First Wedding...HELP!

I was unwillingly roped into photographing my first wedding by a friend who would not take no for an answer. I know, I should have quoted him a ridiculously high price to scare him off, but...

Any tips, tricks, what not to dos or other advice would be deeply appreciated. Its an outdoor wedding with the reception immediately following at the same location (inside I believe).

I've been doing landscape and studio portraiture for a few years now, but this wedding stuff is a whole new monster that I am scared to death of. How does a control freak maintain control in a situation of utter chaos?

Here's a start - You're not the first to panic about becoming an unwilling wedding shooter and you won't be the last. search results here!!!

Good luck and have fun! Oh, and welcome to the forum.

One last thing - make sure you check out the posts from bloo dog - they're both entertaining and educational!

Fast lenses, lots of batteries and Memory cards, and a calm and collected attitude (atleast on the outside). Good luck!

Have a read of this, buy this and the other books I link too at the bottom of that thread, and browse the wedding forum at fredmiranda.com

If you are the primary photographer I would highly recommend a backup camera, whether it be digital or film. Also a good flash unit with a bracket mount off the camera that you've had some time to use and understand how it's going to behave before the wedding. Find some wedding photographers sites with a Google search. Most have galleries you can look at. This is a good way to get ideas of how you may want photograph the event. Find out well in advance from the B&G whether or not photography is allowed during the ceremony and if it is, can you use flash if needed. Have a working relationship with the DJ or band. They can key you in on when different things that are planned to happen such as cake cutting, garter toss, etc. You don't want to be off taking pics of grandma and miss something important. Wear comfortable clothes appropriate for the day and particularly comfortable shoes with a non-skid sole.

Here's one of numerous sites you can find with a Google search:

http://www.usabride.co​m/wedplan/t_photo.html

Look particularly at the list of photos to take. It gets pretty hectic the day of the event and some planning ahead and knowing what you want to do next is all important.

Here's another I had bookmarked:

http://www.weddingbasi​cs.com/photography/

And lastly, don't hestitate to ask questions on these forums. There's alot of experience here that's always around to give a helping hand.

Hey, thanks Mark for the link to the BridesUSA site. It had the shot list I was looking for.

As a side note: I say and read many of the "real advice from real brides" but noticed the posts started 2001. Wonder what the % is still married?

My suggestion is:

1. Fast glass
2. Backup
3. Loads of memory
4. Spare batteries
5. Practice, practice and more practice

I got married in 2002 and was active on a wedding forum, about 75% of us is still married, 3 years later.