An Unplugged Wedding is a fantastic way to ensure your guests not only enjoy your wedding ceremony but actually ‘watch’ you get married.

As you stand there exchanging vows on your wedding day you will be oblivious as to what is going on around you.  Your husband-to-be has just said his vows.  You wipe a tear from your eye and give off a nervous laugh.  You are about to say your vows when all of a sudden you hit the pause button on your wedding and look around.

Where have all your guests gone?  They are nowhere to be seen.  Instead, all you can see is mobile phones, cameras, tablets, a couple of iPads and is that….surely not…yep, someone is holding up a Nintendo DS.  You spot your uncle standing behind the videographer with his video camera in his hand wobbling away.  The look on the videographers face indicates that your uncle is probably on thin ice.  When watching your wedding video you realise why he was on thin ice as he makes several cameo appearances in the shot.  At least your Nan is sitting there watching, but then again, Nana doesn’t have a mobile phone.  You hit the play button again and say your vows.  You find out after the ceremony when signing the register that your now-husband saw a sneak-peak of you in your dress on Facebook 10 minutes before the ceremony care of younger cousin being too eager to post.

Image Source: Google Images

Sound exaggerated?  Sadly, this occurs more often than you think.  Cameras in mobile devices, our constant need to use social media and the lowering cost of technology means that everyone wants to capture your wedding.  Rarely do guests simply sit there and watch you get married anymore.

Worse yet, they don’t give you a copy of photos or video.  Even if they did, the quality is so bad you would not want it anyway.  After all, you have paid a professional photographer and videographer to capture this all for you.

So this leads me to the biggest question of all.  Why?  Why is everyone so interested in using their device to capture your wedding?  They don’t give you a copy and they probably won’t ever look at the photos again.  The answer is ‘habit’.  It is a natural habit for people to watch weddings from behind devices.

Enter the Unplugged Wedding.  Simply put, you nicely inform your guests to leave their phones, cameras….and that Nintendo DS (yes…I have actually seen one used) in their handbag or pocket during the ceremony (and possibly the first dance).  You tell them you want them to sit back and enjoy watching you get married.  You tell them you want them to share this moment with you.  Easier said than done?  Not really.

Here are a few ideas as to how to pull off your own Unplugged Wedding:

• Make mention of the Unplugged Wedding on the invitation in the form of a little card or note, similar to the RSVP card.  That way you set expectations from the start.
• Put a note at the start of the Wedding Booklet to remind those who harmlessly forgot, or simply thought you were not being serious at the time when invites went out.
• Have a couple of signs posted near the ushers at the ceremony as guests walk in.  These can be quite creative and can also be themed to match the colours of your wedding.
• Let you guests know that they can go crazy with their cameras after the ceremony and at the Reception.

Image Source: Google Images

As a videographer we are used to working around guests at weddings and with multiple cameras we always have a usable shot.  However, a wedding is a live event.  As a videographer we do not have the luxury of asking you to walk down the aisle a second time due to guests all sticking their cameras and heads out in the aisle and blocking our shot.  We plan accordingly to ensure we capture the best shots for each part of your wedding day and this is where experience comes into play.  One of our brides applied this idea to her wedding in 2012 and I won’t lie, it was a dream to film and the video looks amazing.

Image Source: Google Images

If your photos and video are high on your list of priorities for your wedding day and you want your friends and family to truly share in your wedding ceremony, then an Unplugged Wedding is for you.  Your photographer and videographer will love you for it!

For more details please see our Melbourne Wedding Video Packages and recent samples of Our Work.