feels important today.

Ten that work for any group

31. What’s today’s date, what time is it, and who’s with you right now?
32. What’s worrying you at the moment? You’ll watch this from the outside.
33. What does a coffee cost right now? Rent? A train ticket?
34. What are you putting off?
35. Who’s the person you see most these days?
36. What do you hope doesn’t change?
37. What is everyone talking about right now?
38. What do you think we’ll say about today, on the day this opens?
39. What’s one thing you’re sure about? We check it that day.
40. Finish by saying one thing to whoever’s watching, then stop.

Why a capsule and not a group chat

A group chat is where this kind of thing dies. The videos come in one at a time, somebody watches them right away, two months later the thread is full of other stuff and nobody can find them. Having them all open on one day isn’t a detail: it’s the only reason they get watched at all.

It also takes away the worst part for the person receiving them, which is knowing in advance. If the videos reach them while you’re still recording, the surprise is over before it started.

That’s what Lumideo does: you pick the day and the video stays sealed until then. Nobody can open it early, not even the person who recorded it, because the date is checked on our servers. On the day, whoever gets it receives an email with a link and it plays in their browser. They don’t install anything.

The two shapes really are different, and it’s worth knowing before you get twenty people involved. One to everyone: you make a group, up to thirty people, and your video reaches all of them on the same day. Everyone to one: there is no single container that collects everybody’s videos, so each person creates their own capsule for the same person with the same date, and on that day they open together. And if the people you’re sending to are five or fewer and don’t have the app, you send it as a link.

Four mistakes that lose you half the group

1. Asking for “a video” and nothing else. Twenty people with no other instruction send twenty sets of good wishes. The question is the work, and you do it once for everyone.
2. Giving them a month. A group delivers on the last day, whichever day that is. Ask for the videos a week before the date, and remind them once, not three times.
3. Asking everyone you know for a video. Ten real videos beat thirty greetings, and every extra person is one more person to chase. Ask the ones who have something to say to the person getting it.
4. Picking a date with no reason behind it. “In a few years” never opens well. An anniversary, the end of something, the night everyone gets home: a date that’s already in everybody’s calendar is what makes this work.

Questions

How many people can record for the same person?

As many as you like, but not inside one capsule: Lumideo doesn’t have a container that collects everybody’s videos today. Each person creates their own capsule for that person, with the same day on it, and they open together.

Does the person receiving them need the app?

No. On the day it opens they get an email with a link, and the video plays in their browser. The app is for the people recording.

How late can someone record?

Until the day before it opens: a capsule created after that doesn’t exist. So the deadline you give the group has to be earlier.

What about someone who doesn’t have the app and wants to record?

They can’t. The browser records sixty seconds for yourself only: sending a video to someone else needs the app, on iPhone or Android.

How far ahead can the date be?

Up to two years on the free app. Up to twenty years with Premium, and also in the first thirty days after you sign up, which count like Premium for dates.

Can it be opened early?

No. The date is checked on our servers, so changing the clock on your phone does nothing. Not even the person who created the capsule can open it early.

What if I want to send one video to the whole group?

That’s the other shape, and it uses a group: up to thirty people, up to five groups, the same on every plan. A group takes people who already have Lumideo and who you’ve already exchanged a capsule with, or who are in your contacts. If the people receiving it don’t have the app, you send it as a link, up to five people.