Cyprus is a popular country for destination weddings. Great weather year-round, beautiful vistas, and holy orthodox churches who are all too happy to marry tourists, if that’s your thing.

Indeed, it’s the orthodoxy of the church vs. the, shall we say, free-spirited nature of some tourists that have caused some recent discord.

A couple getting married at one of those churches posted a photo online that appears to show the bride and groom engaged in a sexual act that is usually more gratifying for the groom and can be hard on the bride’s knees.

No, I didn’t link the photo, I linked to the news report. Cheeky monkeys.

As a result, a Cypriot cleric has banned ALL photos “outside places of worship.”

It doesn’t say how far outside, so if I want to take some kinky photos with my girlfriend in my apartment in Texas, it’s apparently possible some Southern European holy men will burst through my door. And they will not be asking to join in.

On a-seemingly-unrelated-note-but-watch-me-tie-the-two-together, styled wedding shoots are becoming increasingly en vogue.

These are events where wedding florists, photographers, and other wedding pros pay to participate. They aren’t real weddings. They consist of models posing as brides and grooms, typically in gorgeous locations, to allow pros to get some practice in, so to speak.

“It’s a wonderful way for photographers to beef up their portfolio and try out new gear,” according to one picture-taker.

The fake brides and grooms are simply there to take orders from the wedding pros. They are putty in the wedding pros hands. Florists and other wedding professionals participate too.

The upshot, according to the article, is that a lot of the more popular instagram wedding photos aren’t from real weddings at all, but from one of these styled shoots.

Would you be willing to show off your wares from a styled shoot? If so, would you obscure the fact that it was not from a real wedding?

Would you be willing to photograph your clients in flagrante delicto? Would you play 2 Live Crew’s Raunchiest Hits as a wedding DJ?

These are questions you must decide for yourself as a wedding pro.

Know your ethics, stick to them, and market them. Here’s what I mean:

Market Yourself As The Photographer Who Will Do ANYTHING The Client Wants – Or The Photographer Who Will Keep To The Holy Scripture Of Zodd The Mighty.

Whichever. And photographer is just an example.

There is a market for wedding pros who are willing to do whatever the clients get their wild/wacky/kinky minds too. There are potential clients that don’t want to have an uncomfortable conversation about it beforehand.

So if that’s you, let it be known in your marketing.

There is ALSO a market for wedding pros for clients who think the world has gone to hell in a handbasket and want pros as pure as the driven snow and will not cotton any smutty business, mister.

If that’s you, let that be known in your marketing.

Let Potential Clients Know Your Ground Rules

Even if you’re firmly in the wild ‘n wacky camp, you presumably have some ground rules. Like, you won’t photograph a murder now matter HOW much your clients want it.

Or you won’t bake wedding cakes depicting nudity. You won’t pose flowers in human sexual positions.

Whatever your limits are, make sure your clients know them. That’s all.

Like, Open Your Mind, Maaaaan.

Inevitably, gray areas will arise that you hadn’t considered before. Situations that don’t automatically run afoul of your ethics, but come sort of close.

In those situations, I’d encourage you to err on the side or your clients.

After all, they’re the ones giving you money, and while the customer isn’t always right, it’s better for your bottom line if you give them the ties.