Here are a few tips to guide you:
• If you have a wedding website include this on your RSVP page so it can’t be missed.
• Include a sentence or two on your guest information card that goes out with your invitations.
• Add a special request to your order of service.
• Ask your celebrant or minister to mention it before the start of the ceremony.
• Add it in to your MC notes as a reminder for the start of the reception.
Once guests have had a few drinks it’s easy to forget that little request about not posting on Facebook.
There are many examples of how you can word these requests; Google ‘unplugged weddings’. Below is an example:
“Welcome, family and friends to Jane & Tom’s Wedding. We invite you to enjoy the ceremony and be truly present at this special time. Please, turn off your cell phones and put down your cameras. The official photographer will capture the moments to follow. So sit back and relax; we will be under way shortly.”
If you choose not to have an unplugged wedding, it’s still a great idea to ask your celebrant or minister to remind the guests that you have an official photographer capturing the day for you. Remind them to be considerate about taking photos around your official photographer. I’ve seen wedding guests sidle up behind the official photographer, only to capture the same image that the professional has spent time setting up – then seeing it posted on Facebook.
Is it a good thing to have lots of people snapping away during the course of your day capturing moments the official photographer may have missed, or are we over-documenting weddings? I’ll leave that up to you, but do take a moment to consider having an unplugged wedding. When you gaze at your guest as a proud new Mrs, wouldn’t you rather see them than their camera?