So there you are, standing in the bliss of the gorgeous outdoor wedding of your dreams. The exotic flowers are draped in a lovely altar arrangement. You are looking fabulous in your mermaid wedding dress. Your significant other is gazing into your eyes, saying vows that will change your life for good. And there you have your wedding guests gawking at their smartphones, live-streaming your big day. Now you are wondering, with all the planning and expense that were involved to make this day a reality, were the people that attended even present at your wedding? Yes, they were there, but were they present?
Image Credit: Abbey Armstrong Photography
1. Welcome to modern weddings!
In this epoch of over-documented lifestyles, sharing every little detail of day-to-day lives on social media has become the norm. This should come as no revelation but the modern generation is obsessed with taking pictures and recording videos that they love to share with everyone. It does not seem too strange then that some of your guests are going to use their smartphones to take pictures at your wedding too.
That being said, mobile phones at weddings are nothing but a distraction. Not only do they take the guests away from the sacred moment, but also detract from the importance of the big day. It is also not uncommon to see a self-proclaimed photographer at a wedding who will go so far as to hijacking the professional wedding photographer’s shot by standing in front of them.
2. Un-plug your big day
With more and more wedding guests disturbing the sanctity of weddings, couples are now opting for an unplugged wedding. An unplugged wedding is simply where the couple encourages their guests to turn off their electronic devices during the wedding, gently reminding them to be fully present in the moment. And it makes perfect sense! Your wedding is a once in a lifetime event and we are pretty sure you will not appreciate any kind of distraction that will detract from the importance of it. An unplugged wedding has fewer or no distractions at all as all of your guests are present in special moments such as your walk down the aisle in your wonderful wedding gown, the exchange of rings, vows and first kiss, and not hooked onto their smartphones.
If you have ever wanted to avoid hundreds of smartphones hovering in front of your highly paid photographer, you have most likely considered an unplugged wedding…
Image Credit: Yellow Paddle Photography
3. But how do you make sure it actually works?
Unless you want to come across as being a control freak, we have to discuss a way using which you can tactfully share this information with your wedding guests so that your undisputed queen of social media, Cousin Sara, does not take pictures with her camera phone and immediately post your photos on Facebook or Twitter. Well, here are some things you can do:
- Have your officiant request that the guests refrain from using their smartphones and digital cameras during the ceremony at the request of the bride and groom.
- Include a note inside of the wedding invitations asking guests to hold off on using electronic devices and posting pictures of the ceremony until your professional photographer has had the opportunity to post sneak peeks from the wedding.
- You could use a picture of you and your fiancé holding a cute sign that reads: “Like” what you are seeing now – share it later (Please, no photo sharing on social media).
- Set up an album for your guests to upload their pictures with each other to a site that you have created or ask them to upload pictures using hashtags exclusive to your wedding.
Style: #CWLT14036, Image Credit: Ashley Meagan Photography
Just remember, if your guests do happen to take out their smartphones and your pictures do happen to make it on Facebook or some other social media site, do not get too bent out of shape about it. You may be making a bigger deal out of it than necessary. Have a little patience and smile, sometimes people are just as excited as you are to celebrate your big day and cannot help themselves and want to share your joy with the world.