Over the past 3-4 years, along with the rise of smartphones, there has been a trend in the wedding industry of having an “unplugged wedding”.  But what is an “unplugged wedding,” exactly?

It’s a wedding where the guests are not allowed to bring or must check in their devices at the front door.  But why?  Well, there’s a general sentiment that when you attend a wedding that you’re supposed to present, in both mind and body, in the moment to share with friends and family and to witness the marriage of two special people.  And how “present” can you really be, if you’re staring at a screen for about 60% of the day?  Yes, you looked fabulous and that selfie was probably appropriate, because, let’s be honest, how often do you get dressed up like that.  But, weddings are so much more and the bride and groom want to see smiling friends and family, not phones.

While some couples have embraced the “unplugged” trend, others have sought the flipside and saw the 100 cameras as an opportunity to see and capture moments that maybe their professional photographer could not capture, for whatever reason.  Many couples create hashtags to help aggregate the photos from the day, heck there are even apps that do that for you.

And I will admit there are times when I’m with friends or family and there’s an amazing sunset and I’ll be reach for my phone or camera.  But recently, I’ve caught myself and allowed myself to really enjoy the wondrous beauty of the moment without having to capture it or share it via Instagram or Facebook or even our blog.

As a professional wedding photographer, I can see it both ways.  On one hand, I’m confident that I create photos that contain more aesthetic beauty aka awesome-ness than that “Rise” or “X-Pro II” filter on Instagram, so having other cameras taking more photos means more for the bride and groom.  But more photos doesn’t necessarily mean “better” photos.  Afterall, that’s what hiring a professional photographer is for, to create the best quality photos possible. And there have been many times when a wedding guest has ruined a photo for me.  While I won’t share specific images from any of my previous weddings, I have photos where, guests are crouching down in the middle of the aisle or sticking their phone/camera (or worse, an iPad/tablet) out into the aisle, during the kiss.  Yes, the guest probably got an ok shot, but for me, their hired photographer, that guest just ruined the couple’s photograph that is supposed to be timeless and last forever.  See the Huffington Post link below for some examples of how the guest ruined the photo.

Other scenarios that are commonly ruined are when guests use their camera’s flash.  Many professional photographers use the flash sparingly or in very specific moments.  For a guest to use their on camera flash could ruin a perfect moment for the hired photographer.  Look for examples in the Huffington Post, below.

But what about you?  Is an “unplugged wedding” for you?

You can go ahead and Google it, but I’ve taken the liberty of doing it for you.  Here are some articles or blog posts about the idea of an “unplugged wedding”:

+ News Broadcast addressing this exact issue
+ NYTimes article on Michael Jordan’s Unplugged wedding
+ Offbeat Bride Post
+ Huffington Post
+ Southern Weddings Article

Photo Credit – Pinterest (Unknown Photographer)