You asked for faces on the aisle. You got a wall of phones.
They were in the room. They were not looking at you. The ask was vague. "Unplugged, please" on a pretty board. Said once, or not said at all. Guests guessed.
Unplugged is usually ceremony-only. Aisle, vows, recessional. Phones welcome after. Say that window, or people keep phones away all night, or they never put them down.
This page is how to ask. The same two sentences, in four places. Invite first. Then the door. Then the sign. Then the officiant. The steps around that ask live in a note on how to have an unplugged wedding.
The invite, first
The first line is on the invite or the wedding website. One or two sentences. Ceremony only. The photographer will capture it. Guest photos welcome after.
People skim. Do not write a paragraph. Do not save the ask for the door. Late guests never see a sign they already walked past.
The lines themselves live in a note on unplugged wedding ceremony wording. Do not invent a third set. Repeat that window everywhere.
The door, then the sign
An usher at the door. A spoken line. Same window. People arrive late. People do not read. The door is the tell they cannot walk past without hearing.
Then the board, where they still have time to put a phone away. Placement is the job. The lines are not. Where that board sits is a note on an unplugged wedding sign that actually works. What it says is on the wording note.
The officiant, last
Right before the processional. Same two sentences. Same window. Signs get missed. People sit down without looking at a board.
If one place says ceremony-only and another says phones down all day, the ask collapses. Four places. One window.
After phones are allowed again
The ask is not "send us everything later". That is hundreds of mixed guest phone photos landing in a chat. WhatsApp. iCloud. Every look. Half blurred. A night you now have to sort.
Give them a guest camera once the recessional is over. Film already on the phone in a pocket. For that half, there is a note on an unplugged wedding guest camera.
Keep the hired photographer for the vows. Unplugged is not a reason to send them home. They know the light, the order of service, the portraits you actually want. Names we have written up live on the directory, including London, Bristol, and Manchester.
A sealed guest camera, after not during
You do not need guests filming the vows. You need a place for the pictures once phones are allowed again.
Polajoy is that place.
You set the wedding up. Free. One event code. A card on the table, or a line in the invite. Guests open the app, type the code, and join with an account. After the wedding, everyone who attended can be sent the photos. iPhone and Android.
Each person shoots on a 30-shot roll. Ordinary guests hard-stop at 0. No second roll. If you gift a photographer, the friend with the good eye, they can start another free 30-shot roll. Ordinary guests do not.
After each shot, ten seconds to Accept or Void. Timeout or a screenshot voids it. A void does not spend a frame. After Accept they still see the photo on the sign screen. A short handwritten note is optional, up to 34 characters. Initials always go on the frame. It seals on Send, then nobody sees it until the reveal you chose. Not even you.
One reveal. End of the night, the next morning, a week later, or a time you pick. Then the shop is there if you want paper. Nothing auto-ships. Downloads are free, with a small wordmark. The couple can take it off for £2.99. Prints never have it.
You do not collect a chat. You do not sort hundreds of mixed guest phone photos the morning after. The film is already on the phone, and it waits.
Setup is free. Pay only if you want prints afterwards. The complete guide walks through looks, table cards, and the reveal. These notes are written by Richard Lovatt, with Kitty. The rest live with the other articles.
We host a handful of weddings. Cash, or store credit and free products. Apply on the host page. We read every one.