Excuse me, Uncle Bob?

There is a lot of talk right now amongst photographers that I thought I’d put out there to my clients. First, I would like to mention that although these suggestions are what other brides have done and what photographers would like to have happen, it is YOUR wedding. It is between you and your future spouse to consider what works for you and the wedding experience you are working to create for your day.

It has become more and more of an issue with people jumping out into the aisle during key moments of the ceremony and reception. The uproar I’ve heard is mostly with photographers because we have this perfect image in our head and we work hard at what we do to capture those intimate moments. If we miss that shot because someone comes out of the aisle and captures it for themselves (and often doesn’t even give it to the bride and groom), it frankly scares us to death that it will come down on us. Keep in mind that photographers can’t control everything, as much as we’d like to, but there is something that a lot of brides are doing to prevent it from happening at their wedding.

This movement is called the “UnPlugged Wedding“. The Offbeat Bride first posted about it last year and I thought it was brilliant. We have never really dealt with the issue except for one or two times but you never know who is going to do what. Some of the crazy situations I’ve heard other photographers talk about are quite extreme. A family member jumping in front of the groom’s line of site of his gorgeous bride and completely in the shot. One uncle actually stood in the middle aisle the entire time of the ceremony (or maybe he just kept popping out – I can’t remember) when the photographer was told by the church to stay back behind all the guests. There was even an aunt that interrupted the first dance to tell the bride and groom to look their way during one of those perfect emotional moments.

Although these are extreme situations, you cannot control what everyone does and chances are, the bride has NO idea as to what is happening or who did what. So what can you do? The Offbeat Bride posted a ton of verbiage and advice on the topic that I won’t reiterate, but is worth reading to see if it is something you’d like to do yourself (link).

Is this epidemic bugging photographers? YES! Does it bug me? Yes! Do I find my own way to deal with it? YEP! There is one image that I know bugs the bride and groom and after I posted her wedding to the blog I received DOZENS of messages from photographers with their outrages, but honestly I kind of love the picture.

So what do you do with all of this? I would recommend reading the articles I linked to, read the comments, talk with your fiance and figure out what works for your wedding. At the end of the day, if you are okay with it, I am okay with it.

While Bryce was watching Toy Story 2 today, I heard Tour Guide Barbie say what I think is perfect “Please keep your hands, arms, and accessories in the car, and no flash photography. Thank you.” (Seriously though, I do whisper in a lot of ladies ears to make sure their legs are closed as the bride is coming down the aisle.)