Wedding Wednesdays Q&A: How To Have An Unplugged Wedding

So, this week we’re doing something a little different and continuing the subject from last week, which was about having an unplugged wedding. Last week we talked about what an unplugged wedding is and why you would have one.  If you haven’t read last week’s post, you can check it out here. So, for this week’s Wedding Wednesday Q&A, we want to answer a follow-up question: I decided I want to have an unplugged wedding, but I don’t know how to go about doing it. Can you help me?

This can be a little tricky since it is a special request, but the key here is to be nice and respectful about it. While you can pull an Amal Alamuddin and George Clooney and take everyone’s phone away for the evening, here are few less drastic ways to make it happen:

1. Put a note on your wedding website explaining simply what you are requesting and why.
2. Display a sign as people enter the ceremony area.
3. Put it in the program. Make sure you put this near the front so that people won’t miss it.
4. Have your officiate make a simple announcement before the ceremony begins.
5. Put your wedding planner or a member of your wedding party (or an usher) on camera duty and have them ask your guests nicely if they would refrain from taking any photos.

In all of these instances, you want to ask nicely.  Keep the wording light and respectful (it can even be funny) and not a demand, but a request on behalf of the couple.  Your guests love you, so they’ll abide by your wishes if you ask them.  Don’t forget that you’ll want to ask them to not only refrain from using their phones, but also from using any actual cameras as well.

Do you have a wedding planning question?  I bet you do!  Share it with us in a comment below and we’ll get you an answer.