Phones During the Ceremony

You can try to designate it “phone free” or “unplugged” but people will do whatever they want anyway.

View Quoted Comment

Yeah I was thinking about that or having someone make an announcement before the ceremony.

That's unfortunate that no one listened. I would recommend one of those unplugged signs, maybe even have the officiant mention it before starting the ceremony.

We're having an unplugged ceremony sign, but we're also going to have our officiant make an announcement before we start the ceremony

Our officiant made an announcement prior. I also told my mom and my sister-in-law/bridesmaid told my mother-in-law since both moms were being escorted down the aisle they wouldn't hear the announcement so we wanted to be sure no one took photos with their phones. My mother-in-law was all set to take photos on her phone, but my sister-in-law is amazing and handled talking to her about it for me.

Most people won’t pay attention to a sign. The best way is to have the officiant announce it before the processional starts.

We put up an unplugged sign, put it on our website, and had our officiant say something. No one pulled their phones out until after the ceremony.

Most officiants will say "please take a moment to silence your phones" but i've never heard one ask that you don't get them out. Sorry, if I want a picture (usually of a family member who's participating in the wedding) i'm going to take one. I'm not an idiot and will stay out of the way of the photographer.

Unfortunately, no matter how many signs or announcements, people will still do it. On my website and invitation, I am included the purpose of the unplugged ceremony. That's the first acknowledgement. My DJ and officiant will also make an announcement. That's it. It's one of those things where it's truly down to the guest.

We have an unplugged ceremony sign and our officiant will also make an announcement. All of our guests are adults and I can only imagine that they will all respect our wishes.

We have something on our wedding website and our officiant will also announce it. But it is true that some will still use their phones to take photos. As long as they don't get in our photographer's way I'll have to be OK with it. But we paid her a lot of money so we want her to be able to perform her job well.

In the end, there's nothing you can do about people who don't want to respect your wishes. You'll just have to forgive and forget.

We just had our officiant make an announcement before the ceremony started that we didn't want anyone taking pictures. As far as I can tell everyone listened. Hopefully your guests are adult enough to take your wishes into consideration and put their phones away for the duration of the ceremony.

View Quoted Comment It’s not just a matter of staying out of the way of the photographer, it’s also a matter of being fully present with the couple. We are asking for the same thing - our ceremony is 15 minutes, and that’s the only time we ask our guests to unplug to be with us. To disregard that because you want your own photo comes across as selfish and rude towards the couples wishes.

I think the best way to handle this is, in addition to having a sign expressing your phone-free wishes, have your officiant make an announcement and say "Before we begin, please turn off AND put away your phones." Asking people to silence their phones doesn't really get the point across.

We had our officiant announce it at the beginning of the ceremony, and not one person used their personal phone or camera

As a 7th grade teacher, my first (totally sarcastic) thought is to have an over-the-door shoe holder hung up and have your guests put their phones in a designated spot before the ceremony. I would just make sure to have the officiant remind people and hope they have enough respect to keep them put away!

Having your officiant say something is best but people will do what they want so be prepared for some people to have their phones out taking pictures.

Honestly we will tell our guests to silent their phones and to have them put away during the ceremony. We will let them know if they need to have them out for some reason (i.e. my aunt is flying in from Chicago and leaving her sons home with her husband, so if something happened I would want them to be able to get ahold of her). Then some certain Circumstances are understandable.

We are planning an unplugged ceremony too... I made a sign and my officiant will be making an announcement... We are only inviting those we can’t live without... I think they will be too busy being a part of the moment to grab a phone... but we will find out in 100 days!!!!!

View Quoted Comment

That's what we plan to do!