What's the Deal With Unplugged Weddings?
[4 minute read]
As we become more and more glued to our phones, we may also find that they’re interfering with important moments in our lives. There are times in our lives that heavy documentation is definitely necessary, but I personally don’t think that a wedding is one of those times. Well, let me clarify - professional photography and videography is very important and to me, probably two of my highest priority vendors. But the blurry iPhone photos and videos that guests are taking are certainly not going to be getting printed and going on the wall anyway, so why inhibit the pros who are hard at work?
What is an unplugged wedding? An unplugged wedding is one where we asks guests to remain completely present and in the moment, and shut off their phones, tablets and cameras. There are varying degrees of unplugged, from having just the ceremony unplugged, to ceremony and reception, or ceremony straight through until the end of the night. Most of our clients opt to just have an unplugged ceremony.
I don’t want anyone to post photos of my wedding before I can - I totally hear you there! So many of my couples have expressed that they don’t want guests to post photos of them - they want the first photos of them all dolled up and ready to get married to be high quality, appropriately timed and well lit photos. Many guests also value their privacy and may be happy to hear they don’t need to worry about being in the background of all sorts of photos! An unplugged wedding can help you with that.
I don’t want my guests to be watching through their phones, I want them to be in the moment. I totally agree. As a planner, I’m usually standing at the back of the church or ceremony space, overseeing everything that’s going on. And all too often, I’m watching people who are watching the ceremony through a phone or camera, and are not actually paying attention to what’s happening, watching it instead through their screen and paying more attention to ensuring the recording or photo has turned out. I’m guilty of it myself - I know I’ve been to events where I’ve wanted to remember how I'm feeling in that moment, so I’ve wasted the in-person experience in favour of paying attention to my recording instead. Memories are important, yes, but that’s what professionals are for! An unplugged wedding can help you with that.
I want my vendors to have the best photos possible, and not be blocked by floating phones. I know we’ve all seen them - the photos of a bride coming down the aisle where all you see are phones looking out towards her, or the couple standing at the altar and phones all up in the air watching them. This can interfere with photography and videography in a few ways. First, think about lighting. If your ceremony venue doesn’t have natural lighting and your photographer has set up their own lighting, chances are they’ve taken the time to test the circumstances to ensure they have the best possible light for their photos. Guests using flash photography can interfere with this! Secondly, many of these photo taking guests can actually physically get in the way of the photographer doing their work - I have also seen videographers set up tripods and had guests stand or stick an arm up in front of them, ruining all of the footage on that camera. An unplugged wedding can help you with that.
But how do I let my guests know? I can tell you from experience that you need to give guests every opportunity you can to make this known. If your marriage commissioner or officiant is comfortable, ask them to make an announcement before the processional begins. I also highly recommend a sign at the end of the aisle, big enough that your guests are sure to see it. As well, if you are having ceremony programs, include a line at the bottom to make guests fully aware of the situation. Even then, you may find that a few guests don’t understand your request or disregard it anyway, but it will certainly be far fewer than if you hadn’t made it known at all.
Will you be having some sort of unplugged element at your wedding, or would you prefer to let guests take the lead?
