Planning an Unplugged Ceremony?
You’ve spent months planning your wedding and it all leads up to this moment. Your officiant is about to declare you as husband and wife, and your wedding photographer and videographer are ready to capture the moment… except your guests pull out their cellphones and block the professional shots. This is every newlywed’s worst nightmare, that’s where having an unplugged ceremony comes in.
With the increasing technology of smartphones and our social media addiction, it is hard for some to unplug even for a few hours. However, you may be thinking about forcing them to unplug for the duration of your ceremony so your moment walking down the aisle doesn’t get photobombed by phones!
Reasons To Enforce An Unplugged Ceremony
Your professional photos will not be disrupted.
When you book with Mike Staff Productions, we ensure you the best wedding photos. However, our photographers’ jobs are made more difficult if they are fighting for a shot against your family and friends.
Despite the technological advances, most of your family and friends are not professional wedding photographers. By enforcing an unplugged ceremony, you are ensuring that our photographers can do their job, and capture every special moment.
More engaged guests.
By encouraging your guests to unplug during your ceremony, they will be more engaged and involved in your special day. They will listen better and likely remember your ceremony for years to come. Looking out and seeing your guests with their faces in their phones will only hurt your ceremony.
How To Pull Off An Unplugged Ceremony
Let your guests know ahead of time.
It doesn’t hurt to include a statement on your invitation mentioning that your ceremony will be unplugged. This allows you to make your expectations clear. Guests will know ahead of time, and give them more time to truly understand what that means. By expressing your concerns early, your guests are more likely to respect your wishes.
Have signage.
You can get custom wedding signage everywhere. When ordering your stationery and name cards, order a simple sign mentioning your unplugged ceremony. This sign can be placed upon entry to your ceremony and tells guests to put their phones and cameras away until the reception.
Make an announcement.
Have your officiant mention before the start of the ceremony that it will be unplugged. Your officiant can respectfully ask guests to put their devices away so that they can be truly present in the moment.
Mike Staff is the founder and CEO of Mike Staff Productions, Metro Detroit’s most awarded wedding entertainment and media company. Since founding Mike Staff Productions in 1996, Mike has led a team that has served over 25,000 couples across Oakland, Macomb, Wayne, and Washtenaw counties — providing wedding DJ, photography, and videography services at hundreds of Metro Detroit venues. Under his leadership, Mike Staff Productions has earned recognition as one of the top wedding companies in the country, with consistent five-star ratings on The Knot, WeddingWire, and Google. Mike pioneered the Team Approach model — coordinating DJ, photo, and video under one contract — to eliminate the stress and coordination gaps couples face when booking vendors separately.
