My First Wedding Photography

Congrats to my buddy, Doc Hisyam for his marriage to Lyanna.
It all begin with a phone call enquiring about wedding photographer that the news was broken to me. I was very happy to hear that. I know Doc for years since i did more outdoor sports. I never knew him when i was in Royal Military College. Perhaps it was a good thing. :)
Anyway, when i heard the news, i was delighted. He was looking for cheap photographer or if possibly free. Me, a Joe with Camera decided to step up and tell him that i will do it FOC. After all, Doc is like a brother to me. He treats my dad and my mum-in-law. If not because of his competency as an ENT (with the government), we might had missed out that my MIL had throat cancer and requires immediate treatment.
Taking photograph for his wedding is the very least i could do - after all, i WILL already be there on the wedding, so why not make myself a bit more useful?
Reality check - 1 unit of D90. 1 Unit of D40. 1 unit of kit lens. 1 unit of medium zoom lense. 2 unit of fixed focal lens.
I managed to secure a Nikon 24-70 F2.8 from dearest Mac. That sort of boost my confidence level up a little bit.
I was still hesitant until the day before the marriage as I have not shot wedding as the main photographer. I do not dare to mess with someones memories.
I purchased a Q-strap from MyPhotoAccessory as i do not want to fumble with two camera straps and potentially dropping one gear if i wasn't careful. Must say it was worth the small investment.
As it was the first Malay wedding i will be very close to the bride, groom and the Tok Kadi (the religious officer for wedding solemnization), i have to mind my manners and dressing. Made conscious effort not to wear short sleeve and ensure my socks has no holes in them. :) Believe me when i say there are some well paid "Joe with camera" that goes to an office function snapping photos in shorts when everyone else is wearing suit and tie.
BLEND IN!
I went through the wedding photo checklist to make sure i don't miss out anything. I tried to remember as much as i could on the ritual and what will happen.
It was stressful. But fun.
I bet many accomplished wedding photographers reading this entry will smile and will remember their first ever wedding assignment. Most like me do it gratis. As a mean to build a decent portfolio. Right?
I did not snap much. Perhaps circa 450 photos within the 4hours. Others will clock in close to a thousand. I deleted close to 70 photos that were out of focus, badly composed and simply not acceptable. Those keepers made up of some repetitive photos, which end of the day, gives me perhaps only about 100 photos that could be given back to the couple for them to see/view/develop/make into photo book.
That's 25% success rate.
As someone tried comforting me : "the memories is what the couple would made up and remember, you just help to record it down"
So, Doc and Lyanna, here are some photos that are worth sharing. :) Thank you for letting me be part of this. The watermark will not be in the photos i will give to you both, but as a mean to ensure proper credit are given to me should they be used elsewhere.