While there are millions of photos of weddings that utilize social media sites such as Instagram or Facebook in effective ways in order for their guests to have a way to document the wedding, there has also been an emerging trend of having an “unplugged” wedding. This means no phones should be used to take photos, videos, or update status on social media websites. Event Michael Jordan’s recent wedding provided a phone check at the door so that their guests would not be consumed by social media and would instead be present at the event.
So we’ve put together a list of Pros and Cons of “Unplugged” weddings to help you decide what the right decision is for the two of you!
“Unplugged” Wedding Pros:
-Guests will be present in the moment and not constantly checking their phones, updating their statuses, or posting pictures that you don’t want all over social media sites.
-Helps to keep uninvited guests from feeling left out since your guests won’t be posting a lot of photos on social media sites.
-Guests won’t get in the way of your photographer or videographer by trying to take cell phone photos. Leave it to the professionals.
“Unplugged” Wedding Cons:
-Guests may be a bit upset if you take their phones completely away from them. It’s much easier to post a sign or ask in your wedding programs that guests refrain from using their phones.
-You miss some of the little moments that guests might capture at their tables or from different angles than your photographer might see. There are a bunch of guests, but only one or two photographers.
-Since not everyone could attend your wedding, capturing some extra photos or videos for out-of-town guests is a special way for them to be a part of your wedding day, even though they couldn’t be there in spirit. They may be excited to see a post pop up on Facebook or Instagram so they can still see the big day!
There are definitely ways to do “Unplugged” or “Plugged In” weddings correctly. You can simply ask guests to refrain from use during part of the wedding instead of the entire thing (think no phone use during the ceremony, but after dinner when the dancing starts, then it is no problem). On the other hand, you can completely embrace social media use and post a sign telling guests what to hashtag your wedding so that you can find all the photos your friends posted later. Whatever you decide is something that is completely up to you and your significant other!
Are you having an “Unplugged” or a “Plugged In” wedding? Let us know in the comments with your favorite tips and tricks for having it go successfully!
