Any warnings/regrets about having an unplugged ceremony?

I'm so torn on this subject. I know a few people who actually said their favorite pictures were ones taken by guests.

None! No regrets. We had two photographers and we got so many great pics of us and guests enjoying themselves.

We were very glad our ceremony was not unplugged. We had a lot of guest participation (a different person doing each of the seven blessings, a reader, two attendants, and everyone signing our ketubah), and wanted photos of all of them--which it was simply impossible for one person to do. Our guests were able to fill in the photos the photographer didn't get.

I loved seeing all of our guests pics especially the next day when we were all together. Yes my photographer took amazing pictures and love them but it took forever for us to see them!

I’ve seen some posts about the photographer not being reliable or having an issue and then they had zero photos. But I’m sure this is very rare.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a quality photo shot by a guest in a church. The lighting in a church is very difficult, your friends and family are going to get super blurry, grainy photos. People will ask you to take photos with them post ceremony, so you may still get guest photos at some point.

Is it worth it to you to have that blurry, grainy guest photo in exchange for cell phones in the aisle and above heads during your pro pics? Or cell phones in the way of your ceremony video?

We were pretty gentle on our unplugged ceremony request and I really wish we’d been more forceful on it. Our officiant announced unplugged right before the ceremony began and we still had cell phones out in the aisle, in front of parents faces and in the way of our ceremony video. 😑

Daughter and SIL were almost militantly vocal about their ceremony being unplugged after seeing too many ruined professional photos. They had NO regrets about not having guest photos and their professional photos are perfect and amazing. They didn't expect it, but their photographer sent them a 50 photo sneak peak within 60 hours of the wedding. That definitely made it easier to wait for their full gallery of 1100+ gorgeous photos. (So, ask you photographer how quickly they can get you a few photos to tie you over till the full set are ready.)

Initially, daughter was iffy about unplugged, but after being a BM in a friend's wedding were every pro photo of the B&FOB walking down the aisle was ruined by two guests who stepped into the aisle in front of the photographer to "take their perfect picture" and EVERY PHOTO taken by the second shooter from the back of the ceremony is FILLED with photos and i-pads held in the air, she said absolutely NO GUEST PHOTOS DURING THE CEREMONY. She is so glad -- and two friends who got married since her wedding did exactly what she did. You don't get a re-do on ruined pro photos.... (And any pro photographer should have a fool-proof plan for ensuring against "mishaps." For example, daughter's photographer and second shooter were each working with at least two cameras all day, and all files were automatically backed-up every 30 minutes. Ask your photographer how they protect against accidental loss or other emergencies; if they don't have a good plan B, keep looking!)

I’m planning on only allowing certain people to take pictures/video and asking everyone else to keep their phones away during the ceremony. I’m planning on making fake “press passes” to give out that will allow the certain people to use their phones/cameras for pictures/video. During the reception I’m all for as many people taking pictures as they’d like!

We plan on having an unplugged ceremony. I've been to a couple where this was done and almost everyone abided by the couple's request.