So my mom just dumped on our engagement photos.

Wow. I can understand her response if YOU were the photographer. Her critiques were unnecessary for you. I hope shes able to compliment at least ONE of your photos once you get them all back.

I thought your photos were great.
I personally, never posted my engagement pics on my social media but it's bc I'm really private and careful about what I put online.

Jesus I read the first screenshot and was like “aw that’s not so bad she’s just being a mom” but then that second screenshot took a crazy turn!!!
Please try to shrug this one off. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about so don’t let her bad opinions ruin your own!!!! The photos are beautiful! (Btw I looked at the pics before starting to respond and then just re-looked at them after rereading her comments and re #5 when I first looked at the pics I didn’t notice cleavage or house at all!! Just a beautiful picture of a lovely couple!)
DO let her know that she made you feel bad and that her negativity was uncalled for , so she doesn’t continue bringing you down. I would tell her there is a difference between honesty and negativity and that you were excited about the pics and her comments made you feel down — it’s important that she hears this so she thinks before she speaks on other wedding details. I’d probably start with gentle humor “guess I’m not getting you a photobook for Christmas” but would also use her justification right back at her. It’s annoying to to trash all the pictures like that, but to be even more hurtful to use your happiness as an excuse to be rude about them. Like hello mom I was extraordinarily happy until you made me feel like crap about something I was excited about ?!?
DONT second guess your plans and don’t let this ruin your excitement or feelings on your photographer ! Share these babies!! They’re beautiful.

Who else would the ring belong to? That doesn't make any sense. Sounds like she's being critical for the sake of being critical. She should wait until all the pictures come out before making a judgement call on whether to keep the photographer. We all have personal preferences on how we like to (and how others should) look in pictures. This is just a sneak peak, so she may end up loving the rest. Don't let her rain on your parade. YOU love the photos, so YOU should share them if you wish.

View Quoted Comment Hahah I was gonna come back and comment more on that stupid ring comment because I can’t stop being annoyed !!! EVERYONE WHO LOOKS AT THIS PIC KNOWS WHO THE RING BELONGS TO!! Otherwise it wouldn’t be in YOUR engagement photos!!!!!!!

Wow. I am so sorry! It has to be a bummer hearing this sort of critique from your mother. However, art is subjective (which photography definitely is), and opinions can vary greatly from one person to another. Everyone has their own preference on aesthetics. Just because your photos were not your mother’s personal taste in aesthetics, does not mean they are any less beautiful! Your photos are artistic, current, and completely on trend with wedding/engagement photography today. I think older generations tend to like more traditional “cookie cutter“ type of photography. The photos are beautiful. And girl, if you’ve got great cleavage show it!!

Your mom is too much!! She doesn’t know who the rins belongs to? Lol 😂 The photos are beautiful and I am assuming they are exactly the style and tone you were looking for (I would call it dark and moody?). It’s clearly not your mom’s style, so I would just chalk it up to that. I will say though that this might be a precursor to your wedding planning. To avoid the same letdown, I would probably tell her that clearly your styles are different, and you’re not looking for her creative input, only her support and happiness throughout the wedding planning process. 🙂

So... I'm gonna go against the grain here and say I don't think her comments were that bad. I was expecting her to say you look ugly or some other horrible things about you based on the title (note, I don't think you do but I've seen some crazy things that people have shared on WW about family/friends comments). She was critiquing the photographs themselves. While I think the photos looked lovely, I think she may just be coming at it from the sense that you paid a lot of money for a professional and she doesn't see that level of quality, like when she says that you could have taken better photos. I would take it with a grain of salt but also maybe, once the excitement of seeing pretty photos of you and your love wanes a little, looking at the photos more critically and seeing if you agree with her (and if you don't, awesome!), especially if this is the photographer you plan to use for your wedding. You don't want the emotions of it all to make you blind to any sort of issues that you could rationally discuss with your photographer to make sure your wedding photos are the best they can be.

Ooooops, accidentally posted before I was done. As far as a response to your mother, I would try to keep it light and respectful, yet still get the point across that you love the photos and the photographer so she will not feel the need to continue negatively critiquing them in the future. You could say something along the lines of “Of course I still love you! I guess we’ve learned today that we have very different tastes in photography, because I love all of them!”

I think if you like the photographer keep them plus people will be happy about your news so I still feel you should share.

I will advise you of this. Since your mom seems this critical over photography pics I would limit wedding talk with her. I can be wrong as I do not know her but your vision and hers may differ and she may critique everything you want and like and it will get cumbersome. You do not need to respond to the text. I would delete it and have a glass of wine. If your mom calls or texts asking if you are not mad at her you can just respond with that you will always love her and she has a right to not like the photos and leave it at that.

First of all, I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. Second of all, your mom sounds like a child. Does she want you to set up a tripod and take your own photos? Your pictures are beautiful and your mother has no taste.

The important question is do you love how they came? Did you feel comfortable with the photographer? Those are the only two things that really matter. I will say though that you're still in the "just engaged" euphoria and might love everything. I'd take a little time, look at them again but with an open mind and see if your mom might have some legitimate concerns or is just being critical.

How you should take her comments and respond to her really depends on what your relationship is like with her in general and if she IS usually that blunt or if this is out of character.

If you want to be honest with her (believe me, I completely understand if you feel you can't be), you can tell her that her comments hurt your feelings. She did keep stressing how much she loves you and her critiques are more about the photographer's style than the subject matter (i.e., you and your future spouse). So maybe you can gradually come to see her comments as less a personal attack and more as your mom's difference in taste.

My last piece of advice is this: if these texts from your mom are already affecting you this deeply (not wanting to share news of your engagement because of them), you should move forward with wedding planning very carefully. You will hear thousands of opinions you don't like/didn't ask for/aren't interested in. Start practicing now to let that stuff roll off your back and keep the planning details to yourself unless you know you can handle the feedback.

Woooooowwww what a party pooper. Your photos were BEAUTIFUL and definitely professional quality and well-framed so (with all respect) she can take her pessimistic and derogatory feedback somewhere else

Post the photos. Everyone will love them

Ugh this makes me mad, these photos are fricking GORGEOUS and she's being such a downer. It's like she's never seen engagement photos before. I would say her issue lies mainly with the style of photography, which if it is what YOU want, then she doesn't get a say. I would just respectfully respond to her that while you appreciate the input, you really liked the photographer and are stoked about the photos. Probably you'll want to keep creative decisions to yourself during the rest of the wedding process though.

I’m sure your photos are beautiful

Wow.... Is she always like this? I can see potentially having differences in opinions about artistic/stylistic issues, but in these texts she just seems mean. Based on the photos, it looks like you're a grown woman, so even if I had similar thoughts to your mom (which I do not) I wouldn't say those kinds of things to an adult about photos they seem very happy with. There might be times my daughter and I have different tastes and preferences, but she's an ADULT so I'm not going to critique something she shares with me.... I saw your photos before you made this post about your mom's reaction, and I thought they were both lovely and very consistent with engagement poses that are currently pretty typical. I agree with others that I'd probably point out to her that you've found her "honesty" and bluntness rude and offensive. Would she like for you to be equally "honest" in the responses you give her in the future? Unless she has a REALLY thick skin, I don't think many people would appreciate that much "honesty." I'm so sorry! Your photos are beautiful and you should feel very proud to share them!

Girl, no! I am so sorry! First of all, i just looked at your photos and they are freaking beautiful! Like previous posts mention, they are very on trend right now and your mom maybe doesn’t get that. Buuuut, even then, you didn’t ask her what she thought, you simply shared the photos with you because that’s your mom! However, it was very unnecessary of her to literally break down each in every photo by NUMBERING them and pointing out what she doesn’t like in EACH photo. She even went ahead and acknowledged that she is “on a roll”. That’s not good! Listen, if you love your photos, don’t let anyone take that joy from you or make you second guess them. Share your beautiful photos! Also, as far as any other wedding planning goes, I wouldn’t ask for her opinion because she will more than likely give it to you and won’t be nice about it if its not in her taste. I think you should let her know that her opinion was hurtful and you were simply sharing.

Im sorry but i have a problem with your heads being cropped off too... I’m OCD and that bothered me... the rest of the pics where fine.. if thats what you like then stick with the photgrapher...