I recently got stuck on a tripod with a zoom lens behind this huge arch of flowers and missed the bride and father walking down the isle when the traditional European wedding turned out to be American and I thought my B-cam would cover the couples entry from behind. To make matters worse, one of the guests knocked my B-cam sideways, totally obscuring the isle. Result: I only got the face of the father. The couple was hidden behind the flower arch from hell. Always ask HOW the wedding will unfold.

Setting up my Konova slider in the last minute before the couples dance took ages. Quick release went AWOL and I just had to go handheld shake-a-thon instead. So much for that beatypass :( Don't waste time on screwing stuff together and miss that important shot. Use the same quick release on everything. Get your gear ready in time. Assemble that slider way before the shot. Know your bag inside out and always put stuff back in the same place.

don't worry, photoshop can fix it all up =) Funny stories by the way.

I was asked to help man a camera for a wedding and i didnt know who the groom was so i cut him in half for most of the ceremony. Forgot to switch the mic back on whilst filming a toast too.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Now I'm 100% sure I won't shoot wedding ever.

By that I mean flower arches!

Got one of my 3 cameras stolen (My HV-20) at a concert I was filming the night before a wedding shoot. Unfortunately the bag had chargers for both the HV-20 and HV-30, and I used up the battery on the concert. Scrambled to find an extra cam, ended up calling on my GoPro, hid it inconspicuously on the altar, and actually got kind of a cool shot from it. It was a low paying/low expectation gig for an acquaintance and they were happy with the result.

I've had many instances of signal-less wireless mics, or worse, absolute distortion throughout entire ceremony. Strange how that happens even when I test them right before the ceremony and they're fine...why does that happen?

Coming from a photographic background I often get asked to shoot weddings for cheap/free.

I say... "Fine! I'll leave all my professional camera gear behind and just bring my iPhone... is that okay?"

"You mean you're going to photograph OUR wedding with an iPhone?!!"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm going to text all your friends and tell them what a cheapskate asshole you are!".

I always jump at any opportunity to tell my lightsaber bride story. I was graciously asked by a friend to help him shoot a wedding (his videography partner was getting hitched, so he technically was there that day, but not as a camera operator). Anyway, I'm up on stage, and this is a fairly contemporary wedding with a full set of contemporary Christian worship music. If you've ever been to a contemporary service, you know they like low light (I actually prefer it myself in a normal worship setting). The only thing is, the bride apparently REALLY wanted everything lit only in blue. So I'm up on stage, the whole auditorium is black, with blue-gelled lights pounding down on the stage . . . and who do you suppose comes walking up the isle? And what color dress do you suppose she is wearing?

THE BRIDE. IN WHITE. LIT ALL IN BLUE.

She wanted blue, that's what she got. She was lit up like Skywalker's blade of pure plasma on the Fourth of July.

Other than that, it was a great shoot. Very courteous and professional stills photographer, plenty of pre-planning, and it all went just fine. Shooting with two camera operators makes a big difference.

@pundit Spot on! @Mark_the_Harp I have yet do do Russian Mob Wedding (TM) but until then I'm gonna practice dodging camcorders!

@Mimirsan

Yep, I think it is very good school also. As it teach you do it all right at the first try.

I've done a number of weddings held in Catholic churches (thus, a catholic wedding), and each one of them the church coordinator tells me that I can not move at all during the whole ceremony, but then I see photographer roaming about freely...??

Shooting weddings ain't an easy gig but it's great experience - I don't think I've ever shot a wedding where something didn't go wrong but if you've got a backup - you can recover. Like the celebrity wedding I shot recently. grabbed a line out of the desk for the speeches one to have the operator turn the levels down to nothing! luckily each camera (3 of) has a small shotgun mike and so I had sound, not great sound but passable.

That same wedding I discovered what happens when you shoot outside on a cold rainy day and rush inside to a warm humid room - by the time the bride entered my lens had fogged up so badly it looked like she was in a smoke filled room - I ended up in the toilet trying to defog the lens during the ceremony! - luckily I had 2 other cameramen & a static wide shot to cover things.