Oh, my. I’ve photographed about 200 weddings. These are some of the better stories.
My first wedding was a training wedding. Dave was the photographer training me. As the reception progressed, Dave said he had a funny feeling about the groom. The groom was enjoying his alcohol just a bit too much.
Dave sent me over to the cake since it was getting close to cutting time. He said, “Don’t take any pictures. Just kinda be alert.”
OK. So off I go to stand by the cake. The bride and groom walked over. Well the bride walked over. The groom kinda staggered over. I stepped next to the groom, and just like that, his eyes rolled up into his head, he twisted, and fell into my arms.
No cake cutting at this reception. Not much of anything involving the groom from this point onward.
Nice little country church. I arrive about an hour before the wedding to take candid shots of the wedding party getting ready (dressed, makeup, flowers, boutonnière, hair, etc.).
Wedding is scheduled to start at 5:30 PM. I meet with the pastor, groom and groomsmen in a side room next to the alter at 5:25 PM. Groom is nervous.
At 5:30 PM we walk out to start the wedding. I place myself in a pew to take pictures of the girls walking down the aisle.
Music starts. Bridesmaids walk. I take pics. Get ready to take Maid of Honor’s pic. No maid of honor. No bride.
I go into the foyer to ask dad where bride is. He has no clue. I go back inside and stand in the back of the church.
5:35 PM; no bride.
5:45 PM; no bride. Groom is now beyond nervous. Guests are beginning to speculate. No show? Dead? Laying in a ditch?
5:50 PM; no bride. Pastor (not in a quiet voice) asks the groom, “Is she coming?” Groom loses it.
5:52 PM; bride and Maid of Honor arrive. We have a wedding.
At the reception I went over to the Maid of Honor and asked, “Did you all have car problems or something?”
Her response? “Oh, no! She’s always late.”
Redneck church in Newport, Kentucky. Think of your worse version of this kind of wedding. Not even close.
- During the wedding, the groom’s uncle tried to unsnap the bride’s mother’s bra strap.
- The bride’s train was about 6 inches longer than her dress, but she had a little girl follow her down the aisle holding it off of the floor.
- The bride’s father was running for office. He gave a campaign speech at the reception instead of toasting the couple.
- When it came time to cut the cake, the couple did not know what to do. This is common so I explained how it normally went. After explaining it two times, they still didn’t get it and the bride proceeded to dismantle the cake layers to get to the bottom layer to cut it.
- One of the guests asked my permission to dance with my fiance (now my wife). You should have seen the looks she gave me when I said, “I donno. Ask her.”