Our caterers brought a photographer to our wedding without our consent (and are using our photos). Is this even legal?

UPDATE: I ended up emailing the caterer and simply asking if we signed anything giving them permission to bring a photographer to our wedding or use photos of us for marketing (I already knew they didn’t, but I wanted them to confirm it). I also mentioned that we were thrown off by his presence because no one gave us a heads up beforehand or during the event.

During wedding planning it would take weeks, sometimes months, to hear back from them. I received an email first thing the following morning. They apologized profusely, but did not answer my question pertaining to what we signed. They removed the photo (without being asked), and offered us a free cake on our anniversary. In my response, I said that I appreciated their apology, but that they didn’t answer my question. I told them that I read our contract, and that I knew they didn’t have permission to bring a photographer to our wedding or use our photos for marketing. I told them that what they did was not only unethical, but also illegal. I asked the photos be released to us, and that they sent us something in writing, saying that neither them, nor than photographer, would use the photos for marketing collateral, and that they would immediately delete the photos.

They had their lawyer draft something up in writing, and they released the photos to me (they were terrible lol). I didn’t sign it for a few days, and they were blowing up my phone. I know they were nervous! Everything ended up working out but the release form required that I waive my rights to leave a bad review, reach out to the venue, or otherwise disparage their name. Not sure how enforceable that is since they broke the law, but it’s really not worth the trouble either way. There’s your update!

Tl: Dr: Our caterers brought a photographer to our wedding without our consent and used photos of us for marketing without permission.

We had issues with our caterer throughout the planning process and through the wedding itself. One of the weirdest things was they brought a photographer to our wedding without our consent. We had no idea who he was until our photographer asked him. All they had to do was let us know or have him introduce himself, and it would have been fine. There was also nothing in the contract giving them permission to do so. I checked.

What really bothers me though is they even used photos of us for marketing purposes without our permission. To be clear, it’s not pictures of the food at our event, it’s literally a photo of our first kiss. I found this to be very off-putting, seeing as they never communicated to us that they were bringing a photographer in the first place. I’m also worried he was getting in our photographers way because he was front and center for the first kiss.

I kind of want to say something, but I don’t want to be a bother. Does anyone know if this is legal?