Unplugged wedding....pros and cons?

Use a sign similar to this at the entrance to your ceremony:

I am not sure of any cons of having it unplugged. We decided to go that route, though. I did not want people to be looking at the ceremony through the screen of their phones. I want them there, with us. That is why we have the photographer.

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My venue uses this sign for couples who want an unplugged ceremony. I will absolutely try to have an unplugged ceremony and will use this sign. I'm also going to have my priest/officiant remind people before the ceremony starts.

I also know I'll be upset if people are leaning into the aisle or blocking FH's view from seeing me after paying for a professional photographer. I want everyone to be present with us.

At the beginning before the processional, our officiant will be making an announcement about the ceremony being unplugged.

I would suggest a sign, but people will likely ignore it. I would also have the officiant make an announcement right before the ceremony. I'm a wedding photographer, so all my guests know not to have their phones out or I will stop walking and reverse it back to the beginning to start over once they've all been put away. ;-)

We’re doing a sign & having the officiant say something.

And I have no idea what the cons of an unplugged ceremony are. Pros are your guests are present, your photos look better, you get to see people’s faces, no ones view is blocked.

I was at my ex-SIL’s wedding and the MOB’s boyfriend was filming the entire time on his cell phone directly in front of me. He literally made it impossible for me to see, and he wasn’t actually filming the ceremony, he was just planning up and down the bodies of the bridal party. It was awful.

We had an unplugged ceremony. It was fantastic. We didn't have a sign or anything, it was basically just word of mouth (we had a small 60per. List). You can try to ask your officiant to make an announcement, ours refused to do it.

Pros: the few photos we have if the ceremony are great and you can see people not devices. Cons, our photographer sucked, so she missed the first look which, could have possibly been captured on someone's phone if we had allowed cell phones.

For us, the pros outweighed anything else. And we had zero issues with anyone complaining about the no devices rule.

We had an unplugged ceremony. Our officiant made an announcement before the ceremony started and as far as I could tell everyone respected our wishes for no phones out. It was wonderful to look out at our family and friends and see their faces rather than their cell phones.

I am having a sign that says something like "we want to see your faces, not your phones! If you want to take pictures during the ceremony, please turn off your flash and keep your hands down so the photographer can capture all of our special moment!" or something along those lines. I don't care if people take pictures or video, I just don't want them to have their hands in the aisle and blocking views.

We are having a sign and our officiant is saying something right before the ceremony starts. We also put it on our website so people will have plenty of advance notice and aren't taken back when the officiant announces it. I feel the same as you we are paying really good money for professional photos so anything to help her out to get the best angles and pics.

The cons would be you don't get any guest pictures. It's a personal choice, but I think it's nice to have some guest photos right away, since you'll likely have to wait weeks for your pro photos.

Also, unless everyone is leaning out into the aisle, your photographer should be able to get photos without everyone's phones in the way.

We had our officiant make an announcement at the beginning of our short, seven minute ceremony. My one cousin, who likes to do what she wants, snapped a picture of hubby and I kissing to seal the deal and had it framed on a canvas as a gift. So ya never know......

I do applaud your photographer for being proactive - I am sure many of them are frustrated by the sea of cell phones in the picture!!

Its really ugly to see all those cameras and phones in your wedding pictures. People are more concerned with pictures than enjoying the actual ceremony.

We put it on the website and the officiant will make an announcement prior to the start of the ceremony.

The wording from our website is:

Can I take pictures of the ceremony?

We want you to be able to really enjoy our wedding day, feeling truly present and in the moment with us. We've hired an amazing wedding photographer named XXXXX who will be capturing the ceremony— and we're inviting each of you to sit back, relax, and just enjoy how the wedding feels. We're respectfully asking that everyone leave all cameras and cell phones off. Of course we will happy to share our ceremony photos with you afterward!

Have the officiant announce it or “remind” them before the ceremony starts. A lot of people won’t notice a sign. I think it’s all pros and no cons. I’ve only ever seen two people here say they wanted a bunch of candid photos of them from their guests. Personally I don’t really see the point of taking pics of someone’s wedding ceremony.

I definitely think both a sign and an announcement is the way to get everyone's attention about an unplugged ceremony, and hope they respect you enough to listen. Once I saw this picture it really stuck with me... you can bet we're having an unplugged ceremony! People's phone cameras won't get quality pictures from far away anyway!

View Quoted Comment That's the same photo I've seen and I want to avoid that.