Alternative ways to announce an unplugged wedding ceremony

Many couples are opting for an unplugged wedding ceremony these days, in this modern world we tend to see a lot of life through our phones and take every opportunity to snap a quick selfie or get our own pic for the gram. More and more couples now prefer that guests be fully present for their big moment instead, allowing only their photographer to work their magic without having to crop out Grandma Joan's iPhone 10.

Everyone has their own preferences of course, so it's totally fine if you're ok with guests taking photos during your wedding ceremony. However, if you'd prefer an unplugged ceremony, it's important to communicate this clearly to all your guests early on in the ceremony script!

Sometimes a single sign just doesn't cut the mustard and people need to be verbally reminded to pop their phones in their bag and live without them for half an hour.

I think it's important to not be so serious when making such an announcement, with your ceremony being at the very start of your day you want to keep it light-hearted but with an obvious 'don't do it' undertone.

Here are some ideas on how to announce an unplugged ceremony!

Wedding Celebrant with green folder holding a red cards

The Ceremony Red Card

This has become a beloved choice among football enthusiasts for my Meg Stanier Celebrant couples. I first created this in 2022 while preparing a ceremony for a groom who was passionate about football, and I have customised it for various couples ever since.

If your couple enjoys watching the footy, you can have some real fun with this - mentioning their favourite teams and any recent match day results.

At the beginning of the ceremony, you explain that anyone caught using their phone will be presented with a red card and will consequently be sent out of the wedding (kidding, of course).

You can then choose a 'ceremony referee' who is in charge of checking for any breakers of the 'off phone' rule - this can be any of your guests, perhaps someone who you know will be comfortable with the spotlight being on them.

If you don't have anyone you can call on to take the job, I have been the 'celebrant referee' on a few occasions too.

Photo: Alicia Eden Photography

Make it personal!

When your celebrant learns more about your story or when you send back your couples quiz, they can see if there is anything in their they can tease out to link to the unplugged ceremony. A great example is occupations... whether it's 'class rules' for a teacher or 'flight mode' for an air steward, there are tonnes of ways you can personalise the wording for an unplugged ceremony.

If you swiped right on tinder, you can play to this, and say you may be able to thank technology for finding love through a million swipes but this moment doesn't need to be captured on a million phones etc.

Try to be creative and not just use standard wording.

Most likely culprits

Do they have anyone in your guest list who is known for always being on their phone? give them a shout out in this moment! Whether it's a friend who thinks they're an influencer or a mum who likes facebook... if they're the type who would find it funny, why not!?

Wedding unplugged ceremony sign with Ivy detail

Poem

Starting with a little bespoke poem can be a lovely way to convey the message, you can also make it hilarious too, depending on the tone you're wanting to set for your ceremony.

Selfie or time limit

Get your celebrant to announce to your guests that everyone has 30 seconds to take a picture of the beautiful room or take a quick selfie with the person beside them before the ceremony starts, I've also seen celebrants taking a selfie with the couple and their guests.

Suppose it get's the urge to take a pic out of their system!

Get it in writing:

Personally, I think the best thing you can do is to get your celebrant to make an announcement at the start but here are some extra ideas if you want something in writing!

Unplugged Ceremony Sign

A simple sign asking people to pop their phones away.