Frusterated - what was my mistake at the wedding?

--This is a long post and picture heavy--

Hey guys, this recent weekend (Oct. 18) was my sisters wedding and I was the "unofficial" photographer. She didn't get a photographer for the event as most of the people there were relatives that our parents had invited (over 500+ people!) and she said that's what the videographer is for, to capture the moment on video for the parents. She had asked me if I could take pictures of close friends and family, which I told her I would be happy to and did.

I brought with me in my little backpack the only gears that I have, Canon T4i, Canon 24mm f/1.4 L, Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L (both version 1), and Canon Speedlite 430 EX II. The moment I get there I instantly start taking test shots with my prime lens to get ready for the event. I ended up using Auto White Balance as I told myself I'll fix it post processing. I usually shoot in aperture mode at 2.8 without flash, which I found was too slow so I opened up a bit to 1.8 and then wide open at 1.4. ISO, I would change from 400-800 depending on aperture. On my Speedlite I kept my settings at 1/64 (as I didn't need much power, just a little pop), zoom at 105mm (from my understanding, this is so the flash spreads a bit), and had the flash pointed straight up for the most part or angled one click down from the straight up position.

Now to my frustration and question: Most of the pictures I took that night didn't come out as sharp or in focus as it looked in the LCD when I would review them, especially with the 70-200. The room wasn't dark but I found that my camera/lens would have to search for focus more that I'd like to. With the ISO at 400-800, the external flash as well, I found most of the pictures to be nosier than expected and when I add some noise reduction in lightroom, it makes the picture way soft. I ended up switching back and forth from Aperture mode to Shutter priority mode because with the shutter priority mode I was able to capture the moment, even for portrait pictures.

Was my mistake not shooting in Manual mode? Did I not have the settings right when it came to aperture, ISO, shutter speed? I am just a hobbyist and don't have any intentions on doing this as a profession so any CC and future advice is appreciated.

EDIT:
Post 1, 2, and 3 updated.

All these pictures were taken with Canon 24mm f/1.4 L USM. Reason why I chose these is there seemed to have been an ample amount of lighting to make the shot simple and in focus.

1.
Aperture:2.5
S/S:1/25
ISO:400
Flash:Fired

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/psJt​K2

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/pJWc​kH

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So many images that its difficult to focus on a few to critique but here are a few thoughts. Watch your background, you cant pose people so that a wall lamp is coming out of their head. You've discovered the truth sbout high iso interior shots the hard way, just because there is enough light doesnt make it good light. So many of these have bright foreheads and dark eyes because of directional ceiling lights. Others are underexposed as well. You need to add flash. After reading your technique you need to get the light in the faces. A bounce card might help or bounce the flash from other subjects

I think that you captured some really good photographs that your family will enjoy for years to come. I especially enjoyed the two with the traditional wedding garb.

a demb flash attachment would have worked wonders.

post a few that have exif info..

Aperture and shutter modes need TTL to work properly. If your flash was set manually at 1/64th then you needed to also set your camera in manual.

In a reception room I would normally start at ISO 1600, 1/60 shutter, f2.8. flash at half power. either bounced or with a diffuser on. Then adjust from there. I like to have plenty of ambient light and just use the flash to softly light faces, rather than turning night to day.

Lot's of things can go wrong to make a soft image...
The camera is not 100% perfect all the time regarding focusing, an entry level camera will have a lower hit ratio than a higher level. But even the 1dx will not get 100% of the shots all of the time.

Depth of field may be too shallow and if combined with focus and recompose can lead to more missed shots.

Grain? We are very spoiled in these modern times, the grain on ISO 3200 B&W film looks about the same as the grain on a T4i's ISO 6400. Colour accuracy is way more important. Higher ISO's do restrict final print sizes, and the grain on your 72DPI 2 megapixel JPG preview on a computer screen is noting like a final 300DPI 18 megapixel final print. Viewing a picture at 100% is like standing a few inches from a billboard. Photo's are like impressionists paintings, you have to be at the correct viewing difference to appreciate the full picture.

Flash zoom at 105mm spreads the light? Try 24mm. You had low white ceilings and pale walls, bounce flash would work nicely in a room like that.

Too many photos. Post four only, with basic exif. Could be anything - technique, gear, etc.

I switched to Nikon as even after 3 years of effort I couldn't get my Canon gear (inc 7D, L lenses) to focus consistently and accurately. People berated me and told me I was doing it wrong. With Nikon everything was in focus from day 1.

tim wrote in post #17223560
Too many photos. Post four only, with basic exif. Could be anything - technique, gear, etc.

I switched to Nikon as even after 3 years of effort I couldn't get my Canon gear (inc 7D, L lenses) to focus consistently and accurately. People berated me and told me I was doing it wrong. With Nikon everything was in focus from day 1.

Funny you say that... I always have focusing problems with my camera. I just can't ever seen to get it where it should be. However, I probably AM just doing it wrong

Haha. Come on, Tim. The OP clearly has shown user error in multiple ways (not seeming to understand depth of field, using 1/64 flash power, accepting ambient light quality that was horrific), so to suggest that the reason his shots didn't turn out was because of the brand of camera he has seems absurd--your experiences notwithstanding. The takeaway implication from your comment is that he should switch to Nikon. Do you really think that's why his photos are, how shall I say, off ?

tim wrote in post #17223560
Too many photos. Post four only, with basic exif. Could be anything - technique, gear, etc.

I switched to Nikon as even after 3 years of effort I couldn't get my Canon gear (inc 7D, L lenses) to focus consistently and accurately. People berated me and told me I was doing it wrong. With Nikon everything was in focus from day 1.

@OP: you're shooting at large aperture for many of these shots. This results in less of the photo being in focus, so being able to choose the focus point is imperative. Did you choose focus points ? Or was auto focus just choosing the point for you ?

In general the light doesn't really change much at a wedding reception--it's fairly consistent. I think shooting in manual and than riding the flash exposure compensation to properly light your subjects would have been the way to go here. I happen to use the flash in manual mode as well, but ETTL (auto) with exposure compensation might have suited you better.

Christopher Steven b wrote in post #17223614
Haha. Come on, Tim. The OP clearly has shown user error in multiple ways (not seeming to understand depth of field, using 1/64 flash power, accepting ambient light quality that was horrific), so to suggest that the reason his shots didn't turn out was because of the brand of camera he has seems absurd--your experiences notwithstanding. The takeaway implication from your comment is that he should switch to Nikon. Do you really think that's why his photos are, how shall I say, off ?

I don't know why his photos are off, he didn't give enough information. It's probably not, it's probably a combination of beginners mistakes, but I don't trust Canon focus systems. Even the photos from my wedding photographer, who's very expensive/experienced and uses 5D3's and L lenses, weren't as good as they should be.

Looks like some bad settings or you flash was not going off. The spot lights or overheads really gave some NASTY shadows. Based on the last one with the groom, your shutter speed was pretty low. When you have those nasty overhead spots, you have to overpower them.

What mode were you shooting in?

Thanks for the response guys, I really appreciate them. Give me some time to respond to them, maybe by tonight or tomorrow as I've got a busy afternoon/evening.

At this point, I will say and admit that I obviously don't know the settings as well as I thought I did since I started learning 4+ years ago. For the flash, I bought it used so I watched a lot of tutorial on YouTube with the settings and went from there.

As for the EXIF information, my flickr account shows that my EXIF data setting is set to be not hidden. Am I missing something?