This Picture Sums Up Why Wedding Guests Should Just Put Their Smartphones Away

Wedding photographer Thomas Stewart was sick and tired of snap-happy wedding guests ruining his photos, so he went on Facebook to vent. His rant has now gone viral, and for good reason:

Right, I’ve had enough. I want to talk to you all about guests using mobile phones / cameras at weddings. I want to…

Posted by Thomas Stewart Photography on Thursday, November 5, 2015

“You’re paying a photographer quite a bit of money; that means you want great photos. We cannot do our best work with people getting in our way,” Stewart wrote.

“In your invites, tell everyone you’re having an unplugged ceremony: no technology, please, Write it on a chalkboard which guests can see as they arrive on the day,” he continued. “HIRE A PLANE TO WRITE IT IN THE SKY!”

“And guests, you’ve been invited to this wedding to share and celebrate the love that two people feel for each other,” he concluded. “You are witnesses to their marriage, so for goodness sake, watch them with your eyes and your minds, not your phones.”

#unpluggedwedding

A photo posted by Mike Allebach Photography (@tattooedbridephotoguy) on

And in case you get the urge to take a quick photo with your phone, remember Stewart’s words: “The guests’ photos are usually crap.”


“You can’t take great photos with your camera phone by leaning into the aisle of a dark church to photograph a moving subject,” he wrote. “Hell, even lots of professionals have trouble with this.”