Does Everyone Really Need to Whip Their Phones Out During a Wedding?

A wedding will never be complete without a photographer or his team to immortalize the event — plus some dozens of smartphones clicking away alongside them. Maybe that has to change.

Back in the days before smartphone cameras, it was the sole responsibility of a wedding photographer (or his team) to make sure that there are great photos of the big day, from start to finish. But today, there could be as many cameras out as there are guests in a wedding — and those are just smartphones. But, is all that really necessary?

The need for Instagram-worthy snaps, even of weddings, is just one aspect of the issue that Experience magazine sought to explore in a recent article. Aptly titled Here comes the bride — and 150 cellphones, it tells us about the reality that smartphones have taken over virtually every aspect of our lives, especially weddings. Guests are even encouraged to take photos and videos of nearly every moment, complete with the official wedding hashtag. It’s a common practice to rise when the bride comes down the aisle, said Don Grant, a Los Angeles-based psychologist and expert on device management. But in more recent times, we do it for a totally different reason. “Now we rise to get a better photo, or the first photo. If you’re standing next to me, I’m not getting that emotional connection from you, either. So it’s really a missed experience for everyone.”

Of course, this affects not only the people in attendance of the wedding but also the photographers and videographers who are there to do their job as best as possible. There are just one too many rants of photographers with rundowns of reasons why smartphones, iPads, and selfie sticks are ruining picture-perfect moments during weddings. These 23 photos are enough proof of what photographers see and have to work around with, and what will most likely convince couples to opt for an “unplugged” wedding. Or at least, ask guests to put their phones down during the ceremony, because there is/are a professional photographers hired for that.

Here’s a video that sums everything up really hilariously:

Screenshot image from the video