Observations as a Guest

I worry about people not being able to hear too.

Cont.

4. The reception was beautiful decorated, the food was great. They had floating candles in a vase, and the vase was actually starting to crack because of the heat of the candle.... it was a fishbowl vase... just be careful if you decide to do this!!!!!

5. Speeches (there were 10 of them) were much longer than 2 minutes each, They went on and on and everyone got so bored.

Other than that it was a wonderful wedding! Just thought I'd share in case this helps anyone out.

Always arrange for a mic for your officiant. Many of them, especially if they don't do a lot of weddings, assume that you'll have one, and if you don't, well then it's just too bad.

And that unplugged ceremony thing? Every officiant I know is all over that. We love it.

I had an unplugged ceremony and every single person in attendance respected it. It was the best decision I made regarding ceremony logistics - I loved walking down the aisle and seeing everyone's faces and emotions rather than just sea of cellphones/cameras

I really hope my unplugged ceremony request is respected by everyone. ugh.

We are totally doing the unplugged thing. I've had one of my friends offer to hold a basket for people to drop their phones in before being seated. HAHA! We're going to have a sign and my venue coordinator is going to reinforce that message as she greets them to be seated. Once the reception starts, I don't care!

Idk about asking people to give up their phones--but certainly we will ask the officiant to make an announcement to not take photos during the ceremony and hopefully ppl will respect that.

Love the water & juice idea.

So glad we arranged to have two mics set up during our ceremony. Our MC insisted on it, and I'm so glad we listened. It's going to sound so much better...I'd hate to have our guests not be able to hear anything.

I plan on using floating candles....didn't even think about cracking vases! I wonder if it is because of the type they used...hmm. Thanks for the advice!

I'm actually thankful we didn't have an unplugged wedding. One of our friends was at a different angle than our photographer was and got some beautiful pictures. I promise you - you won't notice during the wedding.

Fortunately in an Episcopal wedding ceremony there is are so many pew aerobics (stand up, sit down, kneel) that no one has time to take pictures.

Mics for the officiant are a must. We had a harder time that we originally anticipated finding a DJ that had extra equipment for this. We are also doing an unplugged ceremony - the last wedding I was at people were taking pictures with their tablets and it was beyond annoying.

Yeah, you'll notice. Trust me.

Unplugged it great, but remember some people still use cameras. I have a couple of good shots that were ruined by guests with their big nikon cameras sticking out! Its not always the cell phones. Who would have thought! We didn't have an unplugged ceremony, but not one person had their phone out or was seen with their phone out in any of our photos. Just people with huge as cameras. Weird.

We didn't have an unplugged ceremony and I don't remember anyone having their cameras out in the way. My photographer didn't have any problems taking shots and I don't even remember seeing anyone holding a camera in my face during my trip up or down the aisle. That was the last thing I was thinking about. I barely looked into the crowd at all, actually. I looked at DH the entire trip up there and I don't even remember what I looked at the way back.

Definitely doing unplugged. One guest at a recent wedding moved around chairs to get up and take photos. And I know this guest will be at our wedding.

My problem with people taking photos is that this is FH and I's wedding ceremony. Not theirs. Yes, they are invited to attend and share the moment with us. Not take a photo and share it to all their friends on social media. I don't want my face plastered everywhere. I'm not a fan of it. I don't do selfies and I avoid getting my picture taken when possible. We are hiring a photographer. When we get those pics and are ready to share them with those not in attendance, we will. I don't care about the reception. But the ceremony is special.

Wow. We had no problems with our "plugged" ceremony. No pictures were ruined, no one was jumping every which way. But also we had people arranged in a big circle so maybe their viewing was easier?

I think the decision to ask guests not to take pictures during the ceremony is completely dependent on the behavior of your guests. Some people are totally understanding and know not to stand up in front of everyone or overstep the photographer. Others just go crazy and are totally rude about it. It all depends on the people attending your wedding.

A few years ago I went to a wedding that was seriously beautiful and awesome for guests. I don't remember there being an "unplugged ceremony" but that was before the time of instagram and twitter so that may have been why no one whipped out their phones. Two specific things I remembered:

1) After cake was cut, servers came around with little goodie plates for each table, which was awesome since I (and I think most) people prefer a little goodie to cake

2) The bride and groom did not come table to table during dinner (I'm assuming because it was a 200+ wedding and would have taken forever), but I remember both of them individually coming up to me and asking very enthusiastically, "are you having a good time??" and then being so happy when I said "yes this is great!" I know a random little thing but it was nice to feel like they were so interested in making sure all the guests were having a great night.

I would have been very disappointed if my ceremony had been unplugged because my photog took 2 months to get my pictures to me. No way would I have wanted to wait that long.