I guess this is half rant, half discussion. We recently met with a photographer whose work I've actually admired for some time pre-engagement. What a disappointment. We were talking about the style of the wedding and how we wanted the photos to come out (essentially I didn't want to be bothered on the day, I was looking for a photojournalistic approach that would just capture the day as it happened and avoid poses) and we started to get the impression that this photographer felt they were doing us a favour by even agreeing to meet with us. We mentioned a few pictures that we'd seen on their blog that showed the groom topless in a towel and then getting ready in a room with his friends and my FI said that he wasn't keen on that. Cue an immediate face drop and the bold statement that shots of him getting dressed in the morning "weren't optional" because they were "part of the story of the day" and that they were an artist, so it had to be their way or the highway. From then on the meeting went downhill. The photographer spent about 15 minutes telling us that as we obviously weren't open-minded and didn't really want in intimate picture of the day, maybe we should look for someone that wouldn't capture the whole event but would just take posed pictures at the party. Just because my FI didn't really want a load of photos taken of him when he was getting out of the shower! Honestly, I've never before been dictated to quite like that before. What kind of photographer actually tells clients which events they're going to photograph and which they're not allowed to skip, even if it makes them uncomfortable? Obviously it's a free world and it's lovely that they're clearly successful enough to turn down work but their tone and attitude left a really sour taste in my mouth, especially as we actually flew to meet them. This kind of thing really makes me worry that the focus these days is on the wedding not the marriage - since when was it not about the couple and what they wanted? Rant over, thanks for listening!