From what I have noticed during conversations with my clients, not many couples consider whether to keep their wedding unplugged or not. This is totally understandable as phones with cameras have become a norm in our lives. Having such a device in your pocket does tempt you to document things that you used to just happily ‘soak in’ with your eyes – and one of the things here include weddings.
Now it is not to say that the entire wedding has to stay unplugged, I think even many photographers can agree that is both unreasonable and virtually impossible :p In my opinion, keeping the ceremony unplugged is the key here. Let me list the simple reasons and you can see if you agree with them.
The first thing that comes to mind is that ceremonies typically last only 15 to 30 minutes, which is a very reasonable amount of time to have guests leave their camera phones in their pockets, since the duration is short. This also enables them to better immerse in the experience, to listen and react to the wedding vows that you and your significant other had painstakingly come up with before the wedding! Occasionally, a guest might forget to put his/her mobile device on silent and the sound of cameras ‘clicking’ can take the experience away from the intimate moments. Another obvious point is that having smart phones and even tablets waving in the air during key moments of the ceremony does affect the ability of the photographer to do his/her job! Yes the same photographer that you have invested in to document your wedding, and it is really hard to capture the moments when you are competing with a bunch of other LCD monitors shrouding your view of the couple. Ok this paragraph is super long, but bear with me as this will be the final point, which is also the one that most people seem to miss out on. With the use of social media, your wedding photos may see itself floating around in cyberspace earlier than you would want it to, because guests can easily post them on Facebook or Instagram right when the ceremony is still on-going. From talking to my clients, a lot of them prefer that the photographer provide a couple of ‘sneak peak’ photos for them to post on social media which allows them to share their big day with their friends and relatives, instead of having snapshots of their wedding making rounds in cyberspace even before the day has ended.
Phew.. that was a long one, and I appreciate your effort for sticking till the end! So for those of you who are still in the midst of planning, do keep this in mind and I am sure you will make the best decision that suits your needs and preference 🙂
Have a look at my previous posts on wedding FAQs here and here to see if you missed out on any aspects of your wedding planning 🙂
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