All you need is love and …an unplugged wedding.

What’s an unplugged wedding?

Imagine a photo of you, as a bride getting ready with your bridesmaids, shared on Facebook before you get to the wedding. Imagine the first time people see your wedding is through your 14-year-old niece’s unflattering Instagram upload.  Imagine your professional (paid) photographer being unable to get that perfect shot because Great Aunty Daisy has her IPad right in front of you. Imagine walking down the aisle on your wedding day but unable to see anyone’s faces because they all have their phones or cameras out. All scenarios I’ve been witness to, and all perfectly good reasons for an unplugged wedding.

An unplugged wedding makes your professional photographers job so much easier (remember that lovely talented photographer, who you are paying a lot of money to, to get those once in a lifetime shots?) There’s nothing worse for a photographer when everyone’s got their cell phones out and it trying to get that shot, or getting in their way while they try to capture that first look of the bride.

In today’s digital age, absolutely everyone’s connected 24/7. Everyone’s firing off tweets and Instagram photos like nobody’s business and it’s easy for people to get into the thinking of  ‘if it hasn’t been uploaded in some way, then it didn’t really happen’.

Unplugged weddings are becoming very popular with couples who don’t want their wedding splashed all over social media, before the day’s finished. In fact probably 90% of my couples ask for an unplugged wedding. I ask them at our planning meetings what their thoughts are on this, some have very definite thoughts, others have never heard of it, and once I explain it to them, completely understand. Unplugged is not just about not sharing photos on social media, it’s also about asking your guests to be fully present in your ceremony and/or day.  It’s asking people to turn off their phones/cameras/computers and just enjoying what’s going on around them.

There are many nice ways to ask your guests. Most people include it on their invitations, some include a sign at the entrance to the venue, and I usually  remind guests before the ceremony begins to switch everything off, enjoy the ceremony and they can continue taking snaps and selfies after the ceremony and at the reception. If you have a relative who is going to be put off by not being able to take photos, you can remind them that they can get a copy of the professional photos after the wedding.

Just remember it’s your day so do what feels right to you.