To Unplug or Not to Unplug... A Very Important Ceremony Question

I recently listened to a podcast episode from Love Stories Radio (p.s. if you love weddings, do check out Love Stories TV…It’s basically YouTube for wedding videos) with Sam Roberts of Kleinfeld Bridal and the topic of unplugged ceremonies came up. If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically that you request that guests not use their cell phones/cameras to take photos during the ceremony (which usually happens when the bride/bridal party is walking up/down the aisle). It seemed to spark a bit of debate, so I want to weigh in.

First I’ll go with the cons of not having an unplugged ceremony…

Did you ever see a friend or family member’s wedding photos and all you see is cell phone screens/arms in the aisle when you look at their ceremony photos? It can totally ruin the photos/video especially if the people taking the photos are the ones closest to the aisle! Personally, I would be a little (or maybe a lot) annoyed if I paid a bunch of money for professional photos and had them ruined. I don’t think it’s something that can be photo-shopped out. Rather, I would share my link to my photos after the wedding with all of my guests so they can look through the photos and buy or download whatever ones they want. If you want to go this route, it’s best to have a sign at the entrance of your venue, or you can have someone kindly announce it when all of your guests are seated.

Now on the reverse, as Sam from Kleinfeld stated, your wedding is also an experience for your guests, and them taking photos and posting to Instagram/Facebook, or even just having them on their phones to show their book club, women’s fitness class friends, work friends, etc. is how they are participating in and experiencing your wedding. It’s nice to let them have that moment if it gives them joy. I will say I have been guilty of taking photos (never on the end of the aisle though), and they never really look great, so this will be a habit I am giving up. Also after seeing many brides photos, I would hate to ruin anyone’s gorgeous shots!

What do you think? Personally, I’m more on the unplugged side of things because I hate how it looks in photos, but I am also a giant softie so I wouldn’t be surprised if I changed my mind by the time it’s time to say “I do.”