WE LIVE IN USA
Guests holding up phones and blocking the shot is wedding photographers' most common complaint
You spent thousands of dollars on a professional photographer, and the moment you walk down the aisle, a relative in the front row stands up to film on their phone, leaving that phone as the main thing in the photo.
It's the most common complaint in the wedding photography business, and it's entirely preventable.
An unplugged ceremony
Meaning you ask guests to put their phones away during the ceremony. How:
- Put it in the programYou can use this wording: "We'd love you to witness this moment with your own eyes, so please put phones away during the ceremony. We'll share the professional photos with everyone." (See item 108 of the checklist)
- Have the MC say it once clearly at the openingThis line works best, because everyone on site can hear it loud and clear.
- Put a small sign at the entrance
All three works best. The program alone usually goes unread.
Give a reason
Don't just tell guests "no photos", as that sounds too much like a rule. Give them the reason:
"We'll be sharing all the professional photos with you, so for these fifteen minutes please put your phones down and be here with us."
Chinese guests especially need this sentence, because older relatives take photos to keep a record. Once they know professional photos will be shared later, they won't feel the need to take their own.
And make clear it's only during the ceremonyPhotos during the reception and group shots are completely welcome, so nobody feels like there is a blanket ban.
Three other decisions
1. Whether to have a hashtag
If you do, print it in the program and on the table cards. But be prepared: hashtag uptake is usually lower than expected, and older relatives won't use it.
2. Guests who don't want to be visible
Some people don't want photos of them online. It may be their work, their privacy, or family circumstances.
How: ask in advance, and tell the photographer which people shouldn't appear in publicly shared photos. It's a perfectly normal request and photographers handle it.
3. The photographer's right to publish
This is a contract clause (see item 25 of the checklist): can they put your photos on their website, social media, or into competitions?
Most photographers' standard contracts are basically fine. If you prefer your photos not to be made public, say so at signing, not after the photos come back.
After the wedding
Before posting photos, stop and think: is anyone else's child in this, is anyone in it who didn't want to be visible? It's basic consideration, and deleting afterwards is far more trouble than not posting in the first place.
In one line
If you want unplugged, say it in the program, in the MC's opening and on a sign at the entrance, and explain that it's only the ceremony and that the professional photos will be shared.