Unplugged Weddings: Why To Not Have Phones During Your Wedding Ceremony

Now this isn’t like a house party where as people walk in the door, they have to drop off their keys, or in this case, their phones. It’s more like an honor code where the wedding couple makes this request, and guests typically respect it.

This is something I ALWAYS recommend to my couples who are in the planning process of their wedding.

Now you may be wondering: Why should we do that? We want people to have fun and take pictures and video and remember how fun the reception was or how beautiful the venue looked. And you’re totally right.

But the awesome part about hiring me as your photographer is that when I deliver your gallery, you’ll be able to share ALL of those things with your family and friends. You’ll have professional images that have been meticulously edited and curated just for you, based on discussions we’ve had leading up to the wedding of what moments are most important to you.

So here are 3 reasons why I think you should have no cell phones during your wedding ceremony:

It allows me to do my job to the best of my abilities

I’m going to be blunt here. You are spending A LOT of money on on your wedding. It is an investment in yourselves and your relationship and you should be able to look back on these images with only fond memories in a way that resonates with exactly how you want to remember it.

By letting people other than your hired photographers have their phones out, there’s a risk of people standing in the aisles blocking me from getting that perfect shot of you coming down the aisle with your dad – or even worse – we get the shot of you walking hand-in-hand after you’ve said, “I do,” but a guest is leaning in the middle of the aisle with their iPhone 7 blocking your face in the photo.

That moment lasts for only a few seconds and once it’s over, it’s over, and it can’t be recreated authentically. We can respectfully ask people to move or to put their phone away, but it is super awkward, and it takes away time that we should be focused on the moment.

It encourages being in the moment

I talked to friends and clients who chose to do unplugged wedding ceremonies and the general consensus was, other than they didn’t want people to ruin their photos with cell phones, that they wanted people to be in the moment. And that taking cell phones out of the picture made their day feel “intimate and intentional.”

When people see life as it is instead of through a phone screen, they can actually form real, lasting memories. When people lean on documenting a moment more than the moment itself, it can cause them to not even develop the events into their short-term memory. We’re totally not joking, studies have been done. Google it!

We want your guests to enjoy themselves and all the hard work you’ve put into planning your wedding day – and we want them to remember because they had no distractions and because they were fully immersed in the experience.

It doesn’t have to be for the whole day

I 150% encourage you to do an unplugged wedding ceremony, but it doesn’t have to be for the whole day. The reception or cocktail hour is for sure the best time for people to self-document and share those moments on social media.

Maybe you still want people to feel more apart of the day but you don’t want them to be on their phones at all. One alternative we love is having disposable cameras or Polaroids during the reception. They have a vintage feel and can be a really great way to get some inexpensive, funny pictures to send out in thank you notes.

Okay, so we’ve totally convinced you, right?! Now the question is, when should you make this announcement to your guests? Our recommendation is to tell them multiple times in multiple ways and make it hard to ignore.

The first time you can let you guests know about your decision is on your wedding website. Some other ways you can announce it is by posting a sign on your wedding day as people take their seat before the ceremony, and also have the officiant make an announcement before the ceremony begins. Pinterest and Etsy are your best friends if you need some creative ideas for signs or invitations!

The bottom line here isn’t for me to tell you how to have your wedding day go, but for you to know how much I truly care about serving you in the best way I know how.

Let me know what you think! Are you planning to have an unplugged wedding ceremony or did you already have one? Why did you decide to do it, and how did it work out for you?

I’d love to hear from you!