Second wedding ever- C&C please!

Can you post some EXIF for your reception shots? It would help us better guide you as far as technical settings during the reception.

EXIF on the cake cutting picture-

Manual exposure, 1/125, 4.0, iso 800. Without the flash, this would have resulted in an almost black frame. Flash was a 580 II, set for ETTL. Camera body was a 40D, lens was 24-70 2.8L. Focal length was 30mm. Flash on a bracket, head angled at 45 degrees, bounce card out.

Dad dancing with the Bride- Pretty much the same- except f3.5, and the focal length here was 70mm.

I am aware- I can open up the lens a little more, and boost the iso to let some ambient light creep into the exposure- but my experience there is that the photos end up a little soft. It seems that either way, the walls end up a dreary yellow.

Thanks for any input!

The light seems a bit flat.
I would take a softer image with better lighting than a flat image. Jut my opinion. A second light would have helped. All that said,I am sure they love the images.

I spoke with the B&G yesterday- they are thrilled with the pictures, and while on one hand, that is the ultimate test, on the other- they are probably not the harshest critics. I appreciate the advice and comments made on this forum as it seems to come from those with some experience.

Considering the moving around that went on, a second light would be a pretty big hassle, I would think, but obviously do-able. The posed formals could be done pretty easily with some off camera lights, to be honest I expected those to be outside, so the shots in the church caught me a little off guard. Experience will hopefully keep me less flustered.

I appreciate your input- thanks very much!