Disgusting wedding photos

OP did you enjoy your day? Did you feel great on your day? Because THAT is what is important, to how you look in a posed picture. Those are the memories you will have. And remember, marriage is about more than a wedding.

I would do all the things people have suggested, including emailing the photographer to ask for all photos, setting up a website for candid shots. I'd also book you and your husband in for a professional shoot sometime soon, either in your wedding clothes, or just some casual ones, so you have some photos you love.

I have seen some very bad wedding photos, my best friend's were terrible, up the nose shots, not one nice one among them, and she's a pretty person so no idea where it went wrong. Just colour/textures all very unflattering.

Not all photographers are very good! And these days with the quality of camera phones you will still be able to have some great shots from other people, I bet they took loads!

I really hope they were tears of happiness. If they were not, I hope things are much better for you now.

Agree with preferring the candid style. I would have been gutted with a load of posed ones tbh. Also agree it’s down to what the bride and groom want, whether that’s candid or staged.

OP, I know these are your wedding photos and you want them to be perfect!
This stuff with double chin - I'm not overweight and manage to present one on almost every photo!
Idk why that is, but I'm sure your photos are great!
Congratulations to your wedding! 💐

That's awful. If they really are terrible beyond a small handful, you could book another photographer to do some photos of just you and DH. I used to live in Italy and it was really normal for the bride and groom to do a photography shoot after the wedding, so they didn't have to be away from the celebrations for too long.

I totally get where you're coming from. Our wedding photos were pretty poor and I found it quite gutting. The compositions were terrible, loads of shots were wonky, editing was rubbish. Our wedding was on a budget so we weren't even going to hire a photographer, but changed our minds thinking we'd regret it if we didn't. I really wish we'd done out research more and checked out several photographers, but we just went with a recommendation from a friend. My DSis wedding photo's also came out terribly (family friend) as he went a bit mad with the photoshop and we ended up looking really weird. She had to ask him to re-edit some of them.
Fortunately we had some really nice photos that guests had taken. Nice enough that I wish we hadn't bothered with the professional photographer at all.

@RedYellowPinkGreenPurpleOrangeBlue See, I love the candid style. Just goes to show everyone's different, I didn't want to spend half my wedding day posing. I don't think what you're talking about is similar to the poster you quoted, in her examples the photographers were getting involved and making people pose etc. With your example, they were just taking photos of natural moments. I don't mean to be rude, but you may have been in the wedding party but you're not the bride, so it doesn't really matter if you thought you looked good. And you admit yourself they got some good photos. We have a lovely one of me having a laugh with an elderly relative. I had no idea the photographer was there (again, depends on the skill of the photographer at blending in).

I think there's also a generational gap as well, my parents were surprised the photographer didn't take more formal, posed family group shots, but why would we want them? His exact words were 'we'll take a few, keep the grannies happy, but then we'll let you get back to enjoying yourselves'. For lots of couples getting married later in life (by that I just mean, over 21 like my parents were) friends are just as important, if not more so, than your family.

Not easy, but perhaps you shoud have said, I don't want photos to picture me as I am. In the meantime, talk to him and see what can be done.

I feel for you. I feel this about my wedding pics too. I hate most of them. I never look at them. There’s one or two decent ones. I just put them away n don’t think about it. I tell myself it’s about a marriage not a marriage not a wedding day or photo album ! X

Yeah, this. I went to one of those all day weddings last year from about 11 in the morning to 9 at night. The photographer was there tootling around everybody taking pictures ALL DAY, so she had lots of 'candids.' (As well as the 'posed' ones.) I was one of the main bridal party as well, and the photographer took quite a number of pics with me in (or OF me,) pointing at me from the front - and from the side, bending over, and slouching occasionally. URGH!😖

I'm actually short - 5 ft 2, and about 4 and a half stone overweight (and I do have a double chin!) and I'm incredibly self conscious about being photographed. I HATE being photographed when I don't know it's being taken and find it intrusive and rude. I prefer to be 'posing' for the pic, so I can kind of control how I look a bit! I know I'm not going to look 8 stone on it, but I do actually look so much worse from the side than I do from the front.

It was really hard to relax with this photographer just tootling around snapping away, and you didn't know when you were going to be photographed. I prefer the days when you would all just all pose for pictures for 40 minutes or so before the wedding, and maybe half an hour after ... Then the bride and groom would go off for an hour for their pics.

10 or 11 hours of a photographer snapping away, and not knowing if and when you were going to be photographed made it really hard to enjoy the wedding. I got to a point where I was constantly keeping an eye out for where the photographer was. 😬

To be honest, the photographer did get some good photos - but on about 20 pics of me, I looked like Jabba The Hutt. (I looked OK on about 30 pics, but the bad ones were HIDEOUS!!!!!) Also, inexplicably, she took just ONE of the main bridal party. ONE. And just ONE of the bride and groom with both sets of parents. And none of the bride and her parents, or the groom with his parents, or the bridge and groom with her parents and the bride and groom with his parents. Took around 15 photos of the bride and groom with their 15 joint friends though. I don't know if the bride and groom requested this, but I didn't think the photographer did her job that well.

@inthelight44 I hear ya! As a previous poster suggested - get some more pictures done. Put your wedding gear on and have about 40 photos taken just you with your husband. See if you can get both sets of parents in too and have some with them (and as many of the main bridal party you can get together.)

Or as or someone else suggested, maybe see if you can photoshop a few photos a bit. I am willing to bet though, that in 20 years time, you think 'wow I didn't look that bad at all really!' So whatever you do don't get rid of these photographs that you don't like so. And if you DO photoshop some, keep the originals anyway, locked away somewhere. Sorry you're upset. I hope you can get some good photos that you're happy with, and I hope you have lots and lots of happy years with your husband...

Ooooh that sounds promising for the OP!

My friend had this issue - she received about 500 photos from her photographer and didn't really like a lot of the ones of herself and her DH. She went back to the photographer and complained, and asked for the rest of the images. She was given the rest (about 2-4,000 photos) and found lots of lovely photos. She then asked the photographer to edit them, and they did!

Yep it's worth asking. Although from what the OP is saying, it sounds like they may have been given all of them.

Yeah this. I am not sure what the OP and her DH could sue for anyway tbh. 'I didn't like the way I look' may not be a valid reason. (Not taking away how upset the OP is at all, and I feel for her, but the law may not see it as a valid reason to sue.)

As others say, there may be other photos the photographer has that are more flattering, failing that, could you get them photoshopped?

I'm so sorry, but the fat sweaty drag queen comment made me PMSL!!!! 😆

I'm so sorry your (professional) photos were shite, and I am so glad you got some nice ones off your friends.

I assume he talked her out of it because sueing someone is a huge, expressive process and a massive overreaction! Trying to get your money back, sure- but sueing?? I’m on the husbands side here for sure!

Wisdom 👏

Sending you a massive hug! I had the exact same problem with my photos and was absolutely gutted.
I bought a photo editing app called Meitu and altered the pictures so I have less chin and am now happy with a few of them.
Is this something you'd consider?

I’ve assumed they’re a proper wedding photographer (2k+ price tag) and not a friend/ family or somebody untrained and cheap, if the latter I might be inclined to just accept the pics x

Was this a professional photographer or someone who “has a nice camera” and offered to do it cheap?

I can’t believe a proper professional would take photos from that angle? When I was looking for a wedding photographer I came across a lot of the “I’ve got a nice camera” types who were only charging £200 for the day 😬

You are not being unreasonable. Why would you want child’s eye view of most of your pics?? I would go back and ask if they have more from a higher angle, just say that’s not my most flattering angle to be honest and they aren’t pictures I will use. They might have loads of unedited pics they set aside but could edit now.

DH is a wedding photographer, a good one, and he definitely thinks about flattering angles in pictures. I’m overweight and have an overbite so often have a double chin BUT I know if he takes a picture of me he has a magic touch for getting the most flattering angle.

Men tend to prefer photos of them taken from a low angle with the camera pointing up at them, women tend to prefer photos from slightly above.

I think maybe the crash from feeling like a goddess and having the best day of your life to seeing photos of that day where you look decidely human can be a bit of a sharp landing.

Go back to the photographers website, and try to compare them objectively in terms of style and editing. If they're nothing like, then get in touch with the photographer and ask if they can talk you through the obvious difference as you didn't get what you expected in line with advertised examples of their work.

You really only need one decent one that you like, and as others have said in thirty years you it won't matter that the one you have framed on the mantlepiece was one you had to stick your wedding gear back on for a re-do.

Sorry OP. You've had some good advice above. Also I would say that all you really need is one or two nice photos to have on display (if you want to). You'll rarely look at the full album (and no-one else will!)