Terrible wedding photos

[Roiiae]

Not AIBU but posting here shamelessly for replies.

Got married a few weeks ago, and the photos from the photographer are awful. I look like crap, I didn't get my hair or make up done professionally and thought I looked ok until I saw these. It was a very small wedding so the photographer was an acquaintance, but he didn't edit them.

I'm not sure what to do, just wondered if in the only bride to hate my wedding photos the bride is supposed to look her very best on her wedding day and I cringe to see fhese.

What about other friends and guests? Did anyone sent you the photos they took? You could ask them, people tend to take a lot of pics nowadays.

Did he have a decent camera or are these phone pics? What's actually wrong with them?
I feel you. I had various problems with our photographer (years ago!) and wish we'd gotten someone else. It's an important part of the day.

Tbh if I got married now rather than in my 20s I'm sure I would find it hard to find a pic of me I was happy with!

What sort of editing were you hoping for that would make you happy? Could you find a kindly soul online (or pay someone) to edit them for you?

Don't let it detract from your special day, focus on the positive parts of the photos that you do like - and congratulations

I hate my wedding photos. I look knackered and grumpy. I really really wasn't grumpy. Some friends and family got a couple of candid ones that I like but the only ones I love are the ones which are just our hands one the register or taken from a distance. It makes me sad that I don't have any photos of me with that bride glow people talk about but ultimately it was a wonderful day and I'm married to my fantastic DH. Congratulations on your marriage.

He might not have the software etc to edit them. Or did he say he would do it? I suppose that's one of the things you miss out on (along with professional grade camera etc) when you just use a friend.

Agree with others...have a look online for someone who could edit them for you.

The lighting was horrible at my wedding so all the family pics the people behind (on a higher step) look in the shadows. Photographer did her best and we look fine it’s just none of the group pics are any good. Much better were my family photos done before the wedding at the hotel which was really bright. Oh well it’s my memories that count!

My friend's dd had a big church wedding and a reception with over 100 guests. She didn't have a photographer, she just didn't want one. She said she was happy for folk to take pics on their phones if they wanted, and pleased if they would forward them to her. She's still very happily married despite having no decent photos of her wedding

Is the acquaintance a professional photographer or was he doing a favour?

Have them edited or put your wedding gear on again and go and have some professionally taken.

You can download lightroom for free (as a trial) on your phone, it has some great tools & is honestly so simple (has some pre set filters too) honestly give it a go!

Did other guests not take photos?

I understand that it is shit and you feel bad about it but I think this might be something that eventually you'll laugh about.

The fact is a few weeks ago you got married and chose to dedicate your life to your spouse. That in itself is the beautiful thing, not a picture of you looking out of sorts.

Oh gosh the photos coming out badly is something I think about for my own wedding. Is he a proper photographer? He really ought to have edited them if you have paid him and he is a professional.

I would have to be honest and send an email to say I would like them to be edited.

I hope you have happy memories about the day despite how the photos have turned out

The fact is a few weeks ago you got married and chose to dedicate your life to your spouse. That in itself is the beautiful thing, not a picture of you looking out of sorts.

LOVE this

Can anyone else you trust tell you what they think. I got married many years ago, hated the photos and thought I looked awful. I look at them now and think how didn't I think I looked great. I'd love to look like that now and feel sad that I couldn't see it then. My friends told me I looked great and I should have trusted them.

Hiya, I got married a few years ago (I’m not anymore) I had friends do my hair and makeup too but I did pay for money for s professional photographer, 2 of them. I looked like a donut in every photo, my eyes were half open or closed, he took a lot of me looking down (chinssss)
I bit my lip when I’m nervous and I’m doing that in every single photo, my sons head was chopped off in one.
You can save up and have some photos done of both of you in your wedding outfits and put them on the wall.
It might help.
But you’re not the only one, I did cry and my friends were upset for me.
I was lucky my friend took a couple of nice ones but I hate my eyebrows in them.

@Frog123 loads of mine were taken too low. It is as if people have forgotten what we learned in the era of MySpace... from above!

Did you pay this person?

Just stick the album on a high shelf to gather dust and get on with your marriage. That's what I did with my awful wedding photos.
Occasionally I feel a bit sad that I looked so shit in them but mostly I don't give it a second thought these days.

Ds and DIL had a small wedding last year and a "friend" took the photos, whilst the bride and groom were posing I took photos on my phone, and I have had a few of them printed. The are much nicer than the "official" ones and the couple have one of mine in a frame.
See if any of your guests took any, you might be lucky.

Sorry OP. I cried for 2 days when we got our wedding photos back. They included a shot of the tuna fish sandwiches we had before the wedding and a supposedly ‘arty’ one of one of the guest’s legs. There isn’t one single picture of me in my full dress. Not one. I might as well have had jeans on my bottom half. We considered a reshoot (ie get dressed up again) for some decent bride and groom ones, but then it seemed a bit pointless. If dd gets married I’d happily pay for 2 separate photographers...surely 2 couldn’t stuff up. I do feel your pain....I’m still sad 8 years on.

If it is the edit you are unhappy with, rather than the image captured, you can purchase bundles of preset edits relatively cheaply that you could then play around with yourself.

I'm the same. I hate photos of myself, and my wedding photos are, like yours, taken by a non-professional friend. I never wear make-up so didn't on my wedding day either, my hair was boring (my daughter was going to curl it for me but we ran out of time and I shoved it in a pony tail). Also many of them are candid shots taken from sideways on. I never normally see myself from that angle and I just don't like how I look.
What has helped me gain some perspective is other people saying I look good. Of course, they're all used to how I look from the side. I also realised that I don't give any thought at all to how anyone else looks sideways on, so I need to stop being so judgy to myself.
I do think there's a tendency to compare a printed image from our own lives with printed images from magazines/Instagram etc which completely unfair, like comparing home cooking with cordon bleu.
Try asking everyone at the wedding for photos they took - we did that and DH's brother turned out to have taken some nice ones.

In your shoes I would complain, get the originals digitally and see what I could do with them, and then if still not happy have a sitting at a local photographer, just the two of you in your wedding clothes. This is very common in other cultures where wedding photos can be taken in a studio or the local botanical gardens, nothing at all to do with the wedding.

However, I would add, I got married 18 years ago and rarely , if ever, look at the photos now.

Good luck and do not let this spoil your joy at being married.

My parents’ wedding photographer lost the negatives so they had no photos at all. Their very happy marriage lasted 64 years.