Woman’s Own – 02 September 2019

Receivingawedding

invitationusedtofill

mewithjoy–but,these

days,thelistsof‘rules’

theycomewithleave

merollingmyeyes.

I’vehadrecent

inviteswhichhaveincludeda

banonchildren,statedwhat

colouroutfitguestsshould

wear,andstrongly-worded

demandsaboutnotsharing

imagesonsocialmediauntil

thebridehasapprovedthem.

Theonethatreallyirritates

me,though,isthenewly

popular‘unplugged’rule,

whichIwasaskedtoadhere^

toearlieronthisyear.

Asanadult,Iknowhowto

conductmyselfinaformal

setting.ThatmeansI’mnot

goingtohavemyphone

ringinginthemiddleofthe

ceremony, or be blocking the^

Should we ban

mobile

phones at weddings?

Ye s

WORDS:

LIZZY

DENING AND KELLY ROSE BRADFORD.

PHOTOS: GETTY

No

ÔIknowhowto

conductmyself

in^

aformal setting’

‘Itwasaspecial

day,justforusand

ourloved ones’

LizzyDening,33,isa

journalist,andlivesin

Peterboroughwithher

husband,Ross,39.

Oneofthefirstdecisions

myhusbandRossandI

madewhenplanningour

weddingwasaskingour

gueststorefrainfrom

puttingphotosofus

onsocialmedia.

We’rebothwriters,

andfeelwesharequite

enoughofourlivespublicly

already.Ourweddingfelt

likearareopportunityto

havesomeprivatetime

withthoseclosesttous.

Ihatetheideathatthe

lookonmyhusband’s

facewhenhefirstsawme

inmydress,ortheimage

ofmymumandIhowling

withlaughterathis

speechcouldbejust

anotherphototoscroll

pastonFacebook.

PlusI’mnotsurethat

Iwantex-boyfriends

orformeremployers

casting judgement on

KellyRoseBradford,
45,isawriterand
broadcaster,andlives
inwestLondonwith
her son, William, 16.

DEBATE

Real life

Kellyisfedup

with‘rules’

at weddings

Guestsshould

enjoyevery

second, says Lizzy

Morecouplesare

optingfor‘unplugged’

weddings,tostop

guestsbeinggluedto

theirphonesand

ruining photographs

mother-of-the-bride’sviewby

holdingitalofttofilm.Norwill^

IInstagramthespeeches.

Iwill,however,havemy

phoneonmeanduseit

discreetlytocheckonmy

(uninvited)offspring,orto

chasemytaxiattheendofthe

evening.Imightalsoglanceat

mymessages,orhaveascroll

throughTwitterwhenI’minthe

loo.What’stheharminthat?

Ratherthanimplement

aphoneban,maybethese

controlfreakswouldbebetter

offbanningthetypeofguest

who’dbesovulgarasto

openly and noisily use one.

ourtabledecorationsor

outfits.Itwasadayjustfor

usandourlovedones,and

wehiredaphotographerto

capturethememories.

Icanunderstandwhymore

peoplegoastepfurtherand

banphonesaltogether.Who

wantstheirguestsdistracted

alldaywhentheyshouldbe

present?Somuchofourlives

isaboutbeingavailableto

theworldatallhoursthatit

couldactuallybeareliefto

puttechnologytooneside.

Weddingsflyby,soI’mall

forbanningphonestoensure

everyoneenjoyseverysingle

second of such a special day.