A wedding photographer is second-guessing his decision to shut down a groom’s last-minute photo request — and Reddit has some strong opinions about it.
In a post on Reddit’s “Am I the A——” forum, the 30-year-old photographer asked if he was wrong for refusing a special shot the groom wanted to take just hours before the ceremony last weekend.
As they wrapped up the pre-ceremony photos, the groom and his groomsmen suddenly decided they wanted to recreate their college fraternity “rush” photo.
“To my surprise, the groom and five of the groomsmen all started removing their pants, right there on the lawn of the venue,” the photographer wrote.
Confused, he asked what was going on. One of the groomsmen pulled up an old college photo on his phone — a hazing-style image from their university days where they’d done a lap around campus wearing only boxers.
According to the post, the group has a tradition:
at each of their weddings, they recreate that picture — dressed in shirts, jackets, ties and just their underwear.
The photographer, however, said he felt “uncomfortable” and “immediately shut it down.”
He explained that he thought the idea was “tacky” and was also worried about the location. The men were standing on the lawn of the venue where he regularly works, and although only staff were nearby, he didn’t want to risk harming his professional relationship with the venue.
The groom, he said, “looked kind of pissed off,” but the photographer stuck to his decision.
The poster described himself as a “good” photographer and noted that he was one of several hired for the wedding, with his main role being to photograph the groom, his groomsmen, and the groom’s family.
Before the event, he had asked the groom if there were any special shots he wanted. The groom said he wanted lots of photos with his groomsmen because they were very close from their fraternity days — but he never mentioned the underwear photo tradition specifically.
“If I was told this when I asked for special requests, I would’ve denied the wedding as I get enough work,” the photographer wrote.
After the wedding, the newlyweds emailed him. They thanked him for the photos he did take, but also expressed disappointment about the one photo he refused to shoot, saying they felt their wishes hadn’t been fully respected.
On Reddit, most commenters felt the photographer mishandled the situation and labeled him the one at fault.
Many argued that it was not his place to make a judgment call based on whether he personally found the idea tacky, especially considering it was the couple’s wedding day and the men would still have been covered.
One top comment summed it up bluntly:
“Not your job to worry about if something is tacky. And it’s not like they got naked.”
Another commenter agreed, saying the photographer’s main objection seemed rooted in personal disapproval of the content, adding:
“Doesn’t matter if you think it’s tacky, OP — you’re not a hired moral compass.”
