WEDDINGS ARE BIG BUSINESS
BILLIONS — It is a multi-billion dollar industry and it’s players and shooters are composed of all types of people; Some of those players with great integrity and some without any integrity at all, thats just mankind, the good, the bad and a few really ugly.
Hopefully with a permanent cure for the Covid situation and an increase in global economy for all the idea of a nice wedding with economics in-tune will re-occur.
We are a mixed bag, some with the latest and greatest new gear and some with old gear; some with standard and some with custom gear. Some with experience and a following, some with one name or notch on the belt and that was a relative.
Many have plans for the long run and building a solid business, and some with the weekend extra cash in mind and simple survival. A good portion have increased their knowledge and proficiency base through training seminars and apprenticeship and a few just made it through Popular Photography devoting much of their time to the equipment ads.
I once answered a blog post that someone had asked “Heavens! What on earth did those poor wedding couples do for thousands of years before the invention of all these rules, customs, traditions, electronic music and photography?
I replied, It was far simpler in the old days. “They enjoyed themselves… roasted a pig or a cow, swapped a few head of cattle, fed everybody, and stayed married for the rest of their lives till death did them part, (they didn't live as long) and in some cultures never re-married.
Then it became a business. Photographers, musicians, hall owners, dress designers, witch doctors, planners, consultants, advisors, relatives, and the clergy put their two cents in one at a time… total of $1.68 and ruined things…
In the first scenario the loser was the pig or the cow. In the second scenario, the loser is the bride and groom, everybody else makes out. So we’ll look at it from the Photography standpoint, the other parts of the WEDDING are complex enough to warrant their own website and we call it part two. The most important part of the equation is not what you think, it’s what you know. Lets see what a Wedding really is...
THE NEW DAWN — Weddings today have changed. It used to be a relatively simple celebration of life event with kisses, hugging, bell ringing, glass clanking, toasts, lots of Hoop-a's and Mazeltov's. It’s a different story today. Today, they are choreographed epics with Bridezillas and reality show wedding gown failures and Estrogen emotional crack-ups.
On the other side there may be Testosterone emblazoned fighting, the display of lower rear and now frontal body parts, use of poor language and the consumption of alcohol and a few illegal drugs.
With basically bare bulbs, a Graflex and plates, evolving into twin lens reflexes like the Yashica, Rollie, Mamiya and Minolta, I, (WE) somehow managed to cover the event usually based on 120 prints in an album. That was the past. Two decades from now those older pictures will still be the same, and the ones taken today will bring comments like “ Why did we invite those people”?
It's called growing up and many of the wedding couples may not be very mature, influenced by elders also not developed thinkers. Weddings today, and I have spoken of this in the many articles and seminars, do fall into categories both by the participants and those hired to do the bidding. If I were to do the structure on a chart it would start with a basic out line as follows
Bear in mind this is NOT a condemnation of financial structure but the style points for various general assemblies, and nothing is in stone, I have witnessed some real high-end Weddings where the damages exceeded the actual costs, the retail of the Wedding. Anything is possible… this is just a guide.
— PARTICIPANT SCALING —
- WEALTHY WEDDINGS are usually: Over the top; Traditional; Very Conservative; Hollywood / Photojournalist Fine Dining, Limos, large Bridal Parties —
- MIDDLE CLASS WEDDINGS commonly are: Traditional; Conservative; Semi - Hollywood; Semi - Photojournalist, Copy-cats and generally a fair amount of sit-down guests and music —
- ECONO CLASS WEDDINGS hold the line at: Traditional; Unconventional; Conservative and sometimes Bizarre or imitating on a smaller scale of the middle class
- BARE-ASS OR THEME WEDDINGS most likely are: Hopefully Traditional and Simple; Lots of fun; Caution Can Be Unpredictable with lots of drinking and or drugs, Redneck En-fused; Cro-Magnon, Neanderthal and Warcraft, Lots of Home Cooking —
— COUPLE OF CRITICAL THOUGHTS —
- NOT MY JOB: First, I make a strong point of NOT telling them what to do unless they ask. You are not the Wedding organizer and when the “ KAA-KAA” hits the electric air flow rotational device (the fan) you do not wish to be standing or stepped in front of the Brides wishes, her mom nor the coordinator.
- YOU CAN START A CONVERSATION WITH “ MAY I SUGGEST SOMETHING I SAW AT ANOTHER WEDDING?’ Make friends with the wedding organizer, a pact that you will support each other, no tricks or interference and no back stabbing. She’ll be pissed because the guy she uses for weddings pays her a bird dog fee and he isn’t here so she gets no commission. I actually picked up a few organizers when the saw the work my team did.
- AND I DO PAY A FINDERS FEE. It’s just business. Only once, I ran into a real bitch, I wanted to really ask her where she would like her body sent to for burial if she ever spoke to me like that again. I’m really a cool person, this one got to me. The worst part was she was 90% talk and and 10% talent. All my cohorts and shooters knew about her in less than three days.
- THE CHURCH RULES — Your job at the Wedding is to record the event in a pleasing and complimentary way to the participants regardless of how crazy it or they might appear to you. This is especially important in the second phase of the Wedding after the Church ceremony and things lighten up.
- SECOND, NEVER GET IN THE WAY OF THE PROCEEDINGS IN THE CHURCH. Any unusual rules or regulations should have been discussed at rehearsals or beforehand with the Church leader, Priest or Rabbi. If I have to, I will study the setup and adjust my game plan to fit the situation. I am also looking for opportunities for the money maker or unusual shot that could take it over the top simply because we saw something from another angle.
- COUPLE OF RELATIONAL THOUGHTS — Wedding photography is like shooting sports, you are in the moment and redux simply don't exist. It's the reason many don't join this profession and the reason many work with a second shooter or assistant. But the second shooter usually walks in cold and has no priors with the family.
- GENERALLY I AVOID THE FOLLOWING: Weddings at Religious retreats, Wiccan, Druidic rites, and Satanic or S&M worship. I stay clear and won’t even go there. I usually forward those requests to someone else. You do not want to get tagged there, unless it’s your bag. If some of the strange is your bag, you might be able to build a monopoly and thats OK because you are in control and understand different people. I hesitated to use the word weird.
- I DO AND HAVE ACCEPTED CORPORATE WORK but i treated it as a wedding till i established a following with them. Get it in writing, get a deposit, do it by the book… enough said. That’s it folks for the more unpopular and unconventional weddings and events and we’ll look at more conventional types.
- SCRIBES AND THINGS THAT COUNT — We live in a world of cultural difference and nothing shows that premise better than the Wedding ceremony which you, you lucky devil, have been retained to perform at. Those folks have selected you to be the court scribe on the most important day of their lives. In the old days, going as far back as the Neo-Babylonian days the court scribe recorded all the events and rulings and changes the Kings, Judges and others made.
- THE SCRIBE WAS FAIRLY SAFE SINCE MANY COULD NOT READ OR WRITE IN THOSE DAYS. If he did screw up, boiling oil fixed things. If you screw up, the results could vary so the point is the more you know the less you will not know when it counts as to what brand of oil you prefer. Here are a couple of clues as to what to look out for. And I mean no harm or inference to anyone, just telling it like it is or in my case was. One has to respect the difference and cultural beliefs people have.
— POINTS OF LIGHT — BRING YOUR SECOND —
Wedding photography like shooting sports, you are in the moment and redux simply don't exist. It’s the reason many don't join this profession and the reason many work with a second shooter or assistant. But the second shooter usually walks in cold and has no priors with the family.
A good idea is get there early and walk the second around and give her or him a cheat sheet and instructions. My shoot lists are laminated and critical points are noted by Avery dots based on the size of the job. Once in a while I run into something different and I take my second shooter with me.
One couple recommended to me invited me to their home, I usually prefer a first meet at the church to get a range of work. Appeared to be a nice couple till they left the door open to their living room which was festooned in NAZI regalia of all sorts. Including a large portrait of Adolf Hitler, Swords, Helmets, Flags you name it. I was in the middle of the Fourth Reich. I lied, I told them I worked with the FBI and this would be a conflict of interest. We got the hell out of there.
— PSYCHOLOGY OF A WEDDING —
A wedding again is really the changing of one’s relationships. The new structure is cemented by vows and promises of love and devotion. This not only involves the participants, known as the Bridal Party, but all the members of the two families are now bonded (sometimes only temporarily and with really cheap glue) by matrimonial conduct and a little love, lots of sex, quick kids and a divorce when something new comes along.
If you have been asked to shoot a wedding… consider first a few steps to ascertain you know what you are doing. Figure out how you got there. Something usually starts with the Brides side. She asks you. No one in their right mind offers such responsibility with no gain unless they are nuts. And it is usually accepted by someone who hopes to gain experience or the thrill of being important or thinks very highly of their own skills.
If you agree to all of the above the next step is critical — plotting the job — The only truth in his whole statement is that the wedding market is the same for all. I am correct on that one point. It’s really how you handle it. The difference is style and allocation, tradition and a level of conservatism is what defines it. A wedding is simply the bonding legally and spiritually of two people, regardless of color, faith, gender, age and in some cases planet of origin.
Ask yourself the difference between a drunk on a curb and a college President. Nothing basically, they are both humans and alive. But one handled his problems and the other succumbed to them. The difference between a winner and a winer is just one letter and world of attitude.
You have to look inside. I immediately look to determine what level of expertise my second shooter has, this photographer guy/gal is on. Their answer draws me in because there are clues both positive and negative, different angles or beliefs, that I am reading from him or her.
— YOU BECOME A PSYCHIATRIST —
Weddings are truly special events because ninety percent of the process starts and ends on the same day like the Super Bowl. No re-do's, no takeovers or trials, nada just sheer conclusion and you become a hero or the junkyard dog.
By now after the last page you discovered why you are here. If you have been asked to shoot a wedding… consider first a few steps to ascertain you know what you are doing. Figure out how you got there.
It started with the Brides side. She asks you. No one in their right mind offers such responsibility with no gain unless they are nuts.
And it is usually accepted by someone who hopes to gain experience or the thrill of being important or thinks very highly of their own skills. So half the blame is hers and half is yours.
ASK YOURSELF. “WHY ME”, What divine providence placed you in the center of the universe for this couple taking the vows? Was it your relationship with the newlyweds to be, or did
they approach you because of your photographic prowess or knowledge? Is it a case of economics?
Was it those Teddy bear portraits on the couch that qualified you as a pro? Should you have stayed on bed and not answered the phone?
“Why me” is always a good question. You might be asking yourself that later. Thank them for thinking of you in their hour of need, it’s not your hour of need.
This should be a clue and bells should be going off. If you didn’t understand this paragraph, please look up the expression “you have been had”.
We have to understand where you stand in this equation. Dry land or up to your ears in water…hot water. If you go ahead with shooting a Wedding, read and consider all of the following. It is an overview of a situation you are about to participate in and explains some of the consequence.
I have seen beginners simply doing a friend a favor and create a situation they could have easily avoided. Since I teach this game, make that a lot of situations I have seen that should have been avoided. It wasn’t that the photographer wasn’t talented and could with the program mode today get images, but he wasn’t up to the situation and was easily overwhelmed.
— PROS HAVE TO HANDLE UNIQUE SITUATIONS —
You learn from experience. I interviewed one of the top names in the business and asked him what it was like, the first few jobs. He said, “it’s one of the few times in my life, I was sweating, had a dry throat and an upset stomach all at the same time”. Then I got really nervous when I got out of my car and walked into the Church. I know that feeling. I have seen the good, a baby born of Bride beginning the big move at the reception, it was a girl less than two hours later, a health seven pounder.
And “the look”, the beam in a woman’s eye on that special day when dreams are fulfilled or furballed.