need advice!

[V-Town]

so i am going to be possibly shooting a wedding in january
its just a small wedding at the ladies house. and i was wondering if i could get a few tips and pointers just to prepare myself and make her photos come out good and have a good time while doing it
if you can give me any tips that'd be awesome!!

[tirediron]

Sure can. Run. Run far away. Don't come back until after the wedding! Okay, assuming that's not an option, preparation is the key. I assume from you say that you're going to be first/only shooter, therefore, in no particular order:

1. Scout the venue with either the bride, groom, maid of honour or wedding planner. Know what will take place when, where people will stand, where you can stand. Is flash allowed? Do you have enough fast glass if it's going to be dimly lit inside (the rule rather than the exception). If there's an out-door aspect, take care to note where the sun will be when you're shooting, and be prepared to use fill-flash and/or reflectors as required.

2. Discuss with the bride and groom where they'd like their 'formals' done, and who will be in them.

3. Discuss with the bride and groom what they want in terms on an end product: Types of pictures, special shots (eg Old Aunt Selma who's travelled all the way from Timbuktou) Prints? How many and how large? Digital files? How many? Cropped for printing?

4. Discuss and agree on usage rights: Do they have unlimited rights to do with the images as they want? Do you have rights to show them?

5. Have at least two bodies; one with a wide, fast lens (ideally a 20-70mm range) and a longer fast lens (say 70-200mm). Have flashes for both bodies, figure out how many batteries you'll need and double it. Figure out how many memory cards you'll need and double it. (You may need to rent some of the gear)

6. Shoot RAW or RAW+JPG, DO NOT SHOOT JPG ONLY!!!

7. Have a wedding timetable, know exactly how to get to each venue (if there is more than one location), check for parking, arrive at each a minimum of 30 minutes early.

Hope that helps,
John