What your wedding photographer REALLY thinks of you: Industry insider reveals the their least favourite photo to take, the reason the best man's speech is often a trainwreck... and the couples getting frisky before the cake cutting

Buffy Thompson has been a wedding photographer for 12 years and knows that sharing the most special day of someone's life is a 'privileged position'. However, shooting over 200 weddings also means she's seen (beyond) her fair share of terrible best man speeches, enough animals to create a modestly-sized petting zoo, and countless white dresses.So with the summer wedding season now in full swing, we asked Thompson for some of her insider information, including the wedding faux pas you absolutely must avoid.Animals are fine (as long as they behave)Dogs, chickens and horses, Thompson's seen it all. But contrary to what you might think, she actually doesn’t mind couples bringing along their four (or two) legged friends for some shots, as long as they’re well-behaved.Especially compared with drunk and lairy wedding guests she says, ‘People say not to work with children and animals but actually children and animals are a doddle compared to a group of adults who won’t listen!’ Photographing pets is fine, so long as they're well-behaved. Buffy Thompson PhotographySmaller weddings are the new normWhere once weddings could see over a hundred guests, with the cost-of-living crisis, Thompson's seen a rise in smaller weddings. More intimate occasions with 30 to 60 people have become increasingly common and for Thompson they’re her favourite type of work.She says, ‘It focusses a lot more on the marriage than on a big wedding, which is more about the event and a big party.’Taking pictures on the iPhone just isn’t the sameWith phone cameras better than they’ve ever been, it's easy to see why couples might think they can skip out on a professional. But as Thompson says, ‘It’s just not the same, you need someone to record all the little moments you haven’t necessarily noticed.’Blending into the background, the joy of a wedding photographer is in the moments you don’t realise they’ll capture. Getting your mate to snap it on their iPhone just won’t have the same effect. iPhones can't compare with a pro wedding photographer. Buffy Thompson PhotographyWe can’t make you look thinner (or younger)For brides the pressure is on to look the best they ever will. But for Thompson, its more often than not the mothers of the bride who ask if she can make them look younger or thinner.She says, ‘The mother of the bride almost always inevitably asks ‘Can you make me look two stones lighter’’.Thompson's answer is of course no, but she says, ‘I always reassure them that they look lovely.’Dancefloors make for the best picsThis wedding photographer reveals, ‘I’m always quite disappointed when people don’t go onto the dancefloor because that creates some of the best photos.’Her advice? Ditch the nerves, get your boogie on and shimmy on down to the dance floor. YMCA, drink in hand, those carefree (boozy) moments make for great candid shots. Get on down to the dance floor for the best photo ops. Buffy Thompson PhotographyWe don’t send you the bad shotsThompson reassures, ‘Even the most good-looking people can be caught doing something unflattering when you freeze them in a moment’.So, while she can’t make you look 20 years younger (or 2 kilos lighter), Thompson says she’ll always send you the photos you look your best in. For her that means sifting through the thousands of photos she’s taken to send around 800 (with eyes open and no dodgy facial expressions) to the newly wedded couple.Don’t worry about awkwardness'Unless you’re a model, even in this selfie age people aren’t used to being in front of the camera, especially when it comes to kissing’, says Thompson.But don’t worry, wedding photographers are professionals at getting you comfortable (and intimate) in front of the camera. Thompson often books a pre-shoot with the couple to familiarise them with both her and the camera before the big day.She adds, ‘On the wedding they’ll have had a couple of Proseccos, which always helps.’ Getting you comfortable in front of the camera is part of the job. Buffy Thompson PhotographyQuickies are a lot more common (and obvious) than you’d think‘I have had one or two weddings where the bride and groom have snuck off somewhere for a ‘quickie’ assuming no-one will notice’, Thompson says. Never to much success though, ‘it’s pretty obvious to everybody and parents always look a little embarrassed at that point’.With that in mind, might we advise that you keep the canoodling for your wedding night?Best man speeches are rarely good‘I think there should be best man’s speech training, because it’s a bad area’, says Thompson. Anecdotes of drunken nights out and tales of past girlfriends might sound like a laugh on paper but according to Thompson they’re rarely a success on the big day.Listen to her expertise and keep things short and funny.Big group shots are our least favourite to shootTaking a big group shot? Its like ‘herding deaf cats’ according to Thompson.No one likes to nag, especially not on someone’s wedding day. But when it comes to organising a group of merry wedding guests, Thompson often resorts to enlisting ‘helpers’ to gather and arrange the group for that big group shot. Group shots are a pain to shoot, according to Thompson. Buffy Thompson PhotographyYou don’t actually need a videographerDespite what you might see on social media, Thompson says, ‘The vast majority of weddings I do without a videographer.' She says that it’s typically the weddings that have multiple outfit changes that hire a videographer to capture it all of the madness.So, if it's not in your budget, it’s fairly common to skip out on the wedding videographer.Instagram sees it firstA 21st century wedding faux pas you need to avoid according to this wedding photographer is posting the wedding on socials before the couple get the chance to hit upload first.Thompson explains, ‘They don’t want people posting during the day as its happening. They’ll often request that they can do it first.’So, while editing pictures can take Thompson up to two weeks, she’ll always send the couple a handful of photos the day after, so they have something to upload.