The case for an unplugged wedding! Why you might want to ask your guests to put their cameras away
Today I wanted to talk about the case for an unplugged wedding. A guest approached me at a recent wedding. They asked why I didn’t want them to take pictures during the ceremony. The celebrant asked guests put down their cameras and phones during the ceremony, so they were present. The guest assumed it was something that I asked for as the photographer but it definitely wasn’t.
I get a lot of couples ask me if it’s a good idea to make their ceremony unplugged. They wonder if guests with cameras impact on my ability to do my job. I always say no, they don’t and that’s true of most weddings. I occasionally get an occasional overzealous hobbyist photographer, but I work around them and the average guest with a camera or a phone is no bother at all. So why would a couple choose to have an unplugged ceremony?
An unplugged wedding means you see a sea of smiling faces, as you walk up the aisle
An unplugged wedding means ALL of your guests are throwing confetti and laughing. Where guests are taking photos their phones are cameras are in front of their faces. They’re not present and all you’ll see in your photos is the back of their phone or the front of their camera.
At an unplugged wedding everyone is present and no one is distracted. As someone who teaches mindfulness and meditation it’s probably no surprise that I’m a fan of anything that encourages people to be present. An unplugged wedding gives your guests a chance to slow down and enjoy the moment as it happens.
Letting your guests know that you want to go unplugged
There are a whole load of ways to do this. Some couples choose to have a sign at the entrance to their ceremony. Others ask their ceremony official to make an announcement. If you have a wedding website you could link to this post, or you could include information about your reasons for choosing an unplugged ceremony with your wedding invitations.
Guests might worry about not getting any shots of your wedding ceremony, but free low resolution downloads of your images are included for all guests (you get the high resolution version, of course). Guests are also welcome to purchase ay high resolution images.
Your wedding is a big, important day and the ceremony is the main event. Choosing an unplugged ceremony means a more intimate atmosphere where everyone is present. Do you like the sound of an unplugged ceremony? Let me know in the comments! And if you’d like to chat about me capturing your wedding for you, get in touch for a chat.
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Great article. You are absolutely right, we can work around the other people taking photographs but the moment they do they are not actually concentrating on whats happening. Very well put.
Thanks Mark and thanks for reading.