**My daughter is getting married in three months and we’ve hired an excellent photographer. What concerns me are guests taking their own photos and sending them instantly to all our friends on Facebook, etc. We would like to be the first to send out our daughter’s wedding photos, knowing they will be of the highest quality. What should we do?
**
You can ban guests from taking photos at the wedding by writing something on the invitations, or you could take a softer line. Get the wedding celebrant to explain to guests you want the photographer’s shots to reach your family and friends first, not theirs.
This is not an uncommon request by marriage celebrants. I would adopt this second option, because banning cameras at the wedding might detract from the warm, fun atmosphere. And neither option would have any legal status. But there is another way to go.
If you are paying thousands of dollars for a professional photographer, cancel. Invite your friends and family to take as many photos as they like, and send them to you. Digital cameras allow amateurs to take terrific photos now. You might end up with more, and better, wedding pictures, and it won’t cost you a cent. There are some good professional photographers around, but there are also many who are uninspiring.
