Vicars v photographers — Rowan Williams weighs in on wedding etiquette row

Mar 4, 2024 by Jill

by Phoebe Luckhurst, The Times:

Photographers have signed a petition bemoaning rude behaviour from vicars who don’t want them there, while clergy complain that those covering the big day can be intrusive and disrespectful of tradition.

Some vicars can be “a complete pain” when it comes to wedding photographers in churches, according to a former Archbishop of Canterbury.

Dr Rowan Williams, who officiated at the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales in Westminster Abbey in 2011, added that couples’ demands for the perfect shot can lead to simmering tensions during services.

Last week, more than 900 wedding photographers signed a change.org petition complaining that some clergymen and women are making it impossible for them to take pictures inside churches because of their “rude, humiliating, aggressive and abusive behaviour”.

Photographers complained of being exiled from the ceremony or vicars deliberately obscuring the couple during the service. In a video shared on TikTok, one officiant halts proceedings and refuses to continue until the photographer stops shooting.

Read here (£)