Oh the days of horrible wedding trends…. Huge puffy sleeves, pink punch fountains, the bride and groom opening all their gifts at the reception, and the disposable cameras on guest tables that were always a disaster…
Well, times have changed. Wedding dresses are sleek, chocolate fountains flow at weddings, and disposable cameras are a rarity that Hipsters buy online to be cool.
It’s a tech world, so photo sharing had dramatically changed. Now there are several apps for sharing photos on a wedding day. iPhone and Android apps allow wedding guests to take photos on their phones and upload them to an “album” you’ve set up for your wedding. Then they can download their faves, post to Facebook or other social media, and even show a slideshow at the wedding.
Why I Hate This Idea
1) It encourages guests to take photos at the wedding.
Couples have “unplugged” ceremonies for good reason. First of all, taking photos actually DISTRACTS a guest from the event. If you’re taking photos, you’re not completely present. Not only are you messing with your phone, but you’re annoying the people behind you while you’re holding it up, blocking their view of the ceremony. Also, the couple’s professional photos of the ceremony will be a sea of smartphones being held up, which is really obnoxious.
2) It takes the mystery out of the day.
If guests are uploading photos they’ve taken, guests are busy looking at THAT and missing the actual event. They’re going to miss that special look between the bride and groom during a toast, or the way she tucks her head under his chin during their dance. Worst case scenario, guests upload photos from the bridal suite and everyone sees the bride before she walks down the aisle.
3) It spoils the grand reveal for family and friends out of state who were unable to attend.
Imagine your sorority sister just got married, but you were unable to attend because you live out of state. You’re excited to see the beautiful wedding your friend worked so hard on. You’ve heard about the dress, the decor, and the festivities as she was planning. You’re dying to see beautiful photos! When you get a link to photos and start to click through, it’s full of blurry or obnoxious photos, and after ten minutes of wading through photos you don’t care about, you give up. When the professional photos are posted, they’re beautiful, but you’ve already seen most of the decor and the dress and the dance (although those were really dark and the bride had red-eye), so the feeling you get from the pro photos is *whah whah whah*. That app with guest photos has ruined the magic of seeing the wedding in all its glory.
4) Why do you need to see a slideshow of the wedding while you’re AT the wedding?
This is just unnecessary. I know there are digital wedding photographers out there who do same-day wedding slideshows at receptions, but I’m not a fan of that. I feel like it takes away from the feeling of being present at the event. Have fun! Drink, dance, CONVERSE with each other! Put your phones away so you can ENJOY the company, music, and food! Celebrate with your friends who are in the middle of the most special day of their lives. Stop making it about you. In the age of instant-gratification, people have become self-absorbed. Hey, I’ve done it! I’ve been out to dinner, taking photos of my food, then I look up and my friends are half-way into an intense conversation and I say, “What? What did I miss??” I hate when I do that.
5) It discourages the couple from buying a wedding album from their photographer.
Yes, this point affects me and my business, but that’s not the biggest downside. If the couple are flush with tons of amateur photos of their ceremony, their dance, their toasts, etc, they start to feel like they have so many photos, they don’t really need more. Guess who that hurts? Their future generations. I guarantee their grand kids aren’t going to be able to access the cell phone photos you took at the wedding and uploaded to an app that won’t even exist in 100 years. A professional wedding album is the couple’s first family heirloom. That’s what they’re going to pass down to their children, then to their children, through the generations. It’s an important piece of history because the flash drive they get from their photographer won’t last more than 20 years.
In short, I say “NAY” to wedding photo sharing apps. It’s something our clients don’t really do. They hire us because of our style of photography and workflow, and they look forward to the anticipation of waiting for the film to come back from the lab. There’s nothing like being three weeks removed from your wedding and then, once the stress has worn off, seeing your gorgeous wedding in all it’s glory. The wonderful emotions return and they relive the day as it should be seen, beautifully.