Unplugged weddings: what are they, why you should have one, how to have one
Unplugged wedding, fancy wording to define a wedding where phones are not allowed. Sounds kind of crazy nowadays, right? You’ll be surprised to know that it’s not something as weird as it seems and it also has quite a lot of pros.
If you didn’t know that this type of wedding is something you could consider, I’d suggest you read further as I’m about to give you my advice on why you should have one. Alternatively, if you already knew that, this article might still be for you as later on I’ll tell you how you could have one the right way.
However, if you are reading this and thinking that banning phones for the whole wedding could be too much, I should tell you that you could just have an unplugged ceremony. In other words, you could just tell your guests not to use their phones only during the function.
In the next paragraphs I’ll talk about unplugging the ceremony, rather then the whole wedding, because I feel like it’s something more feasible but always keep in mind that what I’m saying can be applied to the entire day as well. Let’s go then!
Why is it important to have an unplugged ceremony?
I want to keep it brief and clear so here’s a bullet point list of my very own reasons you should think about asking your guests not to use their phones:
It focuses the entire energy of the whole ceremony onto what's actually happening;
You (meaning the spouses) can see your guests taking part to the ceremony rather than seeing them on their screens. This is a huge pro not only for when the ceremony is taking place, but also when you’ll see your photos. Its awful in photos (and in real life too) seeing the bride walking down the isle and all the guests having their phones out: ENJOY THE MOMENT, PLEASE.
Much less chance of the awkward and distracting moments, such as those when someone’s phone rings in the middle of your vows - believe me: it happens every f**king time.
From the photographer’s perspective, there is less chance of someone stepping out in the aisle to ‘get the shot’ and blocking us. Not only is that annoying, but we risk missing a fantastic shot because uncle Bob has stepped in front of us with his huge-ass camera.
How to have an unplugged ceremony?
This is usually what I get asked the most and I see how tricky it could possibly get. We don’t want anybody to be offended so here’s a couple of tips on how you might let your guests know your desire.
Making it clear in advance it a great way to start. You could have your graphic designer put it on the invitations or add it on your wedding website, if you wanna have one. It doesn’t have to be a four-page dissertation on the topic, a couple of sentences is more than enough.
When the day arrives, giving your guests a little reminder could be a great move. Again, have it written on the ceremony program or your wedding officiant could gently mention it before the beginning of the ceremony.
As usual, it’s not necessarily what you say but how you say it that matters. You could be as straight-forward as you could be while still being gentle and going for something along the line of “the bride and groom kindly request an unplugged ceremony. Please turn off all devices and enjoy being fully present in this moment with us”. Another way you could do it is reminding your guests that there are professional photographers paid exactly to do that, but better: “We’ve asked a professional photographer to capture this special moment so that you can sit back, relax and enjoy it with us. Our beautiful images will be available after the wedding.”
Anyways you pick, I really recommend you do that: you won’t regret it. At the end of the day, nobody is going to look back to old and crappy Iphone photos. Believe me.
