MagicNikon
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 p.1 #1 · [Updated] If it could go wrong...it did. | |
I haven't had the time to put this into writing, so this is my first time really sharing the events from a wedding a few weekends ago.
My wife is a college instructor, and one of her students inquired about using me for her wedding. No problem. The wedding would occur after she was out of my wife's class, so I figured there wouldn't be any sort of conflict of interest...money changing hands and so forth. I handled all of the details of booking and meeting the client. My wife normally does this with me, but since she was the brides instructor, we thought it best to leave her out...so I handled the business side of the affair.
No problem, and everything went smoothly. The problems started two weeks prior to the wedding date, though. Thankfully, none directly involving me.
My wife comes home one night from school to inform me that the bride, Teresa, had gotten a TEXT MESSAGE during class from her country club venue, indicating that they had overbooked for that date, and "So Sorry!" she had to find another place to get married...in two weeks.....in June.
She of course emailed me as soon as they had booked another venue. It happens that was farther away for us to drive. No big deal, lesson learned about a contractual clause for changing the venue location, and having to drive further. With gas prices spiraling out of control, it can eat into the bottom line for sure.
So, anyway, the original plan included 10 hours of coverage. 2 at the rehearsal dinner and 8 on the day of the wedding. Well, with the plans changing at the venue, they also scrubbed the rehearsal dinner photos and asked if I would just come 2 hrs early on Saturday to cover the makeup and hair session.
Sure, no problem. We had an email confirmation to be at the new country club by 11:00 AM. So we left early enough to find it, the GPS took us right to the doorstep and we unloaded our gear and waited for the bride.
We waited.
And we waited....
Is this the right place? I checked my email confirmations again and again, sure that I was in the wrong place.
An hour goes by. Nothing. No one. The rental place had finished setting up the outdoor chairs and archways. The food and beverage guy was nice, and he insisted that we were in the right place, and that no, the bride hadn't snuck past us.
So, my wife and I had lunch. Might as well. Eventually, the video guy shows up...he's really nice and we start talking. Then the make-up and hair girl shows up. Mind you, the hired help was there on time. No sign of the groom, bride or bridal party.
At about 1:00 PM, the first bridesmaid shows up for hair and makeup, followed by a few others shortly thereafter. Excellent, time to start shooting!
The MOH comes over after a little while, and says that she has some bad news. The sister of the bride does not want her picture taken.
"Huh?" I say. Wow. Okay....as long as the bride is aware. She apaprently was aware and had called to apologize, but in fact, I was not to shoot the sister. At all. Wow.
The bride finally arrived at about 1:30, a full 2.5 hours after she wanted photography to start. No problem, we get fully into the rhythm of the day and move ahead as planned.
A little later, while outside with the groom, he brings out the rings to show me. He opens the box upside down, and the brides wedidng rings falls to the concrete.
Tink, tink, tink....
Oh man...a scratched ring! Worse. He picks it up and utters these four words "The diamond is missing."
The rock had literally popped free, like it was spring loaded, and launched itself into the surrounding rock landscaping.
So, there we are. The videographer, the photographer and the groom all on our hands and kness looking for a diamond in the rough. The MOH comes out and asks whats up.
"Lost contact" says I. So, she joins in...only looking for a contact. I prayed that she wouldn't be the one to find a loose diamond in the dirt.
20 minutes later, the video guy comes up with his "contact" and all is well. MOH goes inside, and we try to figure out how to repair the ring. No way, it'll have to be done later. At least he had the diamond now though.
So, we're all outside doing portraits, and the bride is fielding phone calls about guests whlo have gone to the wrong venue. Yes, that's right. Half the people are going in the wrong direction to a wedding at the wrong countryclub. Remember, she only had two weeks to get out new invitations.
She handled it surprisingly well, even though two of her friends were in car accidents on the way to the event. It just keeps piling on.
Well, the ceremony went well, it was beautiful, and the rain that had ben predicted was holding off nicely. We had hoped that all of the crisis's were behind us.
Not so.
The recpetion was in full swing, and while I was on the dance floor shooting some of the kids running arounf dancing, the guests were behind me finishing up their meals.
"Omigawd! Someone call 911!" I heard from behind me. I wheeled around, and right at my feet, the poor brides Mother was having a seizure on the floor. I couldn't believe it. Panic in the reception hall....chaos everywhere. Paramedics and the fire department all had to be called.
It was wild. Thankfully, the MOB regained consciousness, but she had to be taken to the hospital nonetheless.
To my surprise, they went ahead with the reception. Both bride and groom decided to go on with the show. No problem. Now I can start shooting again.
The rest of the reception went off without a hitch. The B&G had their first dance, which I was surprised to hear that it was Metallica's Nothing Else Matters. Now, I'm a metalhead from back in the day, but I was surprised, but I thought it was cool also. The videographer and I exchanged knowing nods of appreciation for the selection and finished the night a few hours later.
Whew...that was a lot of writing. lets sum it up:
1) Bridal party showing up almost 2 hours late to venue.
2) Groom dropping and damaging the bridal ring.
3) Guests getting in car accidents and going to the wrong venue
4) MOB (who was okay after the incident) having a seizure and being wheeled out by the fire department.
5) what else......
Oh yeah, I found out later, that the bakery had delivered the wrong cake. They didn't even have the right cake. I also learned that during the B&G's first date, they had a car accident. Also, last semester, my wife informed me that they each had separate car accidents with EACH OTHER!
God bless them. I wish them well.
I did hear back from the bride, and she loved her pictures. So, at least she had that going for her 
I hope I was clear in descring the way things happened. I really have to say, that all things considered, it was a beautful wedding and she made a beautiful bride.
What do you all think of that? Anything similar?
Edited by MagicNikon on May 31, 2008 at 01:55 PM GMT
Edited by MagicNikon on May 31, 2008 at 01:56 PM GMT
Edited by MagicNikon on May 31, 2008 at 02:00 PM GMT
Edited by MagicNikon on Jun 11, 2008 at 11:39 PM GMT
Edited on Jun 11, 2008 at 06:39 PM
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It fit our relationship 'story' to a tee
