If you’ve ever worked at – or even attended – a wedding in any capacity, you’ll know that there’s one golden rule.

The bride(s) and/or groom(s) are the stars of the show.

Which means that, as far as is practicable, their every whim should be catered to.

The wedding photographer in this story is aware of, and okay with that.

Or he was, until one sudden request pushed him far out of his comfort zone.

Read on to find out what the groom requested that caused him to say no.

AITA for refusing to take a wedding photo?

I (a thirty-year-old man) am a wedding photographer. And a good one.

I was hired for last weekend to do a wedding. It was a lavish one.

I was one of three photographers hired, and was told my main job was to photograph the groom (in his late 20s), his groomsmen, and the groom’s family. They had two photographers to photograph the bride’s side.

Prior to agreeing to do the wedding, I always ask standard questions, such as what kind of special photos do you want.

The groom seemed low maintenance, said his family was small, but him and his groomsmen were all very close from their frat days and he wanted to take a lot of photos with them.

That seemed standard to me.

But on the day of the wedding, the requested photos took him by surprise.

After we’d done what I considered a lot, I asked if there was anything special they wanted before we wrapped up. One of them brought up getting their “rush” photo and the groom immediately agreed.

To my surprise the groom and five of the groomsmen all started removing their pants, right their on the lawn of the venue.

I asked what was happening. A groomsmen took out his phone and showed me a photo of them in college, during what looked like hazing, where they all had to a lap around their university in boxers.

Apparently at all of their weddings they liked to recreate the photo by taking a picture of just their dress shirts, jackets, ties, and boxers/other underwear.

Read on to find out how this wedding photographer responded to this unusual request.

I immediately shut it down. Not only is it tacky, but we were on the lawn.

Granted, the only people around were staff (this was hours before the wedding, before the bride and groom even got their first look), but I do a lot of work at this venue and wanted to keep a good relationship.

And lastly I just felt uncomfortable. If I was told this when I asked for special requests, I would’ve denied the wedding as a I get enough work.

The groom looked kind of angry, and I ended up getting an email from him and the bride saying while they were thankful for the rest of the pictures, they were disappointed their needs were not met.

Was I wrong to refuse to take the photo?

AITA?

For his own reasons, this photograph made the photographer uncomfortable – and it’s okay that he was uncomfortable with something that others might not have been.

But for many people, there was nothing wrong with the photo – it was just a bit of fun among friends, and that explanation should have been enough.

To say no to the groom and his groomsmen, for something that was not at all explicit or problematic, was wrong of him, and likely put a sour note on this groom’s happy day. But if the photo crossed his boundaries – to the extent he wouldn’t have taken the booking if he’d known – that’s his prerogative.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit thought about this.

This person thought that he was being completely unreasonable.

However, others thought that it was his decision, as the photographer, to say no.

Meanwhile, this Redditor thought that the photo should have been agreed beforehand, and both parties were in the wrong.

The bride and groom were disappointed that their desired photo wasn’t taken, and that is understandable – especially if this is a tradition at these frat brothers’ weddings.

He didn’t handle it well, but it’s not his fault they asked for something beyond the scope of his services.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.