Sunset Cliffs Elopement Wedding Ceremony {San Diego Wedding Photographer} - Desarae & Casey Wedding

Desarae and Casey could not wait to make it official, so they decided to elope just a couple months after getting engaged. Sunset Cliffs, San Diego on a warm Spring afternoon was chosed to be the spot for the ceremony and it was a gorgeous, warm Spring day ! After the ceremony, officiated by the groom's sister and attended by a small group of family and friends, I then took the newlyweds traipsing down dusty cliffs and across trails of wildflowers for their portraits. They were such troopers ! Congrats to the new Mr & Mrs ! Can't wait for the Big Wedding next year in Texas !

Ashley & Shawn's Engagement Session at Camp Pendleton {Oceanside San Diego Photographer}

This sweet couple met through friends and have been dating long distance for their whole relationship ! Now THAT is commitment ! They were such troopers on their engagement session, venturing into the fields of Camp Pendleton on an unseasonably hot WINTER afternoon, braved bugs, chipmunks and all manner of unseen hazards ! Yet somehow they managed to rock it !! I am obsessed by their session ! Looking forward to capturing their wedding day this May at the Del Mar Beach Resort on Camp Pendleton. 

The Unplugged Wedding Ceremony {Escondido San Diego Wedding Photographer}

Close your eyes, imagine looking through the photos your photographer took at your wedding ceremony. Photos of you walking down the aisle, exchanging your vows, your baby niece in her mother's arms in the audience napping, your Aunt Sylvia with an iPad up to her face trying to get "the perfect shot". Hmmm .... one of those is not like the other.

With cameras on every device we own, it can be a challenge for us to put down the technology and just be in the moment sometimes. I am definitely guilty of that ! However, at your wedding, when you are surrounded by your closest friends and family, this becomes important to you. You want them to be fully engaged in your ceremony and for your professional photographer, who you've paid a pretty penny to, to not have their job impeded by Uncle Bob jumping into the aisle as you're walking towards your groom, thereby ruining your photographer's shot. Also, as a photographer, I like to get candids of the guests, friends and family's faces during the ceremony. Maybe even catch a tear falling down the father of the bride's cheek. This is kind of hard when 75% of the guests have cameras, phones or iPads up to their faces. Also, after the ceremony, during the family photos, if there is a gaggle of guests standing behind me taking photos, it is much more difficult and time consuming to get the family photos needed as everyone is distracted and no one knows which camera to look at. And I know you want to get to your party as soon as possible, right ? 

THE SOLUTION: Have an Unplugged Wedding !

All you need to do is have a sign at the ceremony site, a brief notice on the ceremony program and/or have your officiant mention it briefly at the beginning of the ceremony as he is asking all the guests to please take their seats. Your guests may be concerned that they will have no photographic memories from the day. Just ensure them that you will share the images with them and that should make them happy !

Here are some shots from a few recent weddings so you can get an idea of what I'm taking about: 

Wouldn't you rather have the following images instead of the ones above ?