An unplugged wedding

Do you know what an “unplugged” wedding is? It seems to be something growing in popularity. It means that guests are asked not to use their phones to take photos and video during the ceremony.

What are the advantages of this, you may ask? I’ll name three.

1. It’s less distracting. If your guests are constantly pulling out their phones to take photos or video, they are noticeable. It’s hard not to notice someone with a phone in front of their face. People tend to look over at them, distracting them from other things.
2. It can make it more difficult from the professional. The people you actually hire to take photos at your wedding needs to be able to take photos without having someone with a cell phone get in their way. I often hear DJs tell guests during the cake cutting, for example, to let the professionals have priority in taking photos. But how many times have you seen family members and other guests standing right there with the professional photographer shooting photos. It is possible it could cause issues for the professional who may have to move or adjust their stance because someone is there with a cell phone. It is possible during the ceremony as well that a guest with a cell phone could get in the way of the photographer who is focusing on the bride and groom.
3. An unplugged ceremony means your guests can relax and enjoy themselves without having to focus their attention on taking photos. If you let your guests know that you don’t want them to be taking photos with the cameras, they won’t have to second-guess whether they should pull out their phones.

Any important shot your guests think they need to get will have been shot by the professional photographer. I suggest brides and grooms telling their guests if they want photos of themselves at the wedding, ask the photographer to shoot it instead. It will likely be a better photo, and brides and grooms will have more photos themselves.