Wedding photographers and videographers can be an especially obnoxious species. Trying to capture that "magic" moment, they think they own the sacred terrain.
Unless wedding photographers and videographers are given explicit directions prior to the ceremony, their intrusive presence--while the product of their labor will be exactly what the bride and her mother are hoping (and paying) for--detracts from the solemnity of the moment. The failure to provide explicit directions can lead to a contest of wills, making the officiant appear to be an "uncaring" and "insensitive" Troglodyte. To wit:
Consider what the photographer and videographer must be thinking:
Hey pal! This is a country club, not some church. It ain't your sacred terrain. It's a place where my business is being transacted. After all, you're standing under a canopy not some baldachino. Stuff your stupid clerical rules and do what you're being paid to do, just like I'm trying to do what I'm being paid to do.
Typically, this individual shows up immediately prior to the ceremony, lending credulity to the idea that this is a very sacred moment, a place wherein "Heaven and earth kiss." However, having not carefully instructed the members of the wedding party, the bride and groom, as well as the photographers and videographers prior to the ceremony, the minister is now forced into the lose-lose role of having to play "Bad Cop" when people stray from the minister's script. The minister must now dictate "uncaring" and "insensitive" instructions if he is to maintain any minimal sense of decorum. But, in doing so, the minister makes of himself the unwelcome goat who destroyed the wedding.
Imagine what the bride's mother must be saying!
Omigosh! What is that minister doing? He's destroying the moment! We're paying him to perform the service not to direct the show. What's he saying? Is he threatening to stop the wedding? (Turning to her ex-husband, seated in the row behind her) "What are you going to do about this? He's destroying the wedding I always wanted. Go up there and do something, right now!"
Unfortunately, similar conduct on the part of wedding photographers and videographers also happens in all too many houses of worship. The Motley Monk is sure stories abound. Post those stories to the combox.
Let the discussion begin...