You know what you want to say. You just do not want it to sound cold.
Please put your phones away. We want faces, not screens. Our photographer has this.
That is the whole ask. The wording is how it lands. Too soft and nobody hears it. Too sharp and it feels like a rule instead of a favour.
What the wording has to do
Name the window. Ceremony only, for most couples. Processional through recessional. Phones welcome again when the drinks start. If you leave that half out, guests keep the phones away all night, or they never put them down because the ask felt vague.
Say who is shooting the vows. Your hired photographer. Keep them. Guests putting phones away is how they get a clear aisle and a first kiss without an iPad in the way.
On the invite or wedding website
One or two sentences is enough. Something like: We are having an unplugged ceremony. Please silence and put phones away from the processional through the recessional. Our photographer will capture it. Guest photos are welcome after.
Warm, not cute. Do not write a paragraph. People skim.
On the sign at the door
Short. Readable from a few feet. Something like: Unplugged ceremony. Phones away for the vows. Photos welcome after.
Or: We want your faces, not your screens. Please put phones away until the recessional.
A sign supports the ask. It does not replace an officiant line.
What the officiant says
Right before the processional. Neutral voice helps. Something like: Before we begin, they ask that you silence and put away phones and cameras for the ceremony. Their photographer will capture it. Guest photos are welcome after the recessional. Thank you for being here with them.
That is clearer than a sign alone. Signs get missed.
After the vows still needs a plan
Unplugged is usually ceremony-only. After the service, guests still shoot. Asking them to send later becomes hundreds of mixed guest phone photos in a chat the morning after. Every look. Half blurred. A night you now have to sort.
Those pictures are wedding photos. The pain is the pile.
For the phones-down aisle itself, there is a shorter note on phone-free ceremony photos. For the whole-day shape of the ask, there is a note on an unplugged wedding that still needs photos. For guest pictures after the vows, there is a note on unplugged wedding photos after the vows. If you want the guest camera named, film already on the phone in a pocket, there is a note on an unplugged wedding guest camera.
A camera for 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. A short handwritten note is optional, up to 34 characters. Initials always go on the frame. Then it seals, and nobody sees it until the reveal you chose. Not even you.
One reveal. End of the night, the next morning, a week later. Then the shop is there if you want paper. Nothing auto-ships.
Keep the hired photographer for the vows. The guest camera is for after. Names we have written up live on the directory, including London and Bristol.
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.