Allowing cell phone pictures at the ceremony?

We will be having an unplugged ceremony and our officiant will be making an announcement at the beginning of the ceremony. Most people who ruin pictures by having a phone (or their body) in the way don't actually realize they are ruining the professional pictures, otherwise they obviously wouldn't do it.

At a wedding I went to in October the officiant told everyone to take out their cameras at the beginning of the ceremony, get a good picture, and then put them away for the rest of the ceremony. It was kind of funny watching everyone scramble to take a photo and was a pretty good compromise if you have some guests who absolutely MUST have a picture on their own camera of the service. I personally think my guests will be perfectly happy experiencing the moment, and I will share professional pictures after the wedding with anyone who wants them.

ETA: Oops, my comment about the October wedding is basically the same as @annakay's above. But I second it as a good idea!

Thank You Kerri

I really am so very glad I didn't make it an unplugged ceremony...and that people took pictures and shared them with them. My pro photos are not coming back for another 6 weeks and that feels like forever...the photos my friends and family photos took (even the ones where I have glowing eyes, am not in focus, and don't look great) are nice to be able to look through when you are in the glow after the wedding. Plus if you are doing thank you notes and want to use a photo...unless your ok waiting till your prof photos are back it is super nice to have a few great friends taken photos to use in the meantime.

We had our minister ask everyone once they were seated to refrain from taking photos during the ceremony. We have a private website that allows anyone we give the password to, to sign in and download fully edited perfect quality photos from our photographer.

The photos from the ceremony are some of my favorite because everyone is looking forward and watching, not checking their phone to make sure that the photo that they took came out ok lol.

I am doing unplugged, I really don't want to see in my very expensive pro pics a person holding up and ipad in the air or a cellphone. Plus it is distracting for the people not wanting to take pictures. I want all my guest to be able to see!

We're having an unplugged ceremony. Here's an article I read from a professional photographer that does a really good job of explaining why. Even if you don't read the article, look at the pictures.

http://petapixel.com/2013/05/15/guest-photographers-or-why-you-should-have-an-unplugged-wedding/

And its not just about the pictures. I don't want one guest's view to be blocked by another guest's camera or smart device. And when I'm standing at the alter, I don't want to look out and see a bunch of cameras starting back at me, I want to see my guests. Finally, I want my guests to be fully in the moment, as they say, not experiencing everything through a lens.

I don't think asking people to put their cameras away is rude, it's not even a great imposition. It's a simple request that's easy to follow, I don't think anyone will be offended.

I LOVE the photos Natassia and MrsJohnston shared of their guest actually paying attention, and being present in that moment, NOT trying to INSTAGRAM, text, or whatever else

Im putting a note in our website*

We are going to have a little sign saying please don't take pictures, and then our officiant is going to take a moment to ask people to be "present" during the ceremony. My mom was resistant to the idea as well saying "You are going to limit how many picture you get of your ceremony"

However, I went to a wedding recently that DID allow photos from the guest to be taken. It was distracting watching the ceremony from the back row through a sea of phones and cameras. If someone holds up a phone, I'm not going to be TOO upset. But asking people not to will limit that sea of phones being held up.

I think it all depends on your venue setting really. We will allow guests to take photos, but our ceremony will be outside in the middle of summer. Hopefully no one will be silly enough to try and use a flash. Since we have a fairly small guest list as well, the few people that would take photos I can ask before hand to not stand in the aisle.

It's a wise idea to encourage people not to take photos....it's also not realistic to assume, just because they're your guests and loved ones, that they won't get in the way or the photos of the pro. You can very seldom have it both ways. Let guests act like guests, and the vendors act like the hired hands, for best results. Natassia showed a perfect shining example of a truly engaged and present audience. It's amazing how a little device can truly cause cranial rectal inversion with some people. You give an inch, some take a foot. Even if allowed, that won't stop some people from entering the aisle or approaching the couple with their Fisher Price cameras, phones, video recording devices, and worst yet....huge tablets.

To answer your question, I sort the photos and cull any that don't make the cut, before sending to Lightroom to clean up....and I have a lower cull rate for unplugged weddings. Not all weddings have uncouth guests when they aren't, but I've had my share ruined by overzealous guests. I can't say anything during the ceremony, and I work around them and avoid best possible, but it's impossible to dodge them all....if they persist, sometimes they notice a cold stare and stop but usually offenders are shameless. Well meaning Peoples' butts, arms, recording devices do get in shots. Unplugged is a great idea. Having cell phone teasers while waiting on pro photos seems short sighted because of the potential collateral damage, but ultimately it's the couples' decision.

If you are not sure yet, just look at this article!

http://lover.ly/planning/photo-video/these-ruined-photos-will-make-you-want-to-have-an-unplugged-wedding/16818/?sr_source=lift_facebook&utm_source=ruinedphotos-realsimple&utm_medium=social-facebook&utm_campaign=ruinedphotos-realsimple#.VES1rqImYl4.twitter

I have had some of my shots ruined because of a guest jumping in front of me which gave me absolutely no time to react. I missed a great cheering moment after a first kiss, and I am still bitter about that one. I also had a mother in law with a bright green Ipad case that forced me to turn all the pics with her in it in black and white. I also had someone push me to take a picture, forcing me to nicely push them back.

I am the kind of person to tell you to do whatever you feel is right, but not on that subject. Have your photographer take photos of you, but also of your guests smiling at you and feeling all your emotions along with you. You will have no regret. Waiting a few weeks to see the pics is the smallest problem next to a ruined shot.

Not only am I planning on having a unplugged wedding for the fact of the ruined pictures but I also don't want them on social media.I want to control what pictures get seen and who sees them.

I think having an unplugged ceremony is the only way to go. From the photographer's point of view it is really so much nicer to see the bride walking down the aisle without some person that jumped into the middle of the aisle. Or sometimes space is difficult and the photographer can't help it but get pictures of people poking out of the aisle with phones, then you miss that awesome picture of the groom seeing the bride. There's just too much risk, and it does look a lot nicer when people are living the moment, not just taking pictures and uploading them the whole ceremony.

Also I don't care if I don't get my photos back for 6 weeks if I have awesome pictures for 50 years. Also we're allowing pictures the rest of the night, just the ceremony is the only time we want to ask people not to do it. So if I want to look at pictures that night I'll still have some. And if you're really dying to have a picture, I'm sure you could ask your photographer to give you one sneak peek at the ceremony within a week or so. I mean they ask adults at a movie theatre to turn phones on silent, I don't think this is really any different.

As an officiant, I have to say that I love the unplugged ceremony, and I find it kind of depressing that this even has to be discussed. At most of my ceremonies, half the crowd experiences the most important part of the day through a 2 inch screen. it's not about the couple any more, it's about the cell phone snapper's ability to get a photo for themselves.

Not every minute of every day needs to be recorded; especially when someone else (often two people) are being paid to do it. It's not even so much about people getting in the way (though they certainly do, of the photographer and other, more polite people) but about being emotionally present in the moment without worrying about 'capturing' it. If watching it through a lens is more important than actually being a witness, then stay home and Skype in.

I did a wedding last night, with a beautiful sign at the entrance; i also made an announcement, which i generally don't do (i prefer to have the ushers let people know when they enter). The difference in the atmosphere of that ceremony was amazing. It was serene, sacred (even though it was in a ballroom) and the guests were truly paying attention. I wish I could have that every week.

This is not to say that the couple is media shy; they had little signs up at the reception with their instagram hashtag, and there was plenty of pro photography going on, but those pros were invisible. Aunt Sally never is. And there is no photo, ever, worth sacrificing the moment of marriage.

It wouldn't bother me to have people taking photos, as long as they didn't post them to social media before we had a chance to. That's the only thing I would be worried about.

We let people take photos without it being 'plugged in' or 'unplugged'. The officiant asked the guests just to trust the photographer and not get in his way, but they were welcome to take photos from their seats. I loved it. In our pro photos there aren't cell phones, and the guests are paying attention. BUT, we also got different angles from the guests and photos were sent to us the following day! We were both SO happy that we didn't do an unplugged ceremony. It might be important to note: our friend circle is different than most I'd guess. Out of our friends our age (late-20s early-30s) only two are on Twitter and a couple on Instagram, most stay away from those in favor or real life connection. So we didn't have people trying to get photos to post online.

We allowed people to have their cell phones and cameras during the ceremony.

I'm super happy we did. We just got our pro pics back, and even though every picture is beautiful, there are a bunch of key pictures that he missed. Not really sure what he was doing for half the wedding, but that's besides the point.

Luckily my guests caught the moments, so we have them.

I do not think you are crazy AT ALL.

We are most definitely going to have not only signs, but someone coming around announcing NO PHONES at our ceremony, AND into part of our reception. After our first dance will be when they are given the green light to whip them back out again.

You guys aren't shelling or mega bucks for a photographer, to have tacky pictures with phones in front of faces, rather than the smiling faces of your loved ones!

I think you, and Hubby to be will be happy if you stand your ground on this one.

I don't like the idea of guests being told what to do. However, I also don't like the idea of pro shots being ruined by guests. I think a good compromise would be to give everyone a moment before the ceremony to take pictures or politely remind people to let the photographer do their job and only allow people to take pictures in their seats if they so choose. We won't have a lot of extra aisle space, so there can't be a hundred people in the way of our photographer.

Any time a guest enters a church or a synagogue, they are tacitly told what to do; a ceremony anyplace else shouldn't be any different. The fact that very few people seem to have a grip on appropriate behavior is at the root of most of the posts here; dressing inappropriately, showing up late, inviting uninvited guests, taking photos during a sacred experience.

So yes, they get to be told what to do.