loosecanon Loc: Central Texas

Say no. Run. Fast and far.

HardwareGuy

If you have any interest in shooting weddings or events, use this as a learning opportunity and go for it. Self-challenge can be good for us.
First though, I would speak with the Bride and Groom so that THEY fully understand the implications of a newbie shooting their wedding.
As far as paying just a small amount, no, that doesn't work. You will have research time, photo time, editing time, legwork and more all invested in this.
I would not accept less than $500, and that is doing them a family favor, with the understanding that it is to pay for the "incidental expenses of preparing and finalizing the wedding shoot images. As well as some auxiliary gear to do this event."
If it turns out great, you will be their hero. If it doesn't, well...just remind them that they were given a full disclaimer.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Go for it. Plan ahead with emphasis on lighting. Outdoors is unpredictable with lots of potential contrast problems. Think about sun angle and time of day. Look for places in the venue to give you favorable light. Indoors will not be your friend unless you have some big windows to work with. Use the 18-55, be sure you're focusing and holding technique are solid. Enlist a helper from each side of the families to help gather people together for the group shots. People tend to wander around. Hope this helps, lots of other things to consider. Try to have some fun with it and make it a learning experience.

I just shot a bunch of pics at our granddaughter's wedding yesterday and watched the pro she hired. You have to put some work into it.

Vet4scuba

Run Forest run...........

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Don't be moved by any of the comments suggesting that you shoot the family wedding. It is a bad idea, that will come to a bad end--images as well as relationships.

stanperry Loc: Spring Hill, Florida

Your friends will get what they pay for. The pros have a lot invested in their business and equipment, and bring experience and know how to the table. Weddings are particularly challenging, and if it’s not done right, the event is forever lost and the only thing they will remember is who messed up the photos.
Having said that, do your best to PLAN. Work with them long before the wedding to ensure you know exactly where everything takes place, where people will stand, etc, and plan your shoot. You probably don’t want to disrupt things by walking around taking pics while the vows are said. Be somewhere with a great vantage point. Look at weddings done by pros, and stage some pics. Have every guest with a camera send you copies to fold into the portfolio. Just do your best, cross your fingers and shoot away. A wide angle lens inside, a zoom lens for close ups and portrait work. Get your manual skills up to par and use some skill capturing images in low light, and shoot as much as you can outdoors. The bride/groom walking into the church singly and out of it as a couple, etc. like I said....PLAN. Good luck.

LarryFitz Loc: Beacon NY

Big bottle of aspirin. Taking photos at a wedding is only a third of the work. You need to organized all of the group pictures, the dances, the ring exchange cake cutting and many more. I have taken Photos at wedding and watched the Pro photographer, they are worth what they get paid.

Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket

Tough situation to put you in. I only shot one wedding and will never do it again, ever. Years ago, for a friend who asked me to. They had no money and could not afford to pay a photographer and I gladly accepted the opportunity as I love to wield a camera, anywhere. I shot numerous rolls of film on a borrowed Nikon with a motor drive. I felt like a pro! When I went to develop them, every single shot was black as the shutter was faulty. Not good, terrible, sick feeing. But there was a silver lining, within two years, the bride left the groom for another woman, so they really did not want the pictures anyway.

If you choose to do the event, you will have to put on your bravery suit, practice shooting at the venue before the event at the same time of day and then process those images so you have a clue as to what you will get. Don’t go in without a little experience for the main event. Also make sure that the couple know that you are a novice and that there is no guarantee that anything will turn out. You will capture some good images though. There will be some good and some not so good. Keep your shutter speed fast enough to eliminate blur by keeping your iso high enough then use denoise software to clean the images. Be careful with the flash as you don’t want the flash to over power the photos. Backfill flash will be best.

If you want an excuse to not shoot so you can enjoy the wedding, there are many that you can come up with, ie the truth, or that your camera is broken and in for service and won’t be back in time.

If you go for it, enjoy it. You may find you’re actually quite good at it.
Best of luck.
RL

agillot

now , now ! if having no pro there mean no pictures , then have guts and step in .you can start practicing taking pictures of people now .the ideal lens would be a 18 or 28 / 300 .the 18 55 for groups , the 70 / 300 for most of the candid shots .depending of the setup , outdoor or inside the lack of a descent flash will not help .so , only do it if no photographer will be there .take no money , just be a free lancer and have fun .

James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

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This is the BEST answer.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

NCMtnMan Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC

Do you like these people? If so, do want to still like them after the wedding? Then don't do it. If you don't like them and never want to have to speak to them or see them again and you don't live anywhere close to them, then go ahead and shoot it for free and give them the memory card afterwards. Leave quickly afterwards and change your phone number.

agillot

another thing , if you know where the event will be , go there now and see the shooting situation , also go with somebody , and take a few shots , then show them to the party involved to see if it is good enough .in your situation , better shoot in auto and let the camera decide , then do it in manual and do bad .manual is great in some situation if you are trained to use it .let us know how you did .

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

"According to Snapknot.com, the average cost for a wedding photographer is $2,814."
https://www.womangettingmarried.com/much-wedding-photographers-cost/

For most people, that's a lot of money. When it's all over, they have an album of pictures. Big deal. I'd never pay $2,000 for a book. This post was started because the couple did not want to pay what the photographers were charging. Given the choice of no photographer or a relative, I'd choose the relative. At least half the people attending will be taking pictures because there won't be a pro chasing them away.

RolandDieter

DON'T DO IT !!!!! Without experience in this you won't even know what to look for or what to set up. Plus, your equipment is not up to the task. Just because you got what they thought were nice snapshots of their dogs doesn't mean they were anywhere near good enough for a formal album. I think they only want you because they are being cheap (or cannot afford a pro). Those suggesting several disposables nailed the solution. Have them get one for each table at the reception and a few for close friends to use at the ceremony. Make sure everyone leaves those cameras behind so the bride and groom can look at everything and chose the shots they want. Then they cannot complain about your work, and the odds of getting some nice or interesting shots gets multiplied by the number of people shooting.