Wow, nightmare of a wedding!

[dnpayne]

So, I shot a wedding this past weekend. I was really looking forward to it. It was a large wedding (450 guests, 18 member bridal party) so I was a bit nervous. Well... this quickly turned sour.

I tried getting a list of shots from the bride many times before the big day, but didn't until the day of. Not to mention, people were late showing up for the scheduled time of pictures. The makeup lady took forever with the girls, etc... Long story short... I didn't get any shots like I wanted to. It was insane. The family was very interuptive during photos and they took an hour to take all the family shots. I didn't get any of the bride and groom like I wanted. No bridal party shots. None. I got a couple of individual shots of the bride and groom and maybe 3 of them together. We could have used about 2-3 more hours of shooting time, but the bride didn't really want to add it on. I take a little responsibility for not pushing for it, but I did show up an hour before I was supposed to and shot an hour longer than I was supposed to as well.

This was just a nightmare for photography. I may offer them a bridal session once they return from their honeymoon for free just to get them some couple shots in their wedding attire. I feel horrible for not getting them some nice frame-quality shots of just the two of them, but I don't see what I could have done different given how things went down.

[bhursey]

Was this your first wedding? I have all of the stuff that went wrong listed in my contract as I am not responsible.. I have all the times outlined in my contract. Also I provide the shot list to the bride listing the shots I try and get.. I did the whole bride provide me the list before and that failed miserably.. I normally require the brides maids to be ready makeup and dressed 2-3 before the wedding and the bride be doing her finishing touches this changes depending on the size of the wedding. This is normal covers most things.

I actually ran into the makeup lady issue 2 weddings ago.. Per my contract it was not in my control so I was not liable for the missed images of the bride and the brides maids. We did some in between the wedding and reception after the family shots..

Not to mention, people were late showing up for the scheduled time of pictures. The makeup lady took forever with the girls, etc... Long story short... I didn't get any shots like I wanted to. It was insane. The family was very interuptive during photos and they took an hour to take all the family shots.

This is one of my clauses from my contract. I don't have my full wedding contract in front of me so cant list the others. but after my first wedding nightmare now my wedding contract is 5 pages.. LOL But that nightmare did return all the images I wanted it was just crazy and the bride treated me like crap.


"COOPERATION: The parties agree to cheerful cooperation and communication for the best possible result within the definition of this assignment. BRIAN HURSEY Photography is not responsible if key individuals fail to appear or cooperate during photography sessions or for missed images due to details not revealed to BRIAN HURSEY Photography."

[dnpayne]

Originally Posted by bhursey

Was this your first wedding? I have all of the stuff that went wrong listed in my contract as I am not responsible.. I have all the times outlined in my contract. Also I provide the shot list to the bride listing the shots I try and get.. I did the whole bride provide me the list before and that failed miserably.. I normally require the brides maids to be ready makeup and dressed 2-3 before the wedding and the bride be doing her finishing touches this changes depending on the size of the wedding. This is normal covers most things.

I actually ran into the makeup lady issue 2 weddings ago.. Per my contract it was not in my control so I was not liable for the missed images of the bride and the brides maids. We did some in between the wedding and reception after the family shots..



This is one of my clauses from my contract. I don't have my full wedding contract in front of me so cant list the others. but after my first wedding nightmare now my wedding contract is 5 pages.. LOL But that nightmare did return all the images I wanted it was just crazy and the bride treated me like crap.


"COOPERATION: The parties agree to cheerful cooperation and communication for the best possible result within the definition of this assignment. BRIAN HURSEY Photography is not responsible if key individuals fail to appear or cooperate during photography sessions or for missed images due to details not revealed to BRIAN HURSEY Photography."

This wasn't my first wedding, but I am still relatively new to photography. I do have a hefty contract, but I have to check and see if some of these things (makeup delays, people being late, etc..) are included. We would have been fine if the family pictures didn't take so long after the ceremony, but they ate up every minute we had, lasting an hour. The reception was a 30 min drive away, so by the time we got there it was dark outside too. Just a badly timed day. I should have been more active in the timeline for the day. :\ But, in my defense... I didn't know how many bridal party attendants, nor how many family shots we would get until the day of. So, I'm not sure if I could have fixed the problem anyway.

[Jim Bryant]

It seems that not only you lack the experience, but the necessary camera equipment as well.
So, how relatively new are you to photography? One months, two months, three months? What camera do you have and for how long? I firmly believe that camera equipment manufactures should apply warning labels to their cameras waring new be's not to charge money until they know what the hell they are doing.

[sk66]

This doesn't sound like it's going to end very well.....

[bhursey]

Originally Posted by sk66

This doesn't sound like it's going to end very well.....

does it ever? Jim is the bringer of the painful truth.. But he is normally right..

[Niresangwa]

psht...Weddings... how hard can they be?

It's not good enough to try and fall back on contractual back-doors that alleviate you of responsibility for not doing a 'good job'.

Managing your time line shouldn't be left to luck, neither should you just cross your fingers and expect people to be compliant. Someone always takes control during the day and it needs to be the photographer, not the relative with the biggest mouth.

Hopefully you live long enough to learn.

[Biomech]

We could have used about 2-3 more hours of shooting time,

So like 4 hours shooting the couple? I try and do it in 30 mins, after that they get fed up and annoyed. Plus there's a million other things for them to do :P Saying that, I try to focus my attention on other areas of photography now.

, not the relative with the biggest mouth.

I'm, unfortunately, quite reserved. At my last wedding (my biggest), the best man was an officer in the forces with >7ft of height and a booming voice. Best thing that could have happened to me, I told him what I wanted, he belted it out :P

[dnpayne]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

It seems that not only you lack the experience, but the necessary camera equipment as well.
So, how relatively new are you to photography? One months, two months, three months? What camera do you have and for how long? I firmly believe that camera equipment manufactures should apply warning labels to their cameras waring new be's not to charge money until they know what the hell they are doing.

I have 2 Canon 5d bodies (i and ii), 85mm 1.8 lens, 430exii flash, 90mm Tamron 2.8, and a older Canon 24-85 3.5. I'm looking at getting a better all purpose wide lens.

I've been shooting since last October, so coming up on a year. Weddings however, are still new. Only a few under my belt.

Maybe camera's should have labels telling those not to reply and offer advice if they are going to be condescending to people. Just an idea.

[dnpayne]

Originally Posted by Niresangwa

psht...Weddings... how hard can they be?

It's not good enough to try and fall back on contractual back-doors that alleviate you of responsibility for not doing a 'good job'.

Managing your time line shouldn't be left to luck, neither should you just cross your fingers and expect people to be compliant. Someone always takes control during the day and it needs to be the photographer, not the relative with the biggest mouth.

Hopefully you live long enough to learn.

Trust me. I did my best to try to gather people and get the show moving. In the end, it's up to everyone else to listen. It's a 50/50 thing. I can rangle, take control, or whatever all I want. If people don't listen... or are not focused... how can you blame me?

I find it interesting that everyone seems to jump to blaming the photographer for being a newbie, not knowing what they are doing, not doing your job or what have you. To be honest, it's not a very welcoming board and quite frankly I feel sorry for those who can't look beyond that and have a decent conversation with us photographers who might not be as established as the rest of you.