Wedding Drama.

Recently I was asked by a friend to photograph her wedding. Since I had never done anything like this before my initial reaction was to say no and run as far away as possible.  The idea put me into a panic. What if I messed up? What If I missed a crucial moment? It was somebody’s big day and I was in charge of capturing all of their special memories and the idea terrified me. If I got something wrong it wasn’t as easy as getting them back into the studio and doing it all over again. This was completely out of my comfort zone.

But she was adamant that she wanted me to take her photographs so I did some heavy research into equipment and spent hours flicking through wedding photographs. I contacted her and asked her if she had any specific ideas in mind and her reply was ridiculously vague and she told me she trusted me and I could do whatever I wanted. She also told me that I had 45-60 minutes to take all of her photographs after the ceremony before she had to head back for the reception. Which was good…but also really, really bad, what If I did something that she absolutely hated? I had no room for error with only 45-60 minutes to photograph her and her wedding party. So again…panic stations.

I decided pretty early on that my best bet would be to rent equipment. I rented EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM and the 50mm f/1.8. I won’t lie when I first picked up the 70-200 I was a little overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the thing, and a little bit fascinated by the fact the lens had to be mounted on the tripod as opposed to the camera body. So far so good, I was organized had my bags packed rearing to go….Only problem, The wedding was tomorrow and I still hadn’t received the address from the bride, She had already paid me in full, but had failed to let me know where she was getting married despite my numerous e-mails and texts (AND Lack of invitation) I eventually had to phone one of her bridesmaids and she told me the location and times etc. 

I felt sick to my stomach on the way to her hotel, but as soon as I got in there and started to take the photographs I felt completely fine, I made a conscious effort to blend and not intrude too much and got some really great candid shots that I was really happy with, considering that candid photography is really my least favorite style of photographing. I even managed to chat to the bride a little bit about some photographs she wanted….She told me she would like photographs of her and her bridesmaids together in their dresses before they headed off to the ceremony….only problem was she also wanted me to head down and get the boys getting ready and waiting for them. So I suggested that she would have to be in her dress before I left (Her hotel was a good twenty minute drive to the location where her ceremony was being held) this was something she just did not want to do. (So she wanted me to be in two places at once) Her bridesmaids soon convinced her otherwise and I managed to snap some photographs of her in her dress before heading off towards the boys. 

I’m just going to say it, the Groom was MUCH easier to photograph, less stressed and really at ease around the camera, I found it much easier to get candid photographs of the boys than I did of the girls, Mostly because the girls seemed so ridiculously aware of where the camera was AT ALL TIMES. I was finally beginning to feel confident again when…they had to change locations because the wind was far too strong near the water, so we re-located…to a tiny area (Which I’m going to say on a regular basis is more than likely the smokers area for the tavern) The light was horrendously harsh and all the guests were made to stand, so I set up my tripod to ensure I had enough room. Again things were going smoothly UNTIL the groom’s uncle took it upon himself to literally STAND INFRONT of me with his camera EVERYTIME I tried to take a photograph (He even sat in the middle of the aisle directly in front of the couple at one point during the ceremony, Bride looked less than impressed to say the least)  I eventually managed to completely sidestep him and found a perfect spot to take my photographs. I was pleasantly surprised at how at ease I was taking the photographs and soon felt pretty confident in my abilities. 

Once the ceremony was over all my stress seemed to disappear, I was super excited about the posed photographs, I knew what I was doing and I enjoyed it, yet this seemed to be the most difficult part of the whole day. It took me a good ten minutes to try and peel the bride and groom away (Time was ticking…) the only spot that I could visibly see that would even be remotely suitable for photographs was the jetty…. which everybody BUT the bride seemed excited about. We got down there and began to take the photographs, I had no worries whatsoever, Things were going exactly how I had planned and everybody seemed to be having fun, until about ten minutes later the bride decided she had had enough and was no longer going to stand down there, I had plenty of the wedding party but barely any of just her and her husband, which I told her, and she said she didn’t care and that she just wanted to go inside and sit down. The groom looked how I felt; gutted. I had been so excited about this part of the day, of being able to get creative and take photographs of her beautiful dress and that wasn’t going to happen, I tried my best to persuade her otherwise but she was having none of it.

 

Overall I’m glad that I agreed to do it. It was a fantastic experience, and I’m really proud of how well I handled myself and proud of my images. It was fun to be apart of it all and watch everything happening around me, Although in saying that I don’t know how quickly I would agree to photograph another wedding haha!