I wanted to do a small blog just talking about something that is becoming more
frequent in modern society, the use of mobile phones on important occasions! As
wedding photographers, we obviously see a variety of weddings and a variety of
opinions on mobile phone usage, so here’s our thoughts!
Why some people love having mobile phones at weddings:
Some couples love having mobile phones used by their guests on their wedding day,
with the main reason being to capture missed moments! Obviously having a
photographer hired on the day is the main way to capture these key moments like
first kiss, exchanging of rings, first dance and all the other prominent moments you
can think of for a wedding. Some people enjoy having guests take photos as they
sometimes take the photos photographers miss, like family photos not included in
the group photos, or people dancing together or even people eating! As wedding
photographers it is our job to get a variety of photos of every single moment, but
sometimes that does mean our camera may be on one person and not another, and
although in our case there’s two of us so missed moments don’t come about often, it
is impossible for us to capture it all!
Why some people don’t like having mobile phones at weddings:
Having mobile phones present on your wedding day can sometimes ruin your
wedding photos that you’ve paid good money for. Guests have told us before that
sometimes they wish someone in a photo wasn’t holding their phone, or didn’t have it
up and taking a photo in our photo. Other couples have mentioned they want their
guests to ‘relax’ and ‘enjoy’ their wedding day and to take it all in themselves, rather
than focusing on taking photos (especially as they’ve paid professionals for it!). It is
very time consuming to edit photos to edit mobile phones out, and if you’ve read my
blog post on our photoshopping of your wedding photos, you’ll know we don’t do
much. Especially as we are photo documentary photographers, we tend not to try to
‘change’ the moment, meaning you may get wedding photos back that have people
on their phones in it.
So what do we recommend?
Nothing! We think this choice is entirely up to you and what you want for your special
day, whether you want guests to join in documenting it or whether you want a
‘unplugged’ ceremony as they’re often referred to. We will support you regardless. If
you hire us, we will ask in our pre-wedding form whether you are allowing guests to
use their phones all day, only during the reception or not at all and we will respect
your wishes for whatever you choose. We will also help emphasise this to guests
(with your permission) if you have chosen to have all or part of your day ‘unplugged’
if we see them taking photos when you want them to sit and enjoy the day. The only
thing we will (politely) ask as the professionals wanting to get the best photos of your
big day, is that your guests are mindful about where they stand to take photos. We
don’t want to miss a key moment -something quick like cake cut or first kiss -
because we can’t get in for the photo! We would recommend looking through some
full wedding galleries from ourselves (or any other photographers you may be
considering) to have a look at how the different options look in the final photos to
help you make a decision, as this is something worth considering as it does make a
big difference during your big day!
Comments