I photographed Jono & Jenny’s beautiful wedding (pictured above) in January last year. Jono is a wonderfully talented film maker based in Wellington, check out his beautiful work here. I felt honoured they chose me to photograph their wedding, and it was truly a wonderful, memorable day.

Jono & Jenny chose to have an ‘un-plugged’ wedding ceremony.

At the bottom of the order of service, they respectfully asked guests to turn off their cameras, and mute their cellphones. The celebrant also reminded guests of this, just before the ceremony began. Afterwards, I overheard a few guests saying they wondered why they were asked not to take photographs.

Jono’s addressed this in his speech at the end of the night. He said, their decision to have an unplugged ceremony was so their guests experienced the ceremony, with them – not through a screen, or viewfinder. They wanted people to be present in the moment – not worrying about whether they had captured a good enough photo.

Needless to say, I absolutely love un-plugged wedding ceremonies.

Guests with cameras don’t bother me. Sometimes I just see guests trying really hard to get that perfect Instagram-worthy photo, I wonder if they are truly being present witnessing the two people they love make sacred promises to each other.

At the end of the day, an unplugged ceremony is always a personal decision that should be made by the bride and groom. I have talked to a lot of people lately, who have expressed their regret in not having an unplugged ceremony. Most of the time, they hadn’t even considered it.

So, if you are getting married I hope this post lets you know that an unplugged wedding is indeed possible. Something to consider!

What are your thoughts on un-plugged weddings? Have you ever attended an unplugged wedding as a guest? Did you notice a difference in how you experienced it, compared to if you were taking photographs? I would love to hear from you!