Real talk. I shouldn’t have to tell you the reasoning behind not having your devices out during an important event. Right? Have we as a society decided yet that we want to actually experience these events in-person now that the sheen of smartphone technology has worn off?
It is my job to keep a filter between myself and the moment, absorb the distraction of documenting and let you stay in the moment. As someone who spends hundreds of hours a year behind a camera watching people’s most important moments pass them by, I can tell you that the smile on the face of someone watching an event with their eyes is more than the one with their eyes on a screen.
You literally pay me to take that burden away.
This Offbeat Bride article came out around when I personally started to notice this trend. And has since been my go-to for explaining why you should have an unplugged ceremony. I was cleaning my emails this year and I REALIZED… It’s from 2011! THAT’S ALMOST A DECADE AGO.
No, my caps-lock isn’t broken… I am just passionate.
Now that the idea of Unplugged Weddings grace the digital “pages” of the Knot and Brides (it only took years… she says completely without surprise), I should be able to step down off my soap box a bit… We shouldn’t have to tell people that weddings are unplugged anymore.
I am in no means suggesting your guests shouldn’t take any pictures of your wedding. The preservation of memories is THE reason I do my job. A quick snapshot on a day can bring so many memories back, even if it’s the shittiest cell phone picture.
We’ve all just got to be smarter about it.
Don’t let the memory of documenting
overlap the actual memory.
There are almost 300,000 hits about Unplugged Weddings on the great big WorldWideWeb™️ so why did I write yet another blog about this? I can sit here until I’m blue and talk about how all the phones/cameras/flashes/screens makes pictures ugly, throws off my lighting, and just makes my job harder to do…
But let’s talk about you.
Your daughter/nephew/friend is dancing for the first time with the person they just decided to marry. Do you want to see that dance first hand, or vicariously through a 5” screen while you take a poorly lit video?
We all know to turn our phones off at a movie, and you know you would NEVER take pictures at a theatre performance. So why are we treating this once-in-a-lifetime event with less consideration than a movie?
Experience things for the first time, THE FIRST TIME.
Let me document the memories for you to look back on.
Take one or two quick pictures (for the love of MyPersonalSanity™️, not during the ceremony* or processional**) to remember the day. Have fun! Take selfies during cocktail hour if you’re worried you’ll dance your outfit to pieces, and take those big fun group pictures during the reception. DO IT UP! I’m here for it.
Just make sure you are “here for it” too.
Stay Present.
*If you are recording for the wedding couple, we can totally come up with a great spot for you to see everything and we can stay out of each other’s way. Or, if your officiant didn’t show up, and you had to get married over the phone… I mean, we’ve all BEEN THERE. But other than that, be gone, device!
** First time wedding-ers: When the wedding couple & party walk DOWN the aisle at the top of the ceremony part. THIS IS THE HARDEST TIME TO AVOID your phones, cameras and *shudder* iPads. Please. Refrain.
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