When to Announce For Guests to Put Phones Away

I actually saw on another post that you can have the officiant mention that after the prelude where your guests are being seated and before the processional. There would just be a big pause between transitions. Then once he/she is done speaking, the processional music will start.

I am going to have a sign mentioning not to have their phones out during the ceremony. That way everyone knows ahead of time.

You can do it whenever you want, but not requesting it until after the processional means that you could have photos of you walking down the aisle with guest’s phones/tablets/cameras in the way.

This was a huge concern for daughter & SIL after she was a BM in a wedding where guests were completely out of control taking photos, so they went all out trying to prevent it. (I think I wrote the post mentioned by a pp.) If you officiant does not mention it until AFTER the processional, it is quite likely guests will be taking photos as you and the bridal party walk down the aisle. At her friend's wedding, that resulted in there not being a single professional photo of the bride and her dad coming down the aisle without two women who stepped out of their seats "to get a good shot" blocking part of the bride.... When daughter saw that, she decided, "OH, HELL NO!!!!"

For her wedding, no photography during the ceremony was mentioned on their website (where guests RSVP'd). We spread the word informally with our likely "worst offenders" (especially after they behaved horribly at a relative's wedding a couple months before daughter's). She had a sign where guests entered the ceremony space, and after the pre-ceremony music, the DJ paused, and the officiant both welcomed guests and asked they refrain from taking pictures during the ceremony before the processional began. (We heard the GM had also "reminded" people as they were helping seat them....) The good news is more than a year later, we haven't seen a single guest photo taken during the ceremony and both the pro photographers and videographers captured everything without having to dodge guests. Yay!

View Quoted Comment This are great ideas! I have never heard of a GM reminding people as they are being seated, but what a great idea! Kudos to that GM! We aren’t having our guests seated by anyone, so I can’t do that aspect of it, but I think I will definitely follow your daughters lead and have the Officiant welcome everybody and announce no phones/photos/videos before the processional. It also tackles another issue we were having! We are getting married in an outdoor courtyard that is not wired for sound, so we will be having a string quartet rather than a DJ. We have been trying to figure out some kind of cue so that the bridal party will know when it is time to start walking. Now we can just let them know they will begin walking once the music starts after the Officiant makes the announcement. Thank you so much for this post! You have been SUCH a huge help!!

I will have the officiant say something before the processional. That way they don't have their phones out during people walking down. I will also have a big chalkboard sign right before the pews.

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Good! It was hard, after the cousin's wedding, I literally had a "knock-down, drag-out" email exchange with one close relative on FOB's side who asked, "who's going to STOP me from taking pictures???? Good luck with that!" Luckily, she sent it on a "reply all" response that included a bunch of other relatives, so I just answered back that we assumed guests "would do it out of love and respect for the bride and groom, since it was their wish." I also attached one of the photos of daughter's friend with the two women standing in the aisle BLOCKING half of the pro photographer's view of the bride as she and her dad walked down the aisle....

The emailer-arguer may be a relative, but that doesn't make her less of a jerk. She didn't say anything else after my response, but NO ONE had their phone out at daughter's wedding, so SCORE! Good luck!

Our officiant came out and asked everyone to put their phones away before the processional. All but 1 person listened.

I would do it before the processional. There’s not usually a full stop between bridesmaids and bride, just a quick pause and music change. So
Stopping to announce it then would be awkward, flow-wise.

We are having our officiant request that all phones and cameras be put away prior to our parents walking down the aisle.

Interlude music will cut, he will make his announcement, wait about 10 seconds, and then our parents/grandparents/wedding party will walk down the aisle!

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Love this idea! Hadn't even thought of that, thanks

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Smart idea!!

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Good point, I will definitely have him do it beforehand then! Thanks

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This is so helpful, thank you!! Love the idea of having the groomsmen remind people.

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Great idea, I think I'll do this too!

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All but one, not bad!! We will try this too, thanks!

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Great point, hadn't thought of that! Thanks!

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Perfect timing, I want to do something similar to this too. Thanks!