Whenever I take a wedding photography booking I will always contact the church or registry office to check what I'm allowed to do on the day. Sometimes I'm given permission to walk around and use a flashgun on my camera throughout the whole service, in other venues I'm told not to use the flash, to stand in one place or not to take photos during certain stages of the ceremony. Everybody has their own ideas of what is appropriate and I'm happy to go along with that. Whatever is agreed, I'm quiet, unobtrusive and don't disrupt the wedding.

However, after a recent experience with a local church, I've decided to point out to my clients the effect that these agreements can have on their record of the day. I took a wedding booking a few weeks ago and was asked by the groom to sign a photography agreement with the church. The agreement was very limiting, absolutely no photographs during the ceremony, I was to stand in one place and not move until escorted by a verger, I should arrive half an hour early etc etc. I would be allowed to take some posed photographs of the signing of the register but nothing else. This meant that the couple would have no photographs of their wedding ceremony at all. I discussed this with them but it was their local parish church and they decided that they wanted to go ahead.

Whatever restrictions are made they are going to have some effect on the photography. Churches are generally quite dark, so a no flash policy means the photographer is going to be using camera settings that may cause camera shake, bad colours or grainy effects. If they are told to stand in an alcove and make sure they are not seen it's probably not going to give them a very good viewpoint to shoot from. Sometimes these policies can seem a bit mad, the photographer is told not to use flash on threat of eviction, then as soon as the service starts half the guests pull out their cameras and the flashes start popping.

At the weekend I received a letter from this particular vicar banning me from taking any pictures at all! She seemed to think that I had altered the photography agreement before returning it, I hadn't, all I had done was to sign on the dotted line and return it. It was a very hostile letter, quite surprising from a vicar, even more surprising as I had done nothing to deserve it. The situation is still unresolved. The wedding is coming up soon so, even if the couple decide they would like to change churches, they may have difficulty finding somewhere.

The point of this story is that some vicars, priests and registrars just don't like photography or photographers in any shape or form. It's really worth checking how your venue feels about this before you make a booking. For some people the ceremony is a time that shouldn't be disturbed by anything, others would like some discreet photos taken of the occasion. If you do want some photos of your ceremony, check your church or registry office photography policy before you make the booking. It's your day.