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Around this time last year I experienced my first honest to God Bridezilla. Before I arrived to start shooting for the day, the bride and maid of honor got into a huge argument and the bride through a chair at the MH. And then proceeded to crab her arm so hard that it left a perfect hand print bruise on her. Seriously you could almost make out her finger prints. Needless to say by the time I arrived everyone had this awful scowl on their face and no one was wanting to cooperate. Then after the wedding while trying to get album orders, prints and make a happy customer I ended up giving her discount after discount just to get her gone. In total she received approx. $6000.00 worth of products, retouching and other services for only around $2000.00.
YOU LIVE AND LEARN I GUESS!
I no longer give "you're a spoiled snit, but please take me to the cleaners any way just to make you happy and get out of my studio" discounts. Like it or lump it There's no reason to act that way.
Posted 47 months ago.
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I was JUUUUST about to post a wedding horror story and then I realized this was a public group, and I don't want any past clients (or potential clients) to somehow track it down. Some of them are pretty intrepid explorers.
Posted 47 months ago.
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Recently, I had my sister second shoot for me (be my assistant). She is only 18 but has taken photography classes in school and she takes pretty good photos. This was the first time she had second shot for me and she was so nervous. After shooting the ceremony, we were in the car driving to the reception, and she wanted to show me one of the pictures she had taken. She was so excited. Well of course, in a matter of seconds she ended up hitting the delete all button and deleted all of her pictures. I did let her shoot another wedding with me, and I was very scared that the same thing was going to happen. This time she did not accidentally delete her pictures, and many of them turned out really great. I think i can trust her now.
Posted 47 months ago.
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nothing TOO horrible yet....but im sure eventually something will happen..
one wedding it rained right before the ceremony so the ceremony was moved indoors..where about 85 people crammed into one room...
Posted 47 months ago.
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Groom and groomsmen showed up 30 minutes late for the ceremony time! Stoned too. Bride had been crying for 45 minutes because he wasn't there. Then, this couple had the audacity to complain that I didn't get all the formal pics they wanted. Of course, we were supposed to do the formals beforehand.
The nerve.
Another wedding I was shot in the back of the head by a pellet gun. Some kids drove by and were aiming for the 8 month pregnant bride. Fortunately (unfortunately), it caught me in the back of the head. Had a nasty headache. When I was filling out the police report the bride and groom did the garter & bouquet toss. At least they understood why I didn't have those shots, but I wish they had waited a few minutes.
www.rfoxwedding.com
Posted 47 months ago.
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OMG about the deleted images!!!
Posted 47 months ago.
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Dang Fox, talk about "taking one for the team". I had something the effects of bride and groom running late. I wanted to get the formal pictures done before the wedding, but it wasn't possible. After the wedding, I only had about ten minutes to shoot "some" formals, but I hate being rushed. I even setup my studio in another room, but that was a waste of time. I only did the ring shot there before the groom about passed out. He just got dizzy all of the sudden. Maybe the studio flashes were getting to him, I don't know. It wasn't a complete disaster, but still not a very good experience for my first wedding. LOL
Posted 46 months ago.
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photos are not deleted as soon as you press delete all. They are recoverable until you write over them.
Posted 46 months ago.
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My wedding was a total disaster. The funny thing is, all of the amenities worked out just fine, but it was a disaster anyhow. I started a new medication the week prior, which caused me not to sleep. I figured out the night before the wedding, with my mom's help, that I'm allergic to it. By the day of the wedding, I hadn't slept in three days. I broke out in hives. I didn't want to talk to anyone or be around anyone. I had huge bags under my eyes and wanted nothing more than a nap. People were SO irritating, because they kept on asking me questions about how I wanted this or that. I felt like saying, "do whatever you want with the damn flowers! I don't care! Just leave me alone and let me sleep!" (or try-- by the time I did go to sleep it had been over 48 hours. I discontinued the medication, needless to say.) I am so depressed when I think about it because I would have given ANYTHING to postpone it to a time when I wasn't sick and miserable. I hated every minute of it and can't do it over because it's DONE! I don't think I cracked a smile until after the ceremony. The reception got better, but I was so disappointed in the whole thing! It's been over a year, and I haven't put up any pictures or anything because I hate thinking about it.
Posted 46 months ago.
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This is not an horror story about photography, but video.
Once, I was ready in front of the church with my video camera, and then the chorus started to sing, so the ceremony began, and at that moment, I realized my camera didn't have a cassete.
I felt I was dying, so I told my assistant to stand behind the camera and fake he was filming.
I ran to a pharmacy three blocks away the church and bought two cassetes. This is the only time this happened to me in 19 years.
Posted 46 months ago.
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O!M!G! That IS a horror story! And I can only add to this after this weekend when my second shooter's car broke down on the interstate on the way there with us in it. Hotter than hell, halfway between here and there, an hour ride, with a concrete medium - so whoever comes to get us has to go almost the whole way and jump back on the Interstate the other direction to get back to us. Ugh, I'm too tired for details but it sucked.
Posted 46 months ago.
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www.flickr.com/photos/mackarnessphotography/2705587294/in...
enuf said...
Posted 46 months ago.
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Oscar jamie -
I want you on my backup/co-shooter list! You rock man, fast thinker and know just what to do...
Posted 46 months ago.
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Picture worth... how many words?
www.flickr.com/photos/marinal/27467139/
Not my shot, but I am very fond of it.
Posted 46 months ago.
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My worst experance the wedding went well but when I persented the proofs the couple ordered a lot of enlargments and I recived the payment but two weeks later the enlagements and proofs came back RTS there phone had changed and I couldn't find them again. About five years past and I happen to bumped into them in another state. They inquired adout the photo they purchased I didn't have the prints anymore. I looked into my old files and found there negatives which I gladly gave them. They tryed to sue but the judge through it out after they gave there side of the story but I still had to pay for my lawer and the time and expense of going back and printing all the contracts they had sign.
Posted 46 months ago.
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I just had my first official wedding shoot. I was a nervous wreck! There were 9 bridesmaids & 10 Groomsmen. I could not get anyone to listen to me. I had them all get on the balcony so I could fit them all in a shot ( I was doing this for a friend & only have one camera & 2 lenses, none wide angle) Well first of all the wedding planner from hell said nope that's ugly it's going to look horrible. Then I heard from the balcony," I'm afraid of heights" All the while someone from the back is yelling that they are 30 minutes into their limo service because they started the reception late. My pictures turned out pretty good, but not as good as I would've like them to be if I weren't rushed. Luckily they are just friends of mine. If I ever do one again I will have a 2nd person shoot with me. I felt like I was going to miss something the whole time.
Posted 46 months ago.
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stmpson17 -
Always work with the planner or better yet, the person paying the bill. If they say they want a shot (or agree your idea is good for a pose) get them to help you set the players up. Never forget you should be transparent and it is their party.
HOWEVER, you are the boss when it comes to your work, unless you can talk them into sharing the expense of your duties, they should do what you ask.
I think a degree in psyc should be a building block to shooting weddings... :)
And thinking your going to miss some
thing the entire event: You are, comes with the job.
Never shoot without a gopher!
Posted 46 months ago.
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Had my first wedding shoot in may this year, when i arrived at the brides house i thought she had been crying but no she had some sort of allergic reaction and her eyes proceeded to swell into tiny little slits through the day the left eye weeping some pretty awful goo! of course all the guests and bridesmaids were telling her she looked fine .............
To top it all of this bride hates getting her pictures took and refsed any posed pictures at all i tried to concentrate on the most inportant people there but with 150 guets it wasnt easy, She called me te other day to tel me the horrible news that her brother had died , her brother just hapened to be THE MOST camera shy person at the wedding i only have 1 pic of him she told me it was really important that he be in the album . The album that i am still waiting to be delivered 5 months later.
i may go into hiding !
Posted 46 months ago.
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The guy I used to work with back in the days of film left a bag with TWO weddings worth of film on top of his car, hopped in, and drove to the lab. About 30 feet onto the interstate ramp, he notices a couple of rolls (120 film) bouncing in front of him and slams on the brakes, causing all of them to fly off his roof and into traffic. The people behind him saw what was happening and graciously helped him corral all the rolls (he found all of them except one!). 6 had been run over, but only one ruined completely. So, out of 36 or so rolls of film, to only lose 2 was a blessing, but the ones that were crushed did all have some light leakage. I could tell he wanted to start drinking again that day.
Posted 45 months ago.
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I had the scare of my wedding photography career when I was shooting like crazy during a ceremony on an outdoor covered bridge and at the end of the ceremony I changed card for my camera and once I was ready to shoot some of the formal shots if figured out that I lost the card I just photographed the entire ceremony! I was so freaked out as the card must have fell out of my pocket..I was paniced and my wife/assistant was searching around and we didn't tell the wedding party we were going through such stress. It was horrible feeling...
Thankfully though it has a happy ending as my wife was searching she actually found the card in the sand parking lot. PHEW! Talk about a huge sigh...I was sooo thankful that she found it..and I continued to shoot the rest of the shots through the day and gaurded the cards with my life. I want to invest in a 8 or 16 gig card now so I don't have to switch at all!!
Posted 45 months ago.
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funny stories, but greater pictures!
Posted 45 months ago.
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My car broke down at a wedding just before the two hour drive to get portrait pictures, and finish up for the day... fortunatley one of the guests said he'd have a look at the engine... unfortunatley I had left it in gear and drove over him when he asked me to start it up! He was grabbing his leg for a quite a while after he got his balance!
I never usually have a 2nd shooter... I just prefer to be a lone man, but fortunately this was the first wedding I've done with an assistant, so he went on and got the pictures.
The RAC (breakdown) guy said the Carbarrator had gone, and to just ditch it... So I waited till he had gone and drove at about 20 untill I got enough speed up to get on the motorway. I struggled with the car for about an hour on the road, then it fixed itself at 60mph on the M4, and has been fine ever since!
I managed to meet the Bride and Groom at the end of the day, who found it quite funny.
Needless to say I have a new car now.
Posted 44 months ago.
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The Bride that never smiles. Well being new to wedding photography, I would think that this would be a happy day and you would want to smile. Not my bride, the only good pictures I got are where there bride is drinking a 2L (from the bottle) of Mt. Dew or a cigarette in her hand. It really made for some intresting photos.
Posted 44 months ago.
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Damn Tom,
That was aweful....and very funny. I am glad he was not hurt. Heavens, I have tears from laughing.
sharon
Posted 44 months ago.
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It definately gave me a good story to tell... Glad it made you laugh Sharon :o)
Posted 44 months ago.
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Hi Everyone,
Did any of these disasters happen in Southern California? If so, I'm casting a new series giving deserving couples a wedding do-over for WEtv. As long as their disaster was caught on tape, there is a great chance they could get this opportunity. And you would get a $500 referral fee as well as a special thanks and link to your business on the WEtv website. Contact me with great stories! ishtvcasting.rachel@gmail.com
Thanks!
Rachel Reiss
Casting AP
www.ishtvcasting.com
Posted 18 months ago.
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Reading all the stories, makes me not want to shoot wedding anymore, but none, here yet, praying i never get a Bridzilla. LOL that why i always do a sit down consultation, no good vibes not shooting the wedding.
Posted 16 months ago.
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it was one of my friends wedding and all I was carrying as storage was 32mb sdcard !!! needless to say more !
Posted 15 months ago.
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Well I have 2 horror stories.
The first is not that bad:
After booking and making all the arrangements and meetings, the day of the wedding I wen't from the bride's house to the church where I found half of the guest but no sign of anyone else!.
It turned out that they changed the church a couple of days before and forgot to tell a lot of people. We started to call everyone but they had their cellphones turned off. I recalled that at one of the pre wedding meetings she mentioned one church that was booked and she was sad for it. I drove to that church and I found them there, I missed only 5 minutes of the ceremony and the final images turned out just great.
2nd story and the worst day of my photography career.
My assistant was sick, so I went to this wedding with my girlfriend as assistant / 2nd shooter, she had done very well several times before so I was confident on her work.
Once we arrived at the reception she insisted that I should try something of the food they where serving. I never eat at weddings until I finish my work, but she was so insistent that I gave a try and ate some sort of roll. The roll was made of shrimp and I'm allergic to it. The reception was on the country so one of the guest had to drive me to the nearest hospital an hour away.
I left my girldfriend making the formals at the reception, but she was so nervous for the situation that she couldn't take any image. I had to get back with the saline solution still on my arm to take the shots but it was so far that I returned 3 hours later when everyone was tired and drunk and I was all sleepy for the medication. I don't need to say that the pictures turned out awfull and to make it worst a TV program crew specialized in weddings were covering the event (paid for the bride) and they couldn't use any of the images because they weren't good enough.
I managed to make it up with the tv station, because the following weddings that year turned out very good and they used a lot of my images that year but the bride still hates me and my fiancee's face still turns red every time someone says "shrimp".
Posted 15 months ago.
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She was a beautiful bride, but everytime I tried to take her picture, she started crying and kept avoiding me. We had to have a serious talk, she had hired me, but she was phobic about having her picture taken. We were able to talk through it and able to get the pictures she wanted.
I once shot a wedding and the only family member the bride had was her mother. So I made sure that I had plenty of pictures of the two of them. This was years ago and I was just starting out and using a 35mm SLR. The problem with SLRs is that you really don't see the picture when it is taken--the mirror is up. When I got my film back, in every picture the mother closed her eyes! I was so distraught. When I showed the bride the proofs and apologized, she laughed and "You should see my vacation pictures!"
After that, I learned to take pictures with both eyes open!
Posted 15 months ago.
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I just want to thank you guys for making me laugh!!! As a wedding phOtOgrAphEr myself, I can understand and sympathise!!! LoL!!!!
Posted 13 months ago.
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The only horror story I have is from the other day when my camera broke down the same moment the bride walked through the door. My backup one was at home because I had had problems with it too. Fortunately they were very understanding and forgiving, and invited me to join their wedding party instead :)
Now I know always to bring two cameras
Posted 12 months ago.
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With only two days to go to my second wedding ever I am wondering if it will be a disaster or something amazing.
I have been dealing with a wonderful wedding planner who asked me to photograph a surprise wedding.
I haven't met the bride and groom or even spoken with them to see what they want nor have I been able to go to the church and see what lighting I will be dealing with and I am only aloud to photograph from the very back of the church. It's the fairy tail sort with the horse and carriage and the limo after, an amazing Church and only a small amount of guests. I have been given only 2 hours to get the job done so I'm hoping its a great day and not a recipe for disaster.
Only thing that went wrong in the last wedding was that there were no lights in the marquee for the reception and one spotlight hung at the entrance leaving the entire wedding table in complete darkness!
Posted 12 months ago.
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photos are not deleted as soon as you press delete all. They are recoverable until you write over them.
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