Will Couples Regret Hopping On The Blurry Wedding Photos Trend?

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby – wait, no – then comes the giant photo dump. If you’ve been scrolling through acquaintances’ wedding photos in recent years, you might have rubbed your eyes once or twice wondering why everything was so blurry. Blurry wedding photos have taken the wedding industry by storm, something many photographers didn’t see coming. 

Blurry wedding photos have become all the rage, taking “candid” style photography to the next level. Photographers say it’s being requested more and more, a trend which has some of them cautioning couples against using too much blur, suggesting it’s a fast-track way to regret your wedding shots down the road. Others defend the trend, especially when applied stylistically, saying it’s just another tool in photographers’ lineup to help make memorable moments pop. While blurry pics are a super Instagrammable it-girl way to look effortless and candid, are people going to regret not having any clear photos down the line?

Wedding Photography Trends Through the Years

When we think of wedding trends, we tend to picture hideous bridesmaid dresses or really dated hairstyles. What’s less obvious, though, is that it’s not just fashion and beauty trends that go in and out of style – photography styles do too. Wedding photography has gotten considerably less timeless over the years, especially as digital photography has allowed photographers to be more creative and experimental with their shots. Non-wedding trends have also affected styles, since brides increasingly care how their posts will look on social media after the big day.

A few trends have already come and gone in the relatively short era of fully digital photography. Color isolation had photographers in a chokehold when Photoshop was first popularized, and to this day, seeing a pop of color, say, the bride’s blue eyes or a bright pink bouquet on a black and white backdrop is a dead giveaway that that pic is from the early 2000s. An extreme obsession with texture came shortly after, and photographers began giving photos extra grain by turning up the sharpness in post, making things like raindrops and concrete pop in the most 2010s way possible (of course, we all went through a similar photo editing phase with our middle school digital cameras, let’s be honest). Then came the millennial favorite “light and airy” trend, one that’s still quite popular, which emphasizes photos with the exposure turned all the way up. While these can make photos extra clear, they do run the risk of washing out all of your colors, and photographers who don’t know what they’re doing can sometimes leave you looking over-exposed. Over-exposed photos are partly an issue because, while they might look good online, they result in areas being too “blown out” or plain white, meaning no ink is printed on the canvas, making it look totally blank. This is especially an issue for already white things like, well, wedding dresses.

Now, blurry photos have even wedding vendors divided, and some are saying, “I feel like this is gonna be something that we look back on in 10 years, just like we look back on selective color, and say ‘What the f*ck were we doing?’” even going so far as to question whether it’s the worst ever wedding trend. 

All a Blur

In some ways, tons of blur is Gen Z’s (or at least the mid 2020s) attempt at correcting the light and airy trend. Rather than being bright and crisp, it tends to be dark and fuzzy, playing with shadows without caring about detail. It also takes candids to a new level. Candids have gotten more popular over the years as people rebel against what felt like overly-curated social media feeds during influencers’ rise to power. Candids have become especially useful in the context of weddings, since wedding photos have evolved into all-day affairs rather than quick post-ceremony portraits; “documentary style” photography allows for photos of every part of the wedding without forcing the bridal party to do a 12-hour photoshoot. 

Blurry pics aren’t always better, though. While they might look candid, many of the shots you see in blurred photography are anything but. In fact, getting the perfectly effortless looking shots can often take longer than static poses, since it tends to involve choreographing movement, which can be tricky to get just right. This could leave your wedding party running back and forth after the ceremony rather than quickly arranging tall people in the back, shorties up front.

Then there’s the issue of timelessness. Just like husbands, blurry photos are a commitment. Thanks in part to how blurry photos are shot, it can make them difficult to have them blown up or re-edited down the line. It’s not just taking off a filter or an overlay. The photos are shot blurry from the get-go, so there’s really no going back once your wedding day is shot in that style. While this can be super fun for the initial Instagram post, not everyone finds it quite so helpful when trying to show their grandchildren what grandpa looked like at their age. 

Is This a Trend You Want To Participate In?

If you love the look of blurry pics but aren’t ready to be wed to them, you have a couple options. Many photographers recommend shooting for a mix of shots so you aren’t disappointed down the line, but you should check with whoever’s shooting your day before you book to be sure they’re on board with shooting multiple styles, since not everyone is so versatile. There’s also the option of saving the blurry pics for the engagement photoshoot and keeping clearer pics for the day you actually tie the knot, since you might want more artistic ones for things like your save the dates, wedding invites, and wedding website. Doing that may also give you a lower commitment opportunity to try out the trend and see if you like it, especially if you print a few and hang them up for a while.

If you do opt for having both styles at your wedding, consider asking the photographer to use blur strategically. Blur makes sense for capturing motion, so it will tend to look more natural in scenes when people are actually moving. The two of you running out of the chapel hand in hand? Perfect excuse for some long exposure. Standing still at the altar while the photographer wiggles the camera? Mayyyybe not so much. You should also try to make sure that you still end up with good detail shots of things like your florals, decor, and your dress, if those are things you care about documenting, since blur is likely to lose the details in all the commotion.

Closing Thoughts

While the blurry wedding photo trend is totally controversial these days, there are still plenty of ways to pull it off without regretting it. If you make sure you have the pics that matter down the line when you want to look back and remember your day, then getting a few artsy shots for your Instagram feed isn’t going to hurt anyone. As long as you keep in mind that, yes, we will likely look back on these pics and laugh a bit, go forth and embrace the blur.

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