To Unplug or Not To Unplug?
We get asked about an Unplugged Wedding Ceremony by a lot of our clients. It is something that a lot of couples are considering at this time. We are covering how to get unplugged in this blog about this option and hope it helps you decide!
First, what is an unplugged wedding ceremony? It involves asking your friends and family to avoid any digital distractions during the most important part of your big day. We ask our clients in their final meetings if this is something they want because we started getting asked RIGHT before the ceremony started to tell the officiant to say something about putting away electronics. In order to avoid any last minute accommodations, we now help guide our clients into making that decision ahead of time so we can all plan properly.
If you choose to make your guests ‘unplug’, there are multiple ways you can notify them, even way before the wedding day! We suggest letting them know on the information or FAQ page of your wedding website. This is something they might reference once or twice before your wedding, so the more information you provide, the better! This might prevent Uncle Bob, an amateur photographer, from bringing all of his gear because he wanted to take photos during your ceremony. Now, some couples say that they have a hashtag for their wedding, so they can view what everyone posted throughout the day, which is great! If you choose to unplug, they can still share the best moments, but can also be fully present with you while you’re exchanging your vows.
Once your guests get to the wedding, we suggest having some kind of welcome table or signage that reminds them to kindly keep their electronics put away. It is something we see more and more of nowadays, and guests are becoming accustomed to it. It doesn’t have to be a huge display, but can be incorporated into your ceremony decor. We love when brides include it in the signage bundle they get with their calligrapher or designer!
Usually as a final reminder when having an Unplugged Wedding Ceremony, we like to have the officiant remind guests to be respectful of the couple’s wishes. Not every guest is paying attention to you signage, so it is courteous to have your officiant mention it just before the ceremony starts!
Now that we’ve gone over this, we must also pose the question: will guests actually listen? It doesn’t happen too much, but there is sometimes that one guest that has to take a photo for their neighbor, or get the best angle for the ‘gram, and of course, it’s never discreet. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to be done about this, except to laugh and hope that your photographer does not get them in any ceremony photos 😉
We hope this helped explain how to have an Unplugged Wedding Ceremony a bit better for you. We are happy to brainstorm different ideas or answer any questions, as always!
