Wedding countdown, 3 days to go, it's all going wrong!!

Twizzel

Twizzel

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Rach
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:gag:

I promise this will be the last pre wedding post :cool:

For those of you who don't remember, my friends are getting married, their photographer booked a last minute holiday and cancelled on them, so they asked me to do it.

So dad kindly offers to come and help me, we go and check out the church last weekend and oh dear God this is not good!

The church is lovely and bright inside. I found the perfect spot to sit, whether we will be put in that spot is a different story!

The outside is a graveyard, undulating ground, gravestones everywhere, no decent backgrounds, no area big enough to accomodate 70 people.

We were working on 70 people being in the shots, until I found out at the hen night on saturday that it's more like 100 :bang:

The reception venue is dire for photography.

Weather is black clouds and rain.

I asked the bride to send me a list of names of family members, shots she would like, and times for when the groom arrives, reception starts, what time she's leaving her house and arriving at the church. No reply as yet, with 3 days to go :'(

On the plus side, dad bought a Canon 580EX II flashgun which will be helpful :thumbs:

I can't wait until the reception and a few well deserved drinks!!

Any last minute tips?
 
Book a last-minute holiday and cancel on them...lol
 
Is there anywhere else you can whip the guests to locally for photos? A park/field/empty space/big traffic island, lol?

L
 
I will add, the b+g have seen their church/venue and must know what it looks like and expecting that to be in their photos?

L
 
They think the church is lovely!! And said that there was land at the back of the reception venue for photos. The land is uphill, shaded, in order for me to be higher up than the people in the photos they would need to stand with a car park and building behind them.

We had a scout around the local area but there was nothing apart from another graveyard :(
 
Twizzel said:
They think the church is lovely!! And said that there was land at the back of the reception venue for photos. The land is uphill, shaded, in order for me to be higher up than the people in the photos they would need to stand with a car park and building behind them.

We had a scout around the local area but there was nothing apart from another graveyard :(
Click to expand...

in order of importance
i) don't panic

ii) take a step ladder
 
if its black & raining outside it won't be lovely and bright inside. Don't panic, and I wouldn't use the graveyard for groups. You'll upset the clergy very quickly if you direct 100 people to tramp all over graves.

Take a step ladder for the groups, you can always crop the worst of the backgrounds later. Get your Dad or the best man to help with group control and again don't panic. If its raining use the church or reception for photos

Don't panic (again)

Hugh
 
Let's employ some lateral thinking, is there no park/woodland/hotel gounds ANYWHERE near either the church OR the reception?

How far apart are they? How is the wedding party being transported from one to the other?

Have you planned any time in the day to get the B&G on their own?
 
You can never control the wedding venue. Just make do with what you have. If you can ship the bridal party off to a better location for the main BG and group shots then do that, those are the most important. For the full group shots the location is largely irrelevant since you're going to crop in fairly tight on the group to get as much face detail as possible.

Trust me, nail the ceremony and BG group shots and the rest is irrelevant. Shoot wide open on the reportage and portrait shots to seperate from the background and you'll bag more than enough to make them happy.

Make a list yourself of the shots you want to nail in the order of the day and then refer back to it to keep you in check (Bridal prep - shoe closeup, bouquet, makeup application, mirror shot of bride, through the door shot of bride, shot of mum fussing over bride, etc - groom party shots - reservour dog style shot, lineup shot, walking towards you shot - bride arrival - in car shot, stepping out shot, through back window shot, ......etc etc etc)

And try to enjoy the day :thumbs:
 
Good to see you are thinking along the same lines as me Tony :)

It's getting the B&G into somewhere good that is THE most important, hence the questions.
 
Post the address of the church and venue, we can see if there is anywhere near by or between the two that you can stop for photos :)

If you like I can email you the list of people shots we had for our wedding to give you some idea of the types of shots that you will be required to do.

Don't worry, take lots of photos and try to have some fun with it all :)
 
Hey Twizzel,

Just done my first wedding, I know how you are feeling, I managed to forget my notepad with the list of shots on it and that just made it a headache.

Isnt there enough room for everyone to stand right in front of the church for the group shot?

My advice would be to take a couple of extra shots of each arrangement than you think you need, better to have shots to throw away than miss something. I had some I thought were lovely when looking at the back of the camera only to find out that people had their eyes shut or were pulling faces when viewed in the big screen.

Good luck & Enjoy :)
 
Also, go and visit the B&G if you can and get them to sit with you and go through what they want, I doubt they will remember to contact you with everything that is going on!
 
The step ladder might help but it depends on the slope the guests are on, also is there a path to stand it on?, soft wet grass is a really bad place to be on a stepladder, the feet may sink in and tip you off. Find a local park and use that, much safer.
If it's really wet you may have to shoot the groups inside, look at doing smaller groups instead of big ones, easier to light with limited kit.
 
Thanks guys that's really calmed me down :) I'll try to answer all your questions.

The vicar has said we can do photos anywhere and everywhere as long as we don't step between him and the bride/groom, and use him as a tripod (!!)

My best friend is helping with crowd control since I asked the bride to sort someone out and she said "well I'm sure we can find someone on the day!" which blatently wasn't going to happen.

I think the bride has a car, I don't know how/when the groom is getting to the church, church and reception are about 5-10 mins drive away. Outside the church is a very small courtyard and then opens onto a main road.

I was thinking of getting the b&g on their own but it's hard when you haven't been given a schedule of the day, when they will be arriving, what time the reception starts etc. All I know is that the bride is having her hair started at 12.30 and the service starts at 3pm.

There is nowhere else for the bride/groom photographs aside from the graveyard/churchyard. The land at the reception is on a near vertical slope, both dad and I looked at it and said it just wasn't suitable.

There was a wedding last week when dad and I went to look around the church, the b&g had recognised the church was pants for photos and were having them done at a gorgeous hotel!! Damnit!!

There is no path in the churchyard/graveyard, just a strip of grass through the middle that has been mown short.

I've been to see the bride, the groom was playing xbox when I went, bride and I talked through things (I gave them the option of hiring a lens) and I left her with a few things to find out/do, such as the list of shots, family members' names, timings etc... none of which have come back to me.

Shoot me now!! :gag:
 
It sounds as though you've done everything you reasonably can do to do the best job you can for them. Relax??, enjoy the day and nobodies shooting anyone

Hugh
 
All you can do is ask, so don't stress too much. If they can't be bothered to come back to you then thay can't very well complain afterwards :)

If I were you I would drop them an email and ask once more, that way you have a record that you did ask them for all this and they did not provide it.

Cover ass time!

Now, this gorgeous hotel?...........is it far? If someone else is doing it you could try for it or at least sugest it in your email, yes covering ass time again. :)

Do send them something in writing just voicing your concerns on those things likely to affect the quality of the pics. If they don't help you to solve them then perhaps they are just not a priority for them?

One other thing to ask them though. Will they still have the suit and dress afterwards? Might be an idea to do a separate shoot afterwards with the B&G. That way you can relax a bit and they get some good pics. I know it's cheating but it's another thing to suggest to them.

Ass, well and truly covered methinks :)
 
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