Trendwatch: Phone-Charging Stations at Weddings
Aug. 29, 2013— -- When celebrity event designer Mindy Weiss shares Instagram photos from her glamorous gatherings, brides and party planners are prone to coo over her outrageous tabletops and lighting displays. But one recent image posted to her account veered toward the utilitarian and signaled a new "must-have" for social media-savvy couples: a phone-charging station.
With Instagraming, Facebooking and social networking prevalent at an increasing number of weddings, the drain on guests' phone batteries is inevitable. Providing a cell phone charging station is just another way couples can make guests feel comfortable, according to Weiss, who also creates personal thank-you notes for each place setting and provides cutely packaged earplugs for elders who might be put off by loud music.
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"I was doing a wedding at a private residence, and a guest came up to me and asked, 'Excuse me where is your phone-charging station?' She was just at a charity event where they had a sponsored charging station," said Weiss. "I loved the idea and told the guest to give me 10 minutes."
Weiss then gathered up her staff's various phone chargers and gave them to the electrical technician on site, who connected them all to a power strip. Then, being a Mindy Weiss event, the cords were threaded through a white garden box filled with grass and flowers.
Another suggestion to brides interested in crowd-sourcing photos and videos? Ensure that your hashtags or wedding app information is prominently displayed for maximum awareness.
"We are doing beautiful custom signage with the hashtag (#haleofawedding #JennaandKelly) to inform the guests," wrote Weiss, providing that example, in an email to ABC News. She also recommends another photo-sharing app called WedPics, which she uses herself.
But for every trend there is a backlash, and the digitalization of shared wedding experiences is no exception. Some couples may be reluctant to provide a phone-charging station because they don't want guests on their devices at all.
Weiss has a tip for that too. She adds a special message to some wedding and party invitations for VIPs and celebrity clients who consider Facebook verboten: "Please refrain from any social networking or posting of pictures on our special day. Let's keep the memories in our mind, not online."
