No pictures during ceremony

We're having a sign and our officiant will be making an announcement at the beginning to keep phones tucked away so they can be present on our most special day. Just in case there are people that don't read the sign.

State it on your wedding website and have the officiant announce it at the beginning of the ceremony as well.

You can put a sign up and have an announcement made but people are going to do what they want because they’re excited for you.

I made an insert for my invitations that stated "Welcome To Our Unplugged Ceremony", and had the officiant make an announcement. None of our guests had their phones out during my ceremony.

@Alforev, when they disrespect the couples wishes it's beyond rude. My guests know how serious I am, and no one disrespected my husbands or I's decision to have an unplugged ceremony.

Have your officiant make the announcement to everyone and maybe a sign.

I was a MOH for FSIL and she had the officiant make an announcement. There was a family member that came late though and posted a picture during the ceremony because she didn't hear the announcement. I thought it was extremely rude. we are not allowing anyone to enter the ceremony after I've walked down the aisle. I want everyone to hear the unplugged announcement. Announcements get the point across better than any sign.

In your program (or sign if not) Thank you for sharing in our special moment, being present, and turning off your phone

Before the ceremony, we are going to place it on our website under the "Q&A" portion. For the actual day, we are going to make a sign and then have our officiant announce it.

While the urge is strong to pull out the camera to take the pictures, I'm hoping the plethora of announcements will help curb that urge haha. I also don't want our wedding photos to be full of people taking photos if that makes sense.

I made this sandwich (A-frame) sign. It’s nice and big but goes with our outdoor ceremony space. You will never get 100% compliance but you can’t let that stress you out. A good photographer will get the shots they need without the cellphones in them.

We mentioned it in our programs and our officiant made an announcement. To my knowledge my aunt was the only one who didn't listen. At least she had enough sense to use no flash and stay in her seat. Although I do find it strange she acknowledged the chapel we got married in asked for no pictures out of respect but she was going to do it anyway...

Personally, I think it's rude to tell people what to do with their personal devices. Asking them not to post photos until you do is totally legit, but asking them to put away, turn off their phones, etc. is rude IMO. And don't get me started on the "be fully present" line that so many brides use. I consider it all rude.

View Quoted Comment Honestly I think the main reason is that it can ruin the professionals photos, with loads of cameras or phones in the way. And the flashes could be distracting. (Or one of my bridesmaids has epilepsy so it could be a whole lot worse)

I had tons of phones in my wedding photos. Didn't ruin my photos one bit. In fact, I LOVED it. There's nothing like seeing my 70-year-old father in the front row with his cell phone out and a great big grin on his face in one of my pictures. Nothing at all. I never understand when people say it ruins photos. It just makes me warm and fuzzy that all those people loved us so much they wanted to capture photos for themselves. Also, seriously, unless you're getting married in the dark, no one uses flashes.

If you're concerned people will leap into the aisles and block your photographer (which did not happen to us), then put something on the aisles to prevent that or announce that they shouldn't do that.

As for your friend with epilepsy, let her handle that herself. I'm sure she knows how to handle it when she's out and doesn't have control over the actions of others.

It's in my photographers contact to have an unplugged ceremony. I really like the idea. I was at a wedding in Jan and so many people had their phones out it was ridiculous. The photographer said they missed a first kiss photo because a guest stepped into the aisle to take a picture of the moment. Of course his picture was not great and despite the photographer being willing to set up the shot again later, the moment was obviously lost.

My photographer also asked permission to occasionally ask people gently to get out of the picture with their cameras. I'm more than happy to let them be the bad guys. They said they only do this for the bigger moments like cake cutting, first dance, etc.

View Quoted Comment I agree. I am SO happy that my guests took photos because it takes SO long to get your professional photos back. I specifically requested people post pics as soon as possible so I could see the wedding for myself. It's been a little over a month now and my photographer and videographer are working on my pics and video, but in the meantime my guests' pics and videos have been wonderful to see while we wait. I couldn't imagine not having any pics during that time of waiting. We had garlands draping over the pews so no one could enter or exit onto the aisle, so we didn't have a problem with anyone jumping into the aisle or blocking the photographer or videographer's views.

Putting it on a sign, program, or having the officiant mention it will all help. I went to a wedding Friday and someone two rows in front of me had their arm completely extended into the aisle and video recorded the entire ceremony. She was in the third row. It was SO distracting as a guest and I’m sure the photographer couldn’t get any decent shots of the room because of it. There was also someone else on the other said who had a go pro and it kept beeping. His wife was clearly embarrassed. Also so distracting. I could see other people looking at them, even the bridal party started to.

We plan to do unplugged. I won’t be upset if someone sneakily takes a pic but I would prefer to not see twenty phones in pictures and ruining them. I’ve read an article about this and have seen how rediculous it looks. I’ve never been offended by unplugged ceremonys. Saying fully present may sound cheesy but it’s completly true. In so many situations people are just focused on capturing the best pic of things. Weddings have photographers to capture those moments. People have the entire evening to take pictures of us.

Sorry Valerie, but no, my pictures don't look ridiculous because guests chose to take photos. If anything, they look way more realistic.

Also, saying "be fully present" isn't cheesy. It's rude. You're telling them they need to pay attention to you the whole time or else they're doing something wrong.

We are having a sign stating that it is an unplugged wedding but it won’t be a huge deal to us if a few people don’t pay attention to that

I will be having a large no photography sign, with some of our guests I decided to just get straight to the point, our Preacher will be announcing before the ceremony, and it is on our website.