I was asked to do my best friends wedding when they got engaged. Of course, I was more than thrilled about doing it. Their wedding day was May 18th. I had plenty of time to be ready, and I was prepared for the wedding. What I wasn't prepared for was what started the I would say a couple of days before the wedding. I lost my appetite, and I figured it was just nerves. I always get nervous before I do a shoot. Then the day before the wedding I was sent home from work sick. I was running a fever and coughing so bad I couldn't see. I convinced myself that it was the 24 hour flew bug my mom had. I went home and took tylenol and cough medicine and slept all day. The morning of the wedding I woke up to my fever breaking. And I was coughing a lot less then I was. I drank some hot herbal tea to help soothe the rest of the cough and got myself around. I got there right on time to get the pictures of my best friend and her bride's maids getting ready for the big event. We got to the church and got everything set up to do pictures before the wedding of the bride, bridal party, and her family. I got the pictures of the church, outside and in. I kept having to stop though to catch my breath and keep myself from coughing. I managed to get all the shots I wanted at the wedding, but when it came to the reception, I felt so drained and I couldn't stop couging. I got pictures of them cutting the cake and feeding each other, and managed to work my way around and get some of their guests. Her dad finally told me I was looking a little pale and made me sit down. I couldn't breathe, my chest felt so heavy. I kept coughing. I finally excused myself towards the end of the reception. I drove to my mom's house which was 10 minutes away, I kept blacking out and I must say I was getting scared. My mom took me to ER and I found out I had a severe case of bronchitis. I'm now on a breathing treatment every four hours, an antibiotic, and best rest through Tuesday. Now my question is, what is the best way to handle a situation like that?

Jenni

P.S. By the way, the wedding and reception pictures turned out perfect. I was a bit suprised

I should of said in the P.S. that the before wedding pictures were perfect too

I think you did exactly what you needed to do! You bit the bullet and kept your commitment. I'm not a wedding photographer so I can't say what most of them do, but you certainly learned a hard lesson. Seems the only answer is to have a possible back-up photographer. Find someone to assist at weddings and who can also assist with you if you continue to do weddings. You can both agree to cover for each other if one is sick or otherwise inconvenienced. It will have to be someone who has a similar mindset about the fees charged for weddings. No one will back you up (unless they are a good friend) if you are doing freebies or extremely low-cost weddings. As she was a friend you probably did not have a wedding contract. I'm not sure legally what could happen (possible lawsuit) if you had been unable to fulfill your commitment. Perhaps other wedding photographers will chime in here. You certainly should have some kind of insurance, I would imagine (for other reasons, too). Glad your shots turned out ok and you're on the mend!!!

This sounds like a really scary situation, and as saurora said, a prime example of why a backup plan is needed.

I have two personal friends who have shot a handful of weddings in the past, and would agree to shooting for my (current) prices. Their styles are completely different, however. AND, more than likely, the chances of them being available with <24 hours notice is iffy. People do have lives, and a wedding is a major weekend time commitment.

How do other seasoned professionals handle this? Would you really let an assistant shoot an entire wedding without you if you were hospitalized or otherwise?

Great topic, Jenni, and I think you handled the situation most professionally and were very fortunate to get the wedding in without collapsing! Hope you're feelin better!

Thank you everyone! I am just getting started with my own business, so I didn't even think about having a backup. I think that I will get on the ball about finding a couple now. And thank you Urban, I'm beginning to feel better. Last few days of nothing but laying on the couch/bed sleeping have helped, emotionally and physically.

The one thing I could not have done was cancel at last notice. A wedding is such a big thing in any woman's life. There was no way I was going to let my friend down. We got through it and she called me yesterday happily on her honeymoon. Her and her husband can't wait to get home, I'll have all their pictures printed for them when they get here. Please, keep the advice coming everyone. It's what I love about Dgrin

I photograph weddings for a living so I'll chime in. My first thought is that a good friend never has their wedding photographed by a good friend. that is too much pressure to put a friend through unless they are wedding professionals. I really don't know the particulars here. You could have had something communicatiive or you could have died trying to do the right thing. We always have an assistant that is capable of photographing the entire wedding and we normally have trained people on call just for situations like this. Fortunately we've never had a similar situation. It's great that you were able to pull it off. Have you wondered how your friend would have reacted if you indeed had to go to the hospital? Or worse. I'm not an alarmist but we in the business have to be prepared for situations like this if we are expecting to stay in business. Just some thoughts. bsvirginian

I did have to go to the hospital...i made it to my mom's blacking out and she took me to ER...spent 4 hours there on all sorts of monitors and had to take time off my other job to recover...she was worried but I had her pictures of her on time as I promised and they turned on GREAT. She loved them and so did everyone else...from them I actually got 2 more weddings scheduled...so all in all..i would say it was a complete success.

Originally Posted by bsvirginian I photograph weddings for a living so I'll chime in. My first thought is that a good friend never has their wedding photographed by a good friend. that is too much pressure to put a friend through unless they are wedding professionals. I really don't know the particulars here. You could have had something communicatiive or you could have died trying to do the right thing. We always have an assistant that is capable of photographing the entire wedding and we normally have trained people on call just for situations like this. Fortunately we've never had a similar situation. It's great that you were able to pull it off. Have you wondered how your friend would have reacted if you indeed had to go to the hospital? Or worse. I'm not an alarmist but we in the business have to be prepared for situations like this if we are expecting to stay in business. Just some thoughts. bsvirginian

I'm glad it all turned out well and she and you are both happy. I'm wondering since you posed the question about what to do in this situation, if you have made any decisions about what you will do if it should happen (and it could) again? Have you put any plans into action???

It's simple. Treat your body like your gear, take care of it so it doesn't break down on you. If something is wrong, get it checked out ahead of time.

I had the same thing happen to me, except that the moment I felt something coming on, I got checked out by my doctor who assured that I wouldn't be a health hazard to the guests if I was diligent about the antibiotics he prescribed.

Be vigilent about getting appropriate rest, nutrition, and whatever else you know you need to be your best.

I missed this thread when it first got going. Glad to hear everything worked out.

I probably would have done the same thing: pumped myself full of drugs and toughed out the day. Then learned that having a backup for myself is as important as for the camera gear.

I actually was on the other end of this kind of situation for my own wedding. A close friend of my wife's was a former wedding phtoographer, and we had her shoot our wedding as her gift. Well, it turns out she was sick that day & we didn't catch on until early in the reception. At that point we insisted she go home; her health was more important than a few more photos.

Wow, I'm glad you made it!! This is why I am terrified to even THINK of doing wedding photography. At my BIL/SIL's wedding, their photographer's wife was IN LABOR at the hospital and he stayed and did their wedding. Yikes!