So, Your offered a Beer at the Reception

I'll have a beer after the dancing starts but only if I know the people.

Landcruiser wrote in post #16204558
Yeah, it's pretty funny isn't it. How would anyone know they were carrying a concealed weapon? The fact that it is concealed is the first clue. Me personaly, I would rather have a gun than a beer in a dog fight, but that's just me.

yeah, concealed is concealed.

I usually use Lloyd's technique of pushing it down the road, then next thing they know i'm done and gone or the party has ended.
but I've had brides tell me to pack up and start drinking. I have no problem obliging if i'm not carrying a loaded weapon, my gear is locked up, I don't need to drive, and my obligations are clearly fulfilled.

and some weddings are different than others. my wife (and second shooter) held the bride up for a kegstand in one wedding reception. that is clearly a different situation than more formal events.

No drinking on the job for me either - between driving home, having people see me drinking - and not to mention, if for some reason the couple isn't happy with their photos, they could say I was drunk while working. Doesn't make a good case if, God forbid, they try to sue me.

Of course the old saying goes... If 10 people see you taking a sip of beer... that's 10 pints you've had.
Still, I do have a beer right at the end of the day, when I have packed my gear away and finished for the night. Sometimes I have one during the slow periods of the day if its really hot but mostly I have a lemonade.
I think its right to keep proffesional

I rarely drink alcohol but always offered some by family so I've built up an immunity to people who won't take no for an answer. I wouldn't drink while working. If I did drink, I'd just do it as soon as I've packed up.

Only time I've done it was at a destination wedding.

I don't think I'd have one at a more formal wedding, however. I'd find it more distracting than anything.

Only way I could handle doing weddings is drunk off my ass.


Mucho credits to y'all that shoot.

Hmn... no one has mentioned a beer before the wedding

That is for the groom. Lot's of beer.

Nope, Nope, Nope! Not on the clock. It's for the same reason I begrudgingly wear dress clothes to shoot a wedding. Perception matters. Although, I often have a cold one as soon as i walk in the door afterwards.

I won't even drink anything with caffeine in it before or during a shoot... let alone alcohol.

I made a mistake of of drinking an extra large coffee a few hours before. Only once.

digital paradise wrote in post #16225117
I made a mistake of of drinking an extra large coffee a few hours before. Only once.

That is why you have stadium buddy strapped to your leg.

Don't shoot weddings, but one thing that has worked for me at some parties I've attended where I didn't want to start drinking was to just say that my medication will react with alcohol. Almost 100% of the time people just say oh, ok.