7 Clues A Couple Getting Married Will End Up Divorced, According To Wedding Photographers
There are certain tells that suggest a couple may be walking down the aisle to ... divorce.
Robert Kneschke | Canva When it’s your full-time job to spend up to 12 hours a day with brides and grooms, you get to know a little something about marriage.
A bunch of veteran wedding photographers who shared their thoughts on Reddit say they’ve seen so much when it comes to tying the knot, that they can pick the exact couples who aren’t going to make it the distance, thanks to these photo-moment clues that a couple getting married might end up divorced.
Here are the clues a couple getting married will end up divorced, according to wedding photographers:
1. Eyes glazed over in wedding photos
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We all get to a point in our lives where we’ve attended so many weddings our eyes immediately glaze over during the nuptials. But if either one of the bridal couple’s eyes appears to stare off vacantly into the distance in their wedding pics, it’s a bad sign. "It’s that look of … I’ve made a huge mistake."
2. Wrong kind of tension in the air
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A healthy amount of tension between the bride and groom on the wedding day is typically a good sign, but when that tension shifts from one of the duo to someone else in the wedding party, it’s never a good sign.
"Once when there was more tension between the groom and the best man than between the groom and the bride," said one Reddit wedding photographer.
3. It's all about the bride
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One Reddit wedding photographer said a marriage is typically doomed for failure if the bride is more focused on making the wedding day all about her than preparing for the marriage itself.
"I think the success of the marriage can also be directly linked to how many times the bride says: 'This is my day.' No, no it’s not."
4. Disjointed energies between bride and groom
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"One couple worried me, the bride was a tense wreck during the whole ceremony and reception to the point that I didn’t get many useable pictures of her because she looked so stressed out and unhappy," says another Reddit wedding photographer.
"Meanwhile, the groom was with his friends having a great time (which is good and normal) but not helping her with anything or responding at all to her panic."
5. A lack of enthusiasm
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If a couple appears generally disinterested during the wedding photos, it’s a red flag, according to a Reddit wedding photographer who recalls a particularly worrying experience.
"My very first wedding was a couple who was getting married at the art museum in Philly. I had my friend who’s been a wedding photographer for 10 years with me to show me the ropes after doing a lot of second shooting with him.
So he poses a kissing shot of the couple, and when he asks them to kiss the bride goes 'Oh, no, no thank you' in this weird little mousey voice. He has shot over 100 weddings and said he never saw a couple so not into each other as much as they were."
6. Obvious signs of contempt
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If a bride and groom haven’t resolved their issues before they hit the altar, it could spell disaster for the marriage.
"I planned events (mostly weddings) for several years. The number one, I would say, is contempt. If either of the couples has contempt for the other (not respecting their opinion, minimizing their thoughts, putting down their partner, etc.) I guarantee the couple will divorce," says another photographer.
7. A cake fight
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"This is going to sound cheesy but I feel even more strongly about this: what happens during the cake cutting. Sweetly feeding one another? Good sign. A playful smear of icing on the nose? No problem," explains another wedding photographer.
"But every once in a while someone will retaliate — a bad sign. I think it’s indicative of the sort of contempt that will doom the relationship. Even if you don’t want that fondant on your face, you need to be able to laugh it off and have a good time."
Nadia Bokody is a journalist, media commentator, and editor whose work has been published in The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Thought Catalog, Cosmopolitan, and many more.