Weddings

Weddings are the most stressful things to take photographs of. Everything is important and it only happens once, which means you've got to be doing your best the entire night. Weddings are complicated and overwhelming, but you have to remember to stay calm and collected. Theres plenty of planning that needs to go on before you photograph a wedding.
First things first, you need to make a list of things that you need. Heres a few things you absolutely have to have:
-Batteries (And I mean like five packs. Literally.)
-Your flash
-ALL of your lenses (Just in case)
-If you have more than one camera, bring both
-At least three unused SD cards (we don't want old photos taking up space)
-A tripod and your camera remote (you never know)
-Any other special equipment you may need

Before the wedding, you need to meet up with the couple and their closest family or friends at least once at the location of the wedding and go over some photo ideas. You also need to have a look around the place and see if theres any special spots that are perfect for photographs. You need to make sure you know what they want, and that you have plenty ideas and space to make the best photographs possible.

When you get there, you start immediatly. Take photographs of everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. It will all be important. Make sure you get phtogoraphs of her getting ready. That is just as important as the wedding itself. Make sure you take as many photographs as possible. You can always delete the bad ones later.

During the wedding, don't be afraid to get up close and personal... as long as you're not in the way. Remember, you are there to take photographs so you need to be doing your job, even if you feel like you're being a bother to the guests. Feel free to take photographs of everyone, especially when they're being emotional. It doesn't matter if you know who they are or not, the bride and groom may want to see a photograph of them. Everyone who is in the wedding needs to be photographed by themselves at least once. That includes all the bridesmaids, flower girl, parents of the bride and groom, and so on.

When that song starts and people start walking in, you need to be photographing almost continuously. You should be taking as many photographs as humanly possible, but don't just worry about amount, you're there to take quality photographs and that is even more important.

The most important thing to photograph is the kiss. Thats the most important part of the entire wedding and you can't have them do it again. Make sure that the bride and groom understand that they have to take their time and be slow about things, because you're trying to get the best photograph that you can in that single instant.

If you do mess up, don't worry too much, mistakes do happen. It's always good to bring a back up photographer there so that you can get everything you need. I always go with a friend as her back up photographer. It helps me learn the ropes without having to take on an entire wedding by myself.
(I wouldv'e added photographs to this post, but my computer won't let me at the moment. I will try to upload them as soon as possible)