Let This Ruined Wedding Photo Remind You to Keep Your Phone in Your Pocket

As useful as it is to have a camera in your pocket at all times, there are moments when it gets in the way—literally. Case in point? This ruined wedding photo.

Unlike your favorite televised court debates, this crappy image had nothing to do with an incapable photographer. Instead, all the blame goes to an eager guest whose hand and iPhone photobombed the bride walking down the aisle, and ugh, it’s such a facepalm-inducing moment that you have to see to truly understand.

In what serves as an unofficial wedding guest etiquette lesson, the couple’s wedding photographer Hannah Stanley took to Facebook to voice her frustration with the faux pas, and it has been shared over 175,000 times.

Referring to the offending party as “the girl with the iPhone,” Stanley wrote, “What exactly do you plan on doing with that photo? Honestly. Are you going to print it out? Save it? Look at it everyday? 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.”

Stanley continued her pointed takedown of the unfortunately common wedding misbehavior, imploring guests to put away their phones, enjoy the ceremony in the moment—and most importantly—stay out of the photographer’s way.

“You are important to the bride and groom, you would not be attending the wedding otherwise, Stanley added. “So please, let me do my job, and you just sit back, relax and enjoy this once in a lifetime moment.” 

For wedding guests present and future, consider this photographer’s plea as words to live by. With this year’s most popular wedding months coming up shortly, keep this incident in mind and try to avoid becoming that person with the iPhone who unknowingly ruins a couple’s wedding photo and finds out about it on Facebook.