The life of a wedding photographer

I shot a wedding a couple of weeks ago and I think it had to be the worse wedding ever. I don't think I ever had a wedding go perfect, but this wedding put all those to shame. This was a wedding that I would not wish on my worse enemy.

Six months ago...

When I first talked to this couple 6 months ago, the bride was very excited to have me take their wedding photos and how the pictures were very important to her. I was a bit nervous with the pressure put on me to produce perfect photos. I studied poses and put together a plan on what I wanted to take so she would have a nice book to remember her wedding by.

THEN, came the two weeks before her wedding. I contacted her to set up a time to meet and pay the rest of the balance and discuss any changes before the wedding. I told her what time I needed everyone to be there so we would not be rushed for pictures. She said that it was fine and that everyone would be there. She paid and we talked about her wedding and took care of final details.

Thank goodness!

A couple of days pass, and I receive an email from her stating that she talked to her bridesmaids and they decided that we didn't need to be there that early.

Really? THEY decided? And how many weddings have they shot before?

I tried to explain to her that we did need that time to get all the photos that I'm accustomed to getting for a great book. She insisted that she couldn't, so I reminded her that my contract clearly states that if wedding party and client are late, it is not my responsibility for missed shots, etc.

So, my assistant and I show up at the venue on the wedding day. We came way early in hopes to catch the bride and talk her into starting early. We found her in the reception room decorating an empty room. She looked upset and when she saw us, she told us how the night before at the rehearsal, some of her bridesmaids turned on her, her maid of honor was at the emergency room for an allergic reaction, and she was fighting with her mom.

Ceremony starts at 4:30pm-it's 12:30.

We offered to help decorate, but she said 'no' and had her dad help her. We decided to leave and get some filler shots to kill time and when we got back (at the time she wanted) she was still decorating. I explained to her that we already lost an hour of shooting and couldn't be delayed any longer. She finally tried calling people to help and I was relieved to see some people finally show up to help. I figured that we would now be able to grab her and get some getting ready photos, only to find out she said she had to stay longer to show them how to do it.

1:45. tick, tock. tick, tock...

I finally put my foot down and said that if she wanted pictures done for her wedding, she needed to come-now! She agreed and we finally got her on her way to her room. When we walked in the room, her maid of honor calls her on her cell phone and starts yelling at her (she blamed her for her allergic reaction) and she can't get her off the phone. After about 10 minutes of the girl yelling at her, she finally loses it and starts crying.

It's now 2:00-we've lost an hour at this point..

She settles down and I finally get some getting ready photos. Just as I am about to take a picture, her mom walks in the room. The bride tries to talk to her mom for comfort and her moms blurts out, "Well, the problem is, you are just a bitch!"

OMG...

The bride jumps up and tells her mom to "F-off" and literally throws her out the room and breaks down again and starts crying hysterically. My assistant and I (who are the only other people in the room) just look at each other and give the what-the-hell-now? look. I decide to ask the bride if she would like us to leave and she said 'yes' so, we go down to the lobby. There, we meet up with the mom and she's telling the story to everyone standing around her. They all turn to us and give us a look and she blurts out, "Did she kick you out too?" I gave a nervous laugh and said, "No."

2:45 now...

I figured the day would be cancelled at this point, but she ended up calling us and said she was ready to take photos. We went back up and she was putting her makeup on. We got her mother-in-law to help with the dress. We were making progress now.

Wait! You don't think that was the end, did you?

Just as we were taking another shot, in storms the maid-of-honor. She starts complaining to the bride and she (the bride) calmly tells her that everything would work out and to just get ready. The bride turned back around, thinking her friend left, and mumbled something about how everyone was acting. The girl comes charging back at her and they start yelling at each other. The bride gets upset-AGAIN.

It's now 3:00...

I now have an hour to take three hours worth of photos. The bride decides to calm down so we try to rush her out to get her photos taken, only to have her drag her heels. I decide to just run down and take the groom's photos and that is the only thing that went smoothly ( guys are like that). We rush through his and then she (the bride) ends up finally coming down, so I rush through hers (haaaate thaaaaaat!). We threw in some bridesmaid photos and by then, it was 4:10.

Another, OMG!!

I ran to the ceremony part, threw in new batteries, and got ready with only 2 minutes to spare. We got through the ceremony and then...

Well, of course there was more drama-really? Did you think that my day would get better?

Hahahaha...

We still needed group shots and couple shots, so I told the couple that we needed to get right on it. The groom decides all of sudden, to start complaining. He said it was rude to keep the guests waiting.

What? Are you kidding me??

I explained to him that they expect to wait for photos-I wanted to add, "You bozos are the reason we are fitting photos in right now anyway," but, I bit my tongue instead. So, I only got half the poses I wanted.

We finally finished and went on to the reception.

God, please let this be done...

When we got to the reception, the couple did everything backwards, so we were running around trying to get everything. Oh, and I found out my ex boyfriend was the DJ.

Funny, wedding gods.

So, when we were FINALLY done for the night, I walked up to the bride and thanked her and said we had what we needed. She was all excited and said, "I can't wait to see the pictures!"

Trust me, honey. You can wait...