An unplugged wedding is one where the couple asks guests to put phones and cameras away, most often for the ceremony, sometimes for the whole day.
That is the meaning. The phrase gets used both ways, and an invite that only says unplugged does not say which. The reasons for doing it sit in a note on why have an unplugged wedding. The steps that make it hold sit in a note on how to have an unplugged wedding.
An unplugged ceremony, or a fully unplugged day
The usual meaning is the ceremony. Aisle, vows, recessional. Phones stay in pockets until the service ends, then they come back out for drinks, dinner, and dancing.
The other meaning is the whole day. Guests put devices away from the start of the day through the last song. That only works if you say so. If you write "unplugged wedding" and stop, some guests hear ceremony and some hear all night.
Say the window. A ceremony ask and a whole-day ask are not the same plan. What a guest may do with a phone, and when, has its own note on unplugged wedding etiquette.
What it covers, and what it does not
Unplugged is a request to guests. It is not a reason to send the photographer home.
The person you hired keeps working through the window. They know the light, the order of service, the portraits you actually want. Guests keep their phones. The phones stay in pockets for the time you named.
Where the guest photos come from afterwards
This is the gap most couples notice later. The service ends. Phones come back. Then what.
If the only plan is to ask people to send what they took, the pictures land the next morning in a chat. A mix of the night. Some of it blurred. A pile you now have to sort. The guest photos were never part of the unplugged ask, so they have nowhere to go.
That half has a note on unplugged wedding photos after the vows.
A sealed guest camera, after the vows
You do not need guests filming the vows. You need a place for the pictures once phones are allowed again. Not a camera roll people empty the next day.
Polajoy is that place. A sealed guest camera, not a phone camera roll.
You set the wedding up. Free. Guests join with an event code and an account, so after the wedding the whole set can be sent. iPhone and Android.
Each guest 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. It seals until the reveal time you chose. Not even you see it first.
When the reveal arrives, the shop is there if you want paper. Nothing auto-ships. Free downloads carry a small wordmark. £2.99 takes it off. Prints never have it.
You do not collect a chat. 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.
A guest camera sits next to the photographer you booked. It does not replace them. The photographers we have written up live on the directory, including London, Bristol, Manchester, and Edinburgh.
We host a handful of weddings. Cash, or store credit and free products. Apply on the host page. We read every one.