Since getting engaged in September, I've been met with a series of bizarre revelations. I don't know where married folk have been keeping these secrets, but there's a litany of stuff I had no idea about. Buying a wedding dress up to a year before the big day (why?) the fact that according to my hairdresser you're not allowed to cut your hair (again, why?) and then of course there's the photography.

This might be the weirdest part of it all. I thought it would be as simple as asking some kindly middle-aged photographer to snap a few nice shots of my new husband and I, a couple of our family - and slap a black and white filter over them if I was feeling fancy.

How wrong I was.

"Brides, I’m told, want something different – something that’s never been done before."

Wedding photography is, apparently, supposed to be ‘different’.

Every single photographer has patiently explained to me the importance of a “unique experience”. Forgive me - but how is a wedding unique? White dress, cake, vows, done. It's basically the same deal, every single time. It's only special to you.

But from the sheer number of photographers who offer these ‘unique’ packages on their websites, it's clearly in demand. Brides, I’m told, want something alternative, that’s never been done before.

Jeff Goldblum joined one couple in their ‘Jurassic Park’-themed wedding Credit: Adam Biesenthal

So if you really do feel a desperate need to be different – what are the options?

Well, I'd have suggested a more exciting filter or maybe wearing a hat. But we're talking about weddings here - and when it comes to weddings people get crazy.

Which is how photographers Jay and Vicki Philbrick found themselves taking photographs of newlywed couples hanging over the side of an actual honest-to-God cliff in their finery.

The Philbricks are a husband and wife wedding photography duo. And rather than snapping a nice pic with your granny, they'll take you to the top of a 350 drop, put you in a harness and let you muck about with zany poses. All in the quest to be unique.

"There have been Star Wars brides, wedding parties fleeing from dinosaurs – even a bride with her dress on fire."

And it's not just mountain climbing. Last summer saw a vogue for brides posing with their dresses tucked in to their knickers (seriously) or photoshopping in aliens.

There have been Star Wars brides (posing with lightsabers and being chased by At-At walkers), wedding parties fleeing from dinosaurs, a bride and groom putting Harry Potter spells on their guests – and even a bride with her dress (bought a year ago, no doubt) on fire.

Try as I might, I just don't get it.

I'm no wedding purist, and I'm up for a super indulgent over-the-top day, if that's what you want. But we all know there's nothing worse than standing around for hours, while the bride and groom take endless photos and you salivate longingly over the distant possibility of a vol-au-vent.

Is your wedding really about extreme photography?When Sulkoski and Coleman look back on their big day, do they want to remember the loved ones who wished them well, the touching speeches and the vows they made? Or would they rather recall how scary it was to be hanging off a cliff-edge?

When a friend floods my Facebook timeline with photos of her lying on the grass with her wedding dress gathered to resemble a heart, her veil blowing in the wind, or standing under a Photoshopped rainbow kissing her beloved, I don't think about how happy she looks.

"I think too much photography can be a disaster - whether it's professional or otherwise. And especially if it’s of the ‘extreme’ variety."

I wonder about how long it must have taken, how incredibly bored her groom seems and the fact that this is the one day of her life where every single person she loves is in one place, but she's decided to stand outside taking novelty pictures rather than enjoying the experience.

Earlier this year, photographer Thomas Stewart posted an epic rant about the way phones were ruining weddings. He argued that guests were looking at the bride through their screens, rather than with their own eyes.

I'm with him. And I’d go further - I think too much photography can be a disaster - whether it's professional or otherwise. And especially if it’s of the ‘extreme’ variety.

So, yes, I am going to have a snapper at my wedding. But there will be a self-imposed time limit on posing and definitely no cliff edges. You can keep ‘unique’. What would really be different at this stage? Something completely normal.