Camera choice

Since you are second shooting. I would suggest a 40D. You can get one very cheap and then the 50 1.8. If you can swing it the Tammy 28 to 75... You can get 1600 out of the 40D with a good exposure and post processing.

Trust me, you can do it. I shot weddings for many years and the fastest film I used was 400. I got excited when Kodak came out with 800 that was suppose to be as good as their 400 but only used it once.
Buy the best lenses you can afford and then worry about bodies. Your lenses can last you a very long time while the bodies will come out with features you want every few years.

zagiace wrote in post #13152791
monopod, tripod, flash. It is nice to have higher ISO/ lower noise available but you don't have to have it. Been done for years. It is only very recently that higher ISO performance actually became a deliverable product outside of journalism.

very true. Now it's viewed as "art"