worst nightmare at a wedding?

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so was wondering what sort of mistakes people make at weddings and that led on to me wondering if anyone has had a complete nightmare at a wedding.
real one not make believe lol.
whats the worst thing that has happened from your perspective as a photographer at a wedding?
 
I've not had any disasters as such, but then I plan not to :)

I have had two ripped dresses, one ripped veil, a bride who's bridesmaids did not have a clue and left me to dress the bride. The usual divorced parents who refuse to be in the same pic as their former partner and one where the divorced father threatened to slap the mother after she renaged on an arrangement to pass their daughter over in the church and dragged the poor girl down the aisle herself.

In a former job I have had a full blown riot where the hotel got trashed, chairs got thrown and ambulances had to be called. There were more blue lights on the driveway of the hotel than guests cars, now that would have made an interesting pic. :) I doubt whether I'd have been hanging around figuring if I should use some off carmera flash!
 
The majority of people that do weddings professionally have backups of most things (can we not get into that debate again though?!), so I'd have thought most complete disasters will have been avoided.

And the people that don't have backups and have had a mare will probably be keeping quiet to stop everyone else saying "You should have had a backup"!

Chris
 
If your refering to photographer problems I have things like camera or lens fail, but I just switch to back ups and carry on.
I edit photos for a few other wedding togs, the most common mistake I see is leaving the camera on high iso after the inside a dark church shots, the second would be wrong colour ballance inside the church.
The worst thing I have had at a wedding was the grooms father have a heart attack and die.
 
Ah but do you have a backup for your backup Chris, because if you have to use your backup then you have no backup :) lol

Which is why it's also really rather nice to shoot with a second, we often have 5 cameras between us. Now THAT's a backup!
 
lmao that must have been interesting the last one, id have taken pics of it just for personal record.
i guess the only thing that can go really wrong is having your stuff nicked but then thats preventable?
 
AliB said:
Ah but do you have a backup for your backup Chris, because if you have to use your backup then you have no backup :) lol

Which is why it's also really rather nice to shoot with a second, we often have 5 cameras between us. Now THAT's a backup!
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When I did a wedding a few weeks ago I took three bodies & a selection of lenses - I think all three dying on the same day would be too unlikely!!!
 
AliB said:
Ah but do you have a backup for your backup Chris, because if you have to use your backup then you have no backup :) lol
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Nah, I just have a point and shoot, that's all you need for a wedding right? ;) :lol: (You wouldn't catch me dead trying to be a wedding tog, I'm quite happy with flowers and pretty views and things that won't sue you if you get it wrong :D )

Wow, a heart attack, that's really got to put a downer on the day! I can't even imaging how tough that must have been for everyone. Was it during the service? How did you deal with that as a photographer? Did you stop shooting from then on?
 
swanseamale47 said:
The worst thing I have had at a wedding was the grooms father have a heart attack and die.
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thats terrible, cant imagine the effect that had.

i guess im interested more in these kind of unstoppable events. rather than kit failure, but that too if its catastrophic.

Im wondering how bad it can get. Either events within your control or out of it.
 
philthejuggler said:
When I did a wedding a few weeks ago I took three bodies & a selection of lenses - I think all three dying on the same day would be too unlikely!!!
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Don't you believe it, I once had 3 Nikon FM2's (film cameras) all die during one shoot (not a wedding admittedly) fortunatly I had another body left, my last one, can't remember the model but it was one of the first autofocus models made by Nikon, I scraped by on that.
 
chris321 said:
Nah, I just have a point and shoot, that's all you need for a wedding right? ;) :lol: (You wouldn't catch me dead trying to be a wedding tog, I'm quite happy with flowers and pretty views and things that won't sue you if you get it wrong :D )

Wow, a heart attack, that's really got to put a downer on the day! I can't even imaging how tough that must have been for everyone. Was it during the service? How did you deal with that as a photographer? Did you stop shooting from then on?
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It was just as we came out of the church, I took two or three pics of the B+G and noticed something going on behind me, that was the end of the pics, groom went off to hospital with his dad in the ambulance.
We all went back to the marquee (near the church) after a ltttle while brides mum came up and gave us the news he was DOA, and that they wouldn't be any more photos as the bride was going to the hospital, we could stay for food if we wished or go, up to us. We went.
 
That's an awful story.

I got married 2 weeks ago and my photographer didn't turn up! I had to call him and ask where the hell he was and it turned out that he had me down for the wrong date because his calendar hadn't synced. He got there 5 hours later and missed the ceremony. Gutted.

I thought that was bad but realise I'm lucky to have had all our family there alive and kicking.
 
Don't do weddings myself, but I recall many years ago the son of my parents neighbours got married. My folks went to the ceremony, then me and my sister attended the reception in the evening. The photographer must have been thanking his lucky stars he had just finished getting all his shots and was packing up his stuff at the back of the hotel foyer, because suddenly, as I was leaving the ladies room, the door into the main function room flung open and the bride stormed out [this was no more than 10 minutes after the first dance], followed by the groom and huge row ensued. The end result was her chucking the ring back at him and marching off down the road with him, his two brothers, his sister and her bridesmaids following. :eek: Must have been quite a sight for the drivers out there as this was on the main A6 through the town :lol:

You won't be surprised to know they were divorced within two years
 
hailinguk said:
That's an awful story.

I got married 2 weeks ago and my photographer didn't turn up! I had to call him and ask where the hell he was and it turned out that he had me down for the wrong date because his calendar hadn't synced. He got there 5 hours later and missed the ceremony. Gutted.

I thought that was bad but realise I'm lucky to have had all our family there alive and kicking.
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Still completely unexceptable of him though. Hope he gave you your money back

Hugh
 
No, he offered me a £125 discount!! (Because the albums are so expensive)

This is the package we agreed:

2 photographers for the day 10.30am – 10.30pm
1 x 25x35, 25 double page GraphiStudio Album - (with 80 images in)
2 x 20 x30, 25 double album copies (copies of main album) Copyright and CD with all original high res images
2 x Canvases of our choice

All for £1625.

I have told him I will accept a £325 discount.

I still don't think I should be paying anything though!

Luckily we also had a videographer so he said he can pull off some stills so we can have some of the ceremony in the album.
 
I'd want either my money back - or for him to stage a re-shoot at his expense and for him to organise. Its his problem regarding the album prices. I just can't comprehend how you'd not get the date of a wedding right.

IMHO the stills he pulls from the video will be nothing like the quality you'd get from a good DSLR and probably not good enough for an album - unless printed very small - not to mention the copyright and other issues with him doing this

Hugh
 
You're right. I cried three times on my wedding day, I missed out on all the shots of us getting ready not to mention the most important part of my hubbys forst look or me walking down the aisle.

I actually bought wedding insurance... Should I go down that route? I'm just worried that if I do, he won't send the photos and I wont have any at all...
 
I've PM'd you, but I agree completly with what you've missed out on. It should be up to the photographer to pay for this on his insurance though - not you on yours.The no photos issue is a difficult one, but its down to him to make this good.

Hugh
 
hailinguk said:
That's an awful story.

I got married 2 weeks ago and my photographer didn't turn up! I had to call him and ask where the hell he was and it turned out that he had me down for the wrong date because his calendar hadn't synced. He got there 5 hours later and missed the ceremony. Gutted.

I thought that was bad but realise I'm lucky to have had all our family there alive and kicking.
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Thats appaling, I really feel for you.
We got a call from a venue last year that the booked tog hadn't turned up could we come and cover the wedding, the guy who took the call grabbed his kit and went. About 2 hours after he got there the booked tog (another local-ish tog) turned up saying he had broken down, the grooms father asked him why he hadn't phoned and he said he forgot, but he was there now and would take over, the grooms dad told him to leave and that they would carry on with our chap. Nice pick up for us. Think it went to court in the end with the other tog but haven't heard the outcome.
Our guy said he thought the original tog had either forgotten or got the times mixed up, he was scruffy and unshaved.
 
:cuckoo:I really don't understand the whole missing the date/forgetting/etc.. saga.

I'm a second shooter for my other halfs company. If anything we turn up at least 2 hours before the wedding, if the bride doesnt want getting ready pictures and even earlier if she does! I just couldn't imagine screwing someone around like that.
 
I originally booked for Sep then changed my venue and the date. He said that when they changed to date to the new one, his calendar hadn't synced. I had literally emailed him a few weeks before to pay the balance with '25th July' in the subject title and they still didn't realise! He said they usually have brides giving them 20 phonecalls the week before but I was so laid back about it all, I didn't feel the need to call as had everything confirmed via email.

I'm about to call the insurance company now. I'll let you know what the say.
 
They were supposed to be there at 10.30am (2 hours before the ceremony) but i was so distracted getting ready etc that I didn't realise it was past 10.30am and they weren't there.

The insurance said it's not covered because he did turn up and did some work.

What do to? Should I ask for a bigger discount? Or should I leave it if he agrees to refund the £325?
 
hailinguk said:
I originally booked for Sep then changed my venue and the date. He said that when they changed to date to the new one, his calendar hadn't synced. I had literally emailed him a few weeks before to pay the balance with '25th July' in the subject title and they still didn't realise! He said they usually have brides giving them 20 phonecalls the week before but I was so laid back about it all, I didn't feel the need to call as had everything confirmed via email.

I'm about to call the insurance company now. I'll let you know what the say.
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It really sounds like a poor excuse on his behalf for really unacceptable behaviour - especially the 20 phone calls bit. Most brides don't chase like that - some call me a couple of days before to make sure everythings still OK - but I've met all of them at rehersals or venues within a couple of weeks of the day and many are happy with that confirmation or via email.

Hugh
 
hailinguk said:
They were supposed to be there at 10.30am (2 hours before the ceremony) but i was so distracted getting ready etc that I didn't realise it was past 10.30am and they weren't there.

The insurance said it's not covered because he did turn up and did some work.

What do to? Should I ask for a bigger discount? Or should I leave it if he agrees to refund the £325?
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Ask him to refund all of the money - he didn't do what you'd asked him to do and what you contracted him to do.

Hugh
 
Agreed the 20 phone calls thing sounds like a pathetic excuse. I have one or two phone calls in the two weeks prior to a wedding and no more.

Good luck getting it sorted.
 
I'm emailing him this:

Upon reading the emails I see I also have 5 x 8x10 photos included in the package. I also think it's hilarious that in the same email confirmation it says 'you have booked the package with Daniel and the extra photographer, this will ensure that nothing is missed from the day.'

Upon reflection, I'm not happy with a £325 discount. I still can't get over the fact that you missed us getting ready and the ceremony. Can you please come back to me with a proposal of what you intend to refund. I and many others feel you should be honouring the package and refunding all the money for ruining our day but I will wait and see what you come back with. (I'm sure you must have adequate insurance as a wedding photographer that will cover the cost of the albums).

Does this sound fair but firm?
 
Sounds fair, but could I suggest the following change


from

I and many others feel you should be honouring the package and refunding all the money for ruining our day but I will wait and see what you come back with.

to

You should be honouring the package and refunding all the money for ruining our day.

just to make what you want from him a little firmer and give him no wriggle room

Hugh
 
Thanks Huge, I've changed it.
 
I just thought - with the money he refunds, it can go towards getting my first DSLR!!

Typical me trying to put a positive spin on a bad situation!
 
I'm thinking if it might be worth just telling them to forget the albums and photos etc and just give me a full refund and a the CD of all high res images and I can get my own made.

Or is the package price a good deal for the main album and 2 smaller ones?
 
Just get the discs, and sort your own prints out, much cheaper
 
And then use the money to book someone on here for a nice shoot with everyone dressed up again, well at least you and the groom. Then you have some good shots for the wall.... you could even do a trash the dress shoot....
 
I really wanted the storybook albums... Are they easy enough to get made myself?
 
hailinguk said:
I'm thinking if it might be worth just telling them to forget the albums and photos etc and just give me a full refund and a the CD of all high res images and I can get my own made.

Or is the package price a good deal for the main album and 2 smaller ones?
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Not sure quite what to suggest here - on the face of it the 3 Graphi albums, Canvases and prints are a very good deal, but if he missed you getting ready and hes lifting still from the video for the ceremony then I question how good they'd actually be. It should also be possible to make an album using his images, some from your guests and things like order of service in their as well. I've seen these work really well

OTH getting your own album made is harder, just because he'll have access to the Graphi design & ordering software and be used to using it.

On balance, I would be going for your money back & high res images on CD, but thats me - others may disagree

Hugh
 
There's 4-6 hours work in putting together an album and you often need to be registered as a pro with the album company to get the software they use for the album design. So it's not quite that simple.

It might be worth getting a refund though so you can pay someone more reliable to do your album design for you. Some companies will design it for you if you provide the images but bear in mind they usually ask for 20mb files so make sure you get that quality off him. The usual charge for the companies to do the design is about £150.

Hope that helps in your decision making.
 
Hmmmmm I'm not sure what to do now as I like the quality of the Grafi albums but then again I feel I deserve a full refund.

You know, he turned up with a poxy mount and said 'Get your guests to sign this and you can put a picture in the middle. It's normally worth £150 but of course you can have it for free!'
 
You said in earlier post, you would be happy with £325 discount.

Are you really happy paying £1300 for photos of your reception only.

The ceremony is the main part of the wedding, the reception is just the after party.

Did he get the formal shots outside the church ??
Did he stay till 10.30pm as the package ??
 
hailinguk said:
Hmmmmm I'm not sure what to do now as I like the quality of the Grafi albums but then again I feel I deserve a full refund.

You know, he turned up with a poxy mount and said 'Get your guests to sign this and you can put a picture in the middle. It's normally worth £150 but of course you can have it for free!'
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there are words to describe that......but this is a polite forum.

I know where you are coming from with the Graphi albums, but at the same time if half the images from your day are missing or poor quality then the album wont be high quality either. You could also use some of the refund to pay an album design company to put a Graphi album together for you

Hugh
 
I am going to ask for a full refund based on him still sending me the CD of all high res edited images.

I will just have to shop around for an album.

Thanks for all your PMs, it means a lot having advice from the professionals.

I will keep you posted on his reply.

This is what I'm emailing him:

Upon reading the emails I see I also have 5 x 8 x 10 photos included in the package. I also think it's hilarious that in the same email confirmation it says 'you have booked the package with Daniel and the extra photographer, this will ensure that nothing is missed from the day.'

Upon reflection, I am so upset about the whole situation and the fact that we have no pictures of the ceremony or the morning that I would like to forget about the albums, canvases and prints and be sent a full refund along with the CD of all high res edited images and copyright. This is the least you can do for ruining our wedding day. (I'm sure you must have adequate insurance as a wedding photographer to cover this.)

Can you please confirm and arrange the refund to the following account ASAP.
 
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