You Folks Who Shoot Weddings...

You folks who shoot weddings get a tip of the hat from me.

I've shot one wedding in my life (for friends), and I was a total wreck during the whole thing. All I could think of was "Man, if I screw this up, these people are gonna' hate me forever".

I couldn't imagine living with that angst all the time, and I know I would...

Its why I 2nd shoot to get really good at it first.
Cause if I screw up its not the end of the world. Well, it is when the main photog tells me to cover something and I know he won't be getting shots of it.. pressure! But it eases your way into the *stress* of it I think.

You do enough of them, and you will learn how to plan things out and anticipate things that happen throughout the day.

After 30 years of shooting weddings, I still find myself checking once, twice and a third time on almost everything I do. The level of "pre" wedding work I do is enormous so that I DON'T find myself flailing on the day of. I always have a back up plan for inclement weather and a back up plan for that plan.
Even with everything I do (and the above doesn't really cover the extent) I'll sometimes find that I'll go to the park for the outside shots, never having changed my iso from the church. It happens. And if it's a stressful day, it always seems to get worse.
It's a mentally tiring day for me with all the attention depth of field, light directions, iso and composure demand. Getting to the reception is a relief because the tough part of the day is over and I can relax and have fun.
But I love it and can see myself shooting until I can no longer pick up a camera.