Wedding Day Blues

Its June, and wedding season is in full swing! Weddings are by far, my favorite type of event to document. I think about how lucky I am to have the opportunity to document one of the most important and memorable days in the life of our couples. Its not just another job - every wedding is unique and should be treated that way. The day our weddings become just another number - is the day I stop shooting them. I think we do everyone a disservice at that point.

It's with that thought in mind that I figured I would update everyone on the craziness we see in our interactions with other vendors on the wedding scene.

It's your big day and you want everything to be perfect. You painstakingly worked with your vendors to put together your timeline, you review it the week before to ensure everyone is in absolute sync... except the day of... the makeup artist shows up 45 minutes late! It's raining outside and the church is kicking you out. The florist sets up at the wrong church. What now?

Sound far fetched? Trust me, its not. My goal, will be to document as much as possible some of the issues we see at our weddings and hopefully help you learn from the mistakes or mishaps of others.

Wedding 1 make up artists show up 45 minutes late. Excuse. "We couldn't find parking!" I can't believe they said this with a straight face. 3 make-up artists in one car and they all circle the block downtown looking for parking? This has all the makings of a bad joke doesn't it? I don't want to be captain obvious here, but wouldn't it have made sense for 2 of them to get out of the car and start make-up while one looks for parking? And if it isn't more obvious, there was a parking garage DIRECTLY across the street from the hotel which cost $5. Impact. threw the timeline for the entire day off by more than an hour and created stress for everyone. Oh and to make matters worse, when they finally did get there and set up - they waited to do the bride until nearly last. Moral of the story here. If something does go wrong, make sure you, the bride, gets in the chair first! The last thing you need is to feel rushed or miss out on pictures because you are waiting for others to get their makeup done.

Wedding 2 florist set up in the wrong church. Excuse. "We thought we were in the right church." The beauty of all this - the church they went to wasn't even on the same street, address, nothing. And when they set up - NO ONE was in the church from the wedding - I don't know... seems like that might have been my first clue. To make matters worse, the florists cell phone was going directly to voice mail. They had their phone off! The day of a wedding? So, no one could get a hold of them to find out what was going on. It wasn't until the groom called over to the reception hall - because in theory - that's where they should have been setting up next - that they got a hold of the florist. Impact. All pre-ceremony pictures were without flowers of any sort. Nothing for the bride, alter was bare, etc. And, we had a frazzled wedding party - parents and all. Moral of the story. Be sure you have contact information for the day of with your vendors. You never know what will go wrong and short of doing every one's job for them - make sure you have a way to get a hold of people the day of - just in case.

Wedding 3 its raining outside and the church is kicking you out. Excuse. "You don't have the church booked past 4pm." What ever happened to the charity of the church? I guess that comes with a price tag. This is a true story folks. And no, there was nothing after this ceremony - the church ladies just wanted to leave. It was torrential rains outside and they didn't seem to care at all. Not an extra 15min - nothing. The family had to pay an additional $400 to keep it open or leave. Impact. Talk about pressure! Pressure on me to get the images and pressure on everyone, including my bride. Needless to say, getting her to relax and smile wasn't in the cards that day. Moral of the story. Check with the church before hand and have a clear understanding on how much time you have post-ceremony and what your options are in case of rain, etc. Because in the end, you just never know.

I hope this entry has helped you. I will add more in the future. If nothing else, I hope it has helped you think about what is possible. Obviously, you can't plan for every contingency - but it helps knowing what others have gone through. If you want help in selecting vendors that we have worked with and personally would recommend - please give me a call and I will gladly help you. It makes it easier on all of us.

At the end of the day, this is your big day. Select vendors with care. Don't do what I have watched so many people do - penny wise and pound foolish - "I have a cousin who knows a guy and they are going to do me a favor." RUN!!!

:)

Sal