Last week a video produced by Facebook went viral. It was a quick 20 second reel of really fun but obviously nonprofessional pictures of a wedding. At the end it says, “Why have one photographer when you can have a hundred?” I guess Facebook thinks you don’t need a professional photographer for your most important day.

Fair enough, except I know people who have either decided to not use a photographer at all or have used a nonprofessional. I even know someone whose pictures were completely lost by using a nonprofessional. She was forced to reach out to family and friends to see what pictures they had taken. She ended up without a single frame worthy image.

The story is always the same. “There’s no pictures of my very important aunt. It would have been great except his eyes are closed. There’s not a single image with my entire family together. I like it except my dress is all scrunched up and you can’t see the details. Did anyone get a picture of my shoes, cake, rings, back of my dress?” Heads cut off. Image blur. Terribly unflattering lighting. The list goes on.

Look – family and friends taking snapshots at weddings has been a staple for many years now. It can be really fun. However, do you really want to give them the responsibility of being photogs for the day and potentially miss living in the moment of your special day? This is what you pay a professional for. Top notch quality images and taking on the responsibility of documenting one of the biggest moments of your life.