I am a great fan of weddings eventhough I never have been to one, or never had much of one myself - I literally wore black, had two witnesses I barely knew, and had my family (and you know who they are!) as the only guests at my celebratory dinner, which I was too sick to eat, for being three months pregnant. For me weddings seem either massively O.T.T. or nightmares waiting to happen (and then follows actually wedded life!). I practice empathically my own coping skills with all the things that can and do go wrong at them when I watch wedding-planning, dress and party shows or films.
I can well imagine the awful stress planning a wedding gives (I admire those who have gone through it and survived!) I can also imagine the disappointment with the photos, but above all the irritation on the day!
I sincerely hope a bunch of dreadful photos has zero impact on the rest of the wedded couple's life together! May they have a good giggle about this and see it as a one of those crazy things that set the tone for their resolve to make the best out of any let down, which may befall them yet, as is normal for a life-time together.
(P.S. At least, thankfully, I have no photos to remind me of that awful day barely worth calling a wedding and biggest mistake of my life.)
Not a lot of OTT weddings for us. Most of our brides are pretty thrifty spenders - their budget usually allows for a good chunk of money on their venue, photographer, and dress, then the rest is usually done as low budget as possible.
The trend around here is to ask your bridesmaids to purchase their own dresses, but to also allow them to pick the dress they wear so they are able to pick one they will wear again in a non-wedding setting.
Last fall, I watched a bride throw together her own bouquet 10 mins before she walked down the aisle. lol
Being a wedding vendor can be incredibly stressful, too. I am actually taking a break from photographing them this year to avoid burn out.
Also, we've been so busy with everyone else's weddings that @winstonwolfe and I have been engaged over a year now and have no time to even think about planning our own! lol