What is an unplugged wedding and why you should consider having one...

Life is full of special and beautiful moments to be savoured and enjoyed - and your wedding is one of them! You are making considerable investments in working with wedding vendors who will help you execute the vision you have for your wedding day and it is my job as your wedding photographer to make sure that all of those various elements are captured in images that you will love and cherish over the years!

As a wedding photographer, it is both my honour and a privilege to be a part of your wedding and to celebrate your day and your love with you but, while I participate in the festivities of your special day I also have the important task of documenting this one-of-a-kind day for you. My ultimate goal for your wedding day is to make sure that I capture images that both you and your spouse will treasure for many years to come, however, this goal can be jeopardized when I have to compete with your guests for images...

All your guests will be excited about your special day along with you and it’s only natural for people to want to take pictures of your big day as it unfolds. It’s your guests’ and loved ones' way of saying, “I was here on one of the most special days of your life and I'm so happy that I got to celebrate this special moment with you!” I think that it’s wonderful that you will be surrounded by such love and positivity so, to that end, I would encourage you to invite your guests to savour the moment while it’s happening as opposed to viewing it through the screen of their phones, tablets or cameras for this one, big reason:

You already have a seasoned and professional photographer taking care of things!

By the time your wedding day comes around, we would have already established a pretty good rapport. From your initial inquiry to the consultation call we would have either via phone call/Zoom to determine if we're a good fit to work together, from your engagement photo shoot to thoroughly crafting your wedding day timeline so that it is photography-friendly and ensures that we're well prepared for your dream day, I will always do everything in my power to provide you with a positive photography experience and to reassure you that you and your big day will always be well taken care of with me. As we develop a great working but genuine relationship, the odds are that come your wedding day, you will fully trust me to handle capturing beautiful and timeless images that you will always love and cherish for years to come! You can trust that my presence at your wedding allows both you and your guests to fully immerse yourselves in the joy of the day! Instead of your guests feeling the need to capture images of your first kiss at the altar, they can rather clap and cheer as your seal your love and lifelong commitment with a kiss. Your guests don’t need to trouble themselves with taking pictures of the decorations or table settings that you have laid out when instead they could savour the meal you, your wedding planner and caterer have carefully curated for this occasion. They don’t need to make sure that they also have pictures of the formal family portraits because they are your family and their presence is of more importance to you in the pictures as opposed to standing behind a device while trying to capture the moment. They are your guests, and their only “duty” on your wedding day is to laugh at the speeches given, eat delicious wedding cake and dance the night away with you!

A couple of easy ways to ensure that you and your guests are fully present and living in the moment of your wedding day is to make it known to your guests that you are opting to have an unplugged wedding and that you would like them to join you in savouring the beauty of this day to the full as it unfolds! Consider mentioning this in your invitations so that right off the bat, your guests know of your intentions to keep them engaged and focused on the festivities of the day. You could also have your wedding officiant remind your guests right at the start of the proceedings that they are attending an unplugged wedding and that both you and your soon-to-be spouse as well as your wedding photographer would really appreciate it if the guests didn’t interfere with the coverage of the wedding day. When I married my husband, Kirk, almost 10 years ago - one of the most special moments of our wedding day, for me, was walking down the aisle and seeing the familiar and smiling faces of all my friends and loved ones as I literally took some of the most important steps I have ever walked in my life! It was so wonderful to see happy faces greeting me as I walked down the aisle and to this day, I will never forget how warm and cloaked in love I felt in that moment! It was so great to be able to make eye contact with people and to read the love, and support, and the joy and encouragement I saw in their eyes as I walked past! Looking back, I am so grateful that I was met with present and engaged company as I walked down the aisle as opposed to everyone having their eyes glued on their screens and all I get to experience in such a precious moment is seeing the backs of a sea of devices as I walk towards the love of my life. I want each Baskin Creative Bride to experience the happiness and magic of this moment - just like I did almost 10 years ago!

Missing a shot is every wedding photographer’s worst nightmare - me included!! Each wedding has what I call "High Stakes Shots." These are the moments where there is literally no margin for error on my part. The bride walking down the aisle; the groom's reaction as he sees his bride for the first time on the wedding day; the kiss after being pronounced husband and wife - these moments and many more during the wedding day are parts of the day where I only have one chance to get the shot and get it right! As your wedding photographer, I will go to any lengths necessary for me to get the shot, however, my job does become considerably more challenging when I am having to dodge and skirt around your guests in order to secure getting the shot of special moments. Wedding days are so fast-paced and sometimes, I only have a split second to capture a show of emotion or a twinkle in someone's eye and if a guest is blocking my shot with their camera or device, there is a real risk of their interference either compromising the quality of my shot or causing me to lose the shot altogether. I am thankful that after 4 years of shooting weddings, I have never once missed capturing the images of my bride walking down the aisle or of the first kiss at the altar, and the thought that I might ever miss capturing these key events and other priceless moments during the wedding due to guests blocking my shot is something that I truly dread – not only because I will regret not having gotten that shot in general, but because you will also regret not having that special moment captured as well.

And that is such a shame…

But, it doesn’t have to be that way if you choose to go the route of having an unplugged wedding. Because we live in a world where we are almost always on our various devices, wouldn’t it be a refreshing change for you and your guests to simply just live in the moment? I guarantee that you will all have a richer experience on the day from being fully present and invested in the moment and, it will enhance the viewing experience of receiving your official wedding images because they will serve to remind you of what it was like to be there on that day and experience each moment of the day as it unfolded. Looking back on your images will invoke all of the rich, warm and loving feelings you felt when you were there and who wouldn’t want to revisit that experience!

So let me know what you think about having an unplugged wedding – have you ever considered this idea and is it something that you think you would like to implement at your wedding? Let me know your thoughts in the comments and consider signing up to my blog because I have lots more helpful tips and ideas to help you with planning for your big day.

Thanks for reading and I’ll be in touch again soon!