“An Unplugged Wedding”
Sure, it’s as naff as a phrase can be but there is plenty of value in gently insisting that friends and family enjoy the wedding without having the urge to photograph every single minute of it with their cameras or phones. There’s generally a zealous type who will spend much of the day with a screen up to their nose.
I find that it has become a very bad habit with some as they often spend the duration of the ceremony gazing into that small handheld screen recording. And generally in a shaky manner. Or even staring into a large iPad screen doing the same thing. I don’t know which is worse. Though looking at a guest whose face is covered with a rectangle box does look amusing at times.
I have plenty of pictures to prove it. Sometimes they do provide some humour, though late;y it strikes me as boring. Especially when considered what is happening in real time.
Of course it’s one thing taking pictures or constantly filming the event, the next logical step for some is make sure it gets onto social media in double time. “Look at me! I’m at a wedding!” It seems being at the wedding is secondary to actually telling your 116 Facebook friends where you are. And maybe for a handful of likes.
It is now epidemic with some people. A small few who cannot take their faces away from their phones and posting online. But surely the worst part is showing the bride and groom the picture they have posted. An unflattering, blurry picture where they look confused as to what they are looking at and it could be anybody… I just don’t get it.
A person like myself is hired to do that job, to record the days events. To document the wedding for posterity. Often somebody will ask, and it is always about them, “did you take a picture of me? Show me that picture” in a pretend shocked manner. They are just looking for that instant rush, which is a recent social media driven phenomena. What’s the point?
No one person will see what I have photographed until the dust has settled. Only when the images are primed and ready for sharing will they be shared. And with the married couple first. In my opinion. No couple should be subjected to having their wedding “live” on social media and hence why some will inform their guests that this is not cool with them, and they go down the unplugged route. I once seen cards scattered all over the tables with all the social media logos on them and a cleat message to not share. I thought that was a brilliant idea. Often a board will be used hinting at the same thing. Either way I find that this works. And is something I highly recommend
I was a guest at a wedding a few months back, and somebody came up to me and said, in a rather smug manner, “Philip, you’re meant to be a wedding photographer, and you brought no camera?” And I replied, in a rather smug manner, “Today I’m merely a guest. I’ll actually just talk to other guests instead as I sip on some Prosecco”. I can recall a lot from that wedding. And I have no blurry and downright confusing camera phone images to prove it otherwise. I find it a fruitless exercise. And not a habit I find myself caught in. It looks like many couples out there feel the same.
Personally, I like to be a guest, live in that moment. I want to enjoy the day chatting. I leave the camera at home, and I certainly leave my phone and it’s horrible camera in my pocket where it belongs.
Having your wedding unplugged may just be a great idea, it was for this wedding at Barnabrow House in East Cork
