VIDEO: Priest Freaks Out on Photographer During Wedding Ceremony

So this video was making the rounds yesterday on all sort of news outlets, and causing all sorts of debates.

In it, a priest stops in the middle of a couple’s wedding ceremony to scold a photographer for acting like this is a “photography session.” (Which, I mean, it partly is. That’s why they’re paying him the big bucks.) The priest is mad and demands that the photog peace out, lest he be forced to stop the ceremony again—much to the couple’s horror and dismay. And to me, that is the point.

People are debating who is right in this situation, the priest or the photog—but really, it doesn’t matter, because in the end, what the priest did really upset the couple. And because while on one hand, no wedding photographer should be doing anything during the ceremony or at any other point on the wedding day that is overly intrusive or causes him to literally be in the way—on the other, I feel like the priest is rather towards the bottom of the list of people who are allowed to have a meltdown on the wedding day.

But what do I know about what it’s like to be a priest on a wedding day? Nothing. And because of that, I checked in with my lovely uncle, who does happen to know what it’s like to be a (Catholic) priest on a wedding day, just to see if we could shine some light on what may have potentially been going on behind the scenes.

The official guess from Uncle John is that this priest here may have been completely caught off guard by having the photographer come up behind him—which just so happens to be his one absolute rule when it comes to photography and video professionals during wedding ceremonies. (Though he finds that most of them are great, very friendly, and already know this deal and abide by it.) “Only twice in 23 years have I been truly angry at the photo people, and afterwards, I let them know it. I would try to never say something in the midst of the ceremony,” he says, noting that he once witnessed a minister in a Methodist church in Long Island totally lose it and banish the videographer from the church. “Had a bit of an affect on the mood.”

The lesson here? Maybe add a before-the-ceremony meeting between your officiant and photographer to your list of day-of activities, to make sure everyone’s clear. The photog in the video specifically says that the priest mentioned that he shouldn’t be in the aisle, but that that was all, so he was pretty surprised by the freak out.

Surprises, for the most part, are the last thing you want on your wedding day. Video below so you can see the situation you’d probably rather avoid on your own Big Day yourself.

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