First weddingshoot was not a great experience :(

Sorry to hear you had a stressful time...but as others have already mentioned, that's pretty run of the mill for a wedding day. Never enough time. Nobody listens. Little to no cooperation from vendors, or bridal party, or guests. Conditions change. Something with your equipment goes wrong (mechanical breakdown or user error).

CanonYouCan wrote in post #17766634
I like to have time for composing, lens selection, like modelshoots with a nice model on a nice location, no stress, time to make the pictures you want.

If you like model shoots...then portraits are going to be right up your alley. Plenty of amazing portrait photographers who won't touch a wedding for the exact reasons you mention. Uncontrolled, unexpected variables are unavoidable...if you like control...weddings aren't for you.

This doesn't sound that bad. You just have to take charge. I make sure I get the itinerary and I watch the clock through the day. If we are in the middle of something and I see that time is running out, I tell them we either need to hurry and get going or she will be sacrificing certain shots. My last one, we were in the city and the bride wanted to get shots downtown but when we got downtown, they just wanted to keep hanging out and drinking on the party bus. I told her if she wanted photos downtown we had to go NOW. We immediately got everyone going and got the shots. She thanked me later and said that they just weren't paying attention to time.

It is the B&G's job to enjoy their day. And sometimes, you are the only one with the wedding party who knows the itinerary so you have to keep them on track. Most of the time, they are running a little behind. If you inform them of the time and what needs to be done and they do not cooperate, that is their own fault and it is also in my contract that I am not liable for a lack of photos due to lack of cooperation.

Most of the time, I am like a second wedding coordinator. I usually have members of the family and wedding party coming to me and asking me "what's next" "is it time for this yet?" I coordinate with the DJ and we work together to get the shots. I even make sure the DJ squeezes in certain things before my time is up, so I can get certain shots.