A bride who dreamed of an "unplugged" wedding ceremony without any phones quickly changed her mind when she saw the photograph her friend had taken of their vows.
Calyssa Richie-Fuchs recently married her new husband, Josh Fuchs, and describes herself to Newsweek as "one of those brides who thought of everything when planning my wedding."
Part of that planning was the decision to put up a sign at the venue declaring it would be an "unplugged ceremony," which, as she puts it, is "a polite way of telling your guests to please stay off their phones and just be present in the moment."
Another reason was to prevent any of her official wedding photographer's snaps from being ruined by phones visible in the crowd, which she had seen happen while researching for her big day.
But as the day drew closer, she never ordered the unplugged poster she had designed. She decided to let it go and hope her guests were able to stay in the moment without needing the poster.
And while she didn't notice any phones in the crowd, things didn't quite go to plan—but in the best way. Because, her friend Morgan snapped Richie-Fuchs and her husband on the altar in what turned out to be both of their favorite image from their wedding.
Richie-Fuchs shared the situation to her TikTok account, @calyssa.richie, in a video which has gone viral with over 1.3 million views, and 254,000 likes, since being shared on October 1.
It begins with Richie-Fuchs, in her dress, taking a selfie in the mirror, with the words: "Dang it, I forgot to put the sign out that says no phones at the ceremony. I hope there's no phones in the photographer's pictures."
The next slide assured: "I'm sure it will be fine babe," before the final slide shows a black-and-white image of the new husband and wife on the altar, both smiling and laughing, as Fuchs gently holds his bride by the arm.
She captioned it: "The picture my college best friend ended up taking on her phone. It's my favorite."
Speaking to Newsweek, Richie-Fuchs described the moment she saw the photo for the first time: "After the ceremony at our reception, my college roommate, whom I had not seen in years, came up to me and said, 'Okay, my boyfriend told me to be respectful and not get my phone out to take a picture, but Calyssa, it was too beautiful not to.'"
When she saw the photo, "my jaw quickly went to the ground." It was taken during her "favorite part" of the ceremony, where a vocalist sang, they lit their unity candle, and embraced their parents. "I started crying but also laughing because I was trying not to cry and ruin my makeup. Josh laughed at me, and then we laughed together."
As Morgan showed her the snap she took, Richie-Fuchs was "so happy, emotional, and thankful. I was thankful that I did not put that sign out, that she did not listen to her boyfriend, and that she captured that picture. I immediately grabbed her phone and ran over to my husband to show him, and then I ran around showing all my friends and family.
"That moment is one I never want to forget. When I look at that photo, I feel all of the emotions again."
And TikTok users responded in their droves, many sharing their own special stories of guests taking their favorite photos of the night. One wrote: "My aunt ignored the 'unplugged ceremony' announcement and got the only picture I have of my parents walking me down the aisle from the front. My photographer only got my husband's reaction."
Another shared: "So glad I didn't do an 'unplugged' wedding because my photographer lost my entire wedding gallery. All I have is pictures guests took."
While modern weddings are branching out with new traditions, such as the unplugged ceremony, old favorites are still extremely popular. Around 91 percent of couples adhered to the tradition of cutting the cake in 2011, while 90 percent did a first dance, and 87 percent offered celebratory toasts, according to Statista.
Richie-Fuchs told Newsweek she has been posting content relating to her wedding on TikTok since the big day, treating it as a "memory box" to relive "all of those special moments."
She shared her unplugged ceremony backfiring to show you "sometimes you cannot control everything and ... it all works out in the end."
As for the massive response it had online, she said she "knew it was cute, but I was not expecting it to go viral."
"Let's just say I am so happy I forgot the sign," she said.
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