The majority of people hire a professional photographer for their wedding. It is, after all, supposed to be the happiest day of their lives, and they want to have each and every moment captured to treasure for generations to come.
However, now that we live in the age of technology, many of these moments are being ruined for professional photographers by the amateurs and their cell phones.
Some moments you don't want to remember forever, like this groom's reaction to meeting his bride for the first time at the altar:This was recently brought to light in a now-viral Facebook post by photographer Hannah Mbalenhle Stanley, which at the time of writing has had over 52K reactions.
It features a bride being walked down the aisle by her father and an iPhone abruptly ruining the shot.
She wrote:
"To the girl with the iPhone...
"Not only did you ruin my shot, but you took this moment away from the groom, father of the bride, and the bride. What exactly do you plan on doing with that photo? Honestly. Are you going to print it out? Save it? Look at it every day? No. You're not. But my bride would have printed this photo, looked at it often and reminisced over this moment as her dad walked her down the aisle on her wedding day. But instead, you wanted to take a photo with your phone, blocking my view, and taking a photo that you will not use.
Guests, please stop viewing weddings you attend through a screen but instead turn OFF your phone, and enjoy the ceremony. You are important to the bride and groom, you would not be attending the wedding otherwise. So please, let me do my job, and you just sit back, relax and enjoy this once in a lifetime moment.
"Sincerely,
"Wedding photographers"
Understandably, this post generated quite the discussion on the social media website, with some people remarking that as an act of respect, their wedding guests didn't use their cell phones during their ceremonies.
Some people shared even more shocking stories:
So, the next time you're at a wedding, or any event where there's a professional around, you might want to spare a thought for, y'know, the actual photographer.
It just goes to show that you should always be prepared for your big day - but not as prepared as this groom-less bride: