Carl Viens 
, Sep 02, 2010; 08:09 a.m.
Hi everyone!
This coming Saturday, I will be shooting my third wedding. This last Monday, I asked to go with the B/G to the church for the usual practice of the ceremony. This is particularly helpful for me to confirm light, focal lengths, obstacles and have a last discussion with B/G before the big day.
The first thing the bride wanted to tell me was about a major change. She was told 10 days before the wedding day that the vineyard they choose for the diner and reception is permanently closed. Considering such news, the B/G were quite lucky and where able to book an hotel reception hall with everything they needed.
Formals
We were supposed to take formals in a beautiful environment. Depending on the weather, we would have been taking formals outdoor in the vineyard with gardens and nature at its best or indoor in a superb, warm and well decorated place.
Now, we have this 'cold' hotel, more suitable for conferences and meetings than for wedding formals. So I suggested making a stop, between the church and the hotel, to a nearby city park. Because of the extra driving that would be required, the bride prefers not to make that extra stop and head directly to the hotel.
So yesterday, I called the hotel administration and I was kindly granted a visit of the hall. It is located on top of the hotel on the 14th floor. There are windows on the 2/3 of the circumference and the other 1/3 is the bar, toilet doors and exit sign. Ceilings are pretty high with skylight, but a small area has a lower 12-feet ceiling. The room is 3-4 times larger than it is required for their group size. You may have a look on the hotel website page of the reception hall.
Suggestions?
I am sure some of you have faced such a situation - I hope. If you had to take formals, the usual list of formals with close family members and old friends, in the described environment, what would be your sure bet? Where, how would you take these pictures? Would you plan setup lighting and background? Would you shoot formals with the party as a far background? For many people, those formals are pretty important.
If this can help, I have worked with continuous lighting before and I can rent just about everything. I own an umbrella/tripod for my Speedlite. I have a Canon 7D and a variety of fast lenses. But if you ask, I prefer not to deal with extra lighting.
Any tips would be so much appreciated.
David Schilling - Chicago, Illinois 
, Sep 02, 2010; 08:24 a.m.
You can still do the formals the old-fashioned common way by using the church altar after the ceremony. You might also be able to stop at a nearby park on your way to the reception hall. BTW, last minute changes don't happen several days prior to the wedding, I once had a complete change of church venue less than two hours prior to the ceremony start time. My job included calming the bride and reassuring her that all would be well, in addition to the photography.
Marios Forsos 
, Sep 02, 2010; 08:41 a.m.
See (possibly by talking to the hotel) if there is rooftop access (or generally, external access) and see if you can get some shots with the city/town behind them at twilight. In that case, you should be prepared to light them appropriately and shoot, most likely, in full manual mode (both on the camera and the flash).
Another solution might be to shoot them in various corners of the hotel - say the bar (some hotels have a grand piano there and usually complement that with moody lighting), maybe a suite (to be used only for shooting - that can be taken care for with a small fee for the room cleaning afterwards). If all else fails, don't forget that you can always shoot some street scenes with them..;-)
Now, almost all these solutions require very, VERY good lighting knowledge as you will be called to overcome some pretty tough situations (lighting-wise), but may result in superb images.
Carl Viens , Sep 02, 2010; 08:53 a.m.
David, thanks for this fast response!
This is a such a great idea and I am considering this very seriously. The church is so beautiful. It was built in 1820 and is wonderfully preserved. Tiny thumbnails are available on the web in this french PDF file.
I will confirm with the church if there are any other ceremonies after the wedding celebration. I know for sure that four baptisms will be celebrated previously.
I read a lot of your contribution David, many thanks.
Mark Anthony Kathurima 
, Sep 02, 2010; 10:16 a.m.
Carl, I was also about to suggest you try and get some rooftop shots. Those should make for some memorable images as well. 14 floors is pretty high up and you may well be able to capture some very nice scenery.
I agree with your preference, try and keep lighting simple. Use what you're used to. Fast lenses may not necessarily hold much benefit during the formals. You'll want to shoot in the region of perhaps f/5.6 to f/8 to ensure that you get sharp images. This is especially important if you are handling a group consisting of more than one row. Depending on what the ambient lighting may be, you may or may not need to supplement your lighting.
Carl Viens , Sep 02, 2010; 11:20 a.m.
Good advice for the rooftop shots. When I visited the place, I had the same thoughts. It is the only building 30km around that is above 5 storeys. With you both suggesting it, I have officially requested an access authorization and I am now waiting for an answer. In the case we are granted the access, I have asked to keep it secret for a nice surprise.
@Marios | I am sure your suggestions will inspire me - and the B/G!
David Schilling - Chicago, Illinois , Sep 02, 2010; 07:30 p.m.
Carl, You're very welcome. Looks like a beautiful church and the perfect spot for many of the formals and group shots. Good luck and be sure to post some of the shots here afterwards :-)
Nadine Ohara - SF Bay Area/CA 
, Sep 02, 2010; 09:49 p.m.
I agree with considering the church first. And the roof top or other nice areas in the hotel. If worse comes to worse, though, in the past, I've used the reception room itself, with the decorated tables as background, particularly if visible decorations are nice. You would basically would be standing on the dance floor. This is a last ditch suggestion though. If inside, with high enough ceilings, I'd use an off camera flash into an umbrella unless you could bounce off a wall with adequate f stop/DOF for formals. Of course, size of group might be a limiting factor, although I've done fairly large groups this way. You use chairs in the first row.
David Haas , Sep 03, 2010; 07:56 a.m.
The hotel has an indoor garden area. Call them up and see if you can get exclusive use of the area for 30 - 40 minutes. Even semi - exclusive use would be great.
Dave
Carl Viens , Sep 03, 2010; 08:51 a.m.
Alright! Last day of preparation. The bride has agreed to do the formals at the church, she likes the idea for many reasons. We will have 30 minutes before the limo leaves for the hotel. But you all have given great suggestions. If timing is there and that the B/G are willing to, I will suggest to do some more fun shots at the hotel.
@David H. | I have been to this hotel for conferences before. The indoor garden is actually a large pool surrounded by trees, plants and occasionally flowers. It is not a crowded place and it is mostly deserted at diner time. Although it looks somehow like a "non-natural" place, I will keep this idea as my backup plan.
@Nadine | If worse comes to worse, I will then be prepared. Thank you for your always-constructive comments.
