Wedding No Photos Allowed?

[EDDIE51]

My wife was invited to a friend's wedding. She took a camera to take pictures, but they were told 'no photos were allowed as a professional photographer has the sole rights'
I can see the point in protecting the photographer's profit but surely it can't be legal to forbid anyone from taking a photo?

[saintpeter48]

Thats a bit much, was it the bride and groom who told you that, or the photographer? If it was the latter I think I would've told him to 'do one'!!

[RATTER15]

Maybe not a legally binding request but you may be evicted from the ceremony and it would be very disrespectful not to go along the the couples wishes.

[Zacs-Master]

There's no legal precedent for anyone having sole rights to capture an image (moving or still) of any public event / building / location.

[Prudie]

Maybe the photographer was from 'Hello'. Seriously maybe the couple hoped guests would comply with their wishes, legal or not.

[EDDIE51]

This applied to the lunchtime buffet and the evening reception as well as the actual wedding ceremony!
My wife took a few photos on her mobile phone but as soon as she took the camera out she was told no pictures!

[gness]

Perhaps they don't want, as happens so much now, photos being posted on social media....for some reason?

[Baldric]

///be very disrespectful not to go along the the couples wishes///

Atm, Eddie has not said who told them 'No Photographs'

[pastafreak]

Maybe the wedding photographers photos are to be made available later...at a price. Is that possible?

[EDDIE51]

^ it was the bride who told her but she had been told to say it by the photographer. The photos will be available but at a price!

[New Judge]

The legalities are not quite so straightforward as although weddings are supposed to be open to the public to attend (certainly those in the Church of England must), receptions etc. are definitely not public events and almost certainly not held in venues open to the general public at the time. Being a private event the organisers can impose whatever restrictions they wish.

However, that aside, if I was invited to a wedding with such a restriction I would politely decline. I have declined a number of wedding invitations where a prescribed dress code was imposed and this would really be little different.

[aelmpvw]

i hope the professional photographer doesn't cock things up or they won't have a picture of their special day ...

[vulcan42]

I have a certain sympathy with the photographer if it was his/her decision. The couple getting married want the best photographs and the professionals use their expertise to set up the best shots. It's very annoying, to set the scenes and then all the amateurs take their photo's at the experts elbow. I've also heard of occasions when the official photographer sends in proof's for selection and the Bride and Groom have rejected them in favour of the cheaper (sometimes free) copies of their friends which are virtually copies of the professional.

[Kathyan]

Sometimes the best photos are the ones taken by the guests!

[hc4361]

Maybe the couple didn't want photos uploaded to social media within seconds of them being taken.
I don't believe it was the photographer's decision although the bride may have felt more comfortable blaming him.
Perhaps she wanted her guests to enjoy the event instead of constantly looking through the camera / phone.

[vulcan42]

\ Sometimes the best photos are the ones taken by the guests!/
True but to employ a professional and then reject their work, which means they don't get paid, is unethical.

[paul1763]

i have not been to, but know of a couple of weddings where at the reception there were 2 or 3 disposable cameras on each of the tables as well as the main photographer, and the bride and groom collected them at the end of the evening to be developed.

[EDDIE51]

I went to a wedding where I arrived to a panic, the photographer had phoned to say he had been in a car crash and could not get there.
Luckily I had a decent camera with me and did the entire wedding shoot. I didn't get paid but got free drinks all day!
I handed the films over to the couple who got them printed, they told me that my photos were as good as a pro but free, I did do some paid photography back in those days and had some photos in the national newspapers!

[hc4361]

I've seen the disposable cameras at a couple of weddings. Using them stops photos being uploaded to facebook immediately and also gives the bride and groom control over which photos are seen.

[DarceyK123]

She only wants posed pics, and not informal unflattering shots.