I read through all the responses to your post, and there is a lot of excellent advice. I just wonder why you are the one who is posting here rather than your friend! Sounds to me like you would not be confident enough to tackle the assignment, and are projecting it onto him. (I know I would not have the confidence either!) He, on the other hand, sounds confident, and the fact that he already recognizes the need for help with managing things shows he is thinking ahead.

While 3-4 months is not a lot of time to prepare and gain experience, when still maintaining regular daily routines, it should be possible with planning. Have you talked to him yet about some of the advice presented here? Not just the discouragement part, mostly the constructive suggestions.

There was the suggestion to shadow a professional wedding photographer. He would probably get a lot of useful information and experience from going out with the pro, since doing is much better for learning than reading or even practicing on your own. It would be very useful to find someone he could go with multiple times, and who would talk to him away from the shoot site. No time to talk at the wedding! If he happens to know other people who are getting married, perhaps their photographer would not object to his being there with a camera.

If your friend enjoys photography as much as so many of us, he would probably have more fun doing that than sitting in a pew and then walking around with a plate of h'ordoerves! So the best thing you could do is share the constructive advice, especially the part about planning. Plan, plan, and plan again... And practice, practice, practice... Then go to the wedding and have fun - photography should always be fun!!!

[I go to football and baseball games with my husband. Always take my camera and tripod. More fun than watching the game with the same perspective as everyone else!]

I read through all the responses to your post, and there is a lot of excellent advice. I just wonder why you are the one who is posting here rather than your friend! Sounds to me like you would not be confident enough to tackle the assignment, and are projecting it onto him. (I know I would not have the confidence either!) He, on the other hand, sounds confident, and the fact that he already recognizes the need for help with managing things shows he is thinking ahead.

While 3-4 months is not a lot of time to prepare and gain experience, when still maintaining regular daily routines, it should be possible with planning. Have you talked to him yet about some of the advice presented here? Not just the discouragement part, mostly the constructive suggestions.

There was the suggestion to shadow a professional wedding photographer. He would probably get a lot of useful information and experience from going out with the pro, since doing is much better for learning than reading or even practicing on your own. It would be very useful to find someone he could go with multiple times, and who would talk to him away from the shoot site. No time to talk at the wedding! If he happens to know other people who are getting married, perhaps their photographer would not object to his being there with a camera.

If your friend enjoys photography as much as so many of us, he would probably have more fun doing that than sitting in a pew and then walking around with a plate of h'ordoerves! So the best thing you could do is share the constructive advice, especially the part about planning. Plan, plan, and plan again... And practice, practice, practice... Then go to the wedding and have fun - photography should always be fun!!!

[I go to football and baseball games with my husband. Always take my camera and tripod. More fun than watching the game with the same perspective as everyone else!]

If the guy is a GOOD photographer, he has everything he needs. He probably has a speedlight, what else is there?
Because YOU don't have the confidence in your abilities to do a wedding, why do you think he can't get it done?
WHY does he need fast primes?? To be sure nothing is in focus?
He's only gonna be an amateur like you till he shoots that wedding, then he'll be MORE professional than you!!!
It's always the 12" behind the camera till it comes to a wedding, suddenly it's ALL about the camera?! Hmmmm, funny how that works!!! LoL
SS

I shot a wedding for a couple of young friends back in 2011. I had a D3100, kit 18-55mm lens, and the 70-300 zoom. They were very pleased with the end results, as was I. But, lesson learned, shooting a wedding is a bloody long and hard day, nothing went wrong, but I was aware the whole time that if something DID go wrong, there would be no do-overs. I had a backup camera, (yeah, I know, the D3100 wouldn't even cut it as a backup campera for a pro) and thankfully nothing went wrong. I wouldn't do it again though, waaaaay too much pressure, I prefer my shoots to be more relaxed.

If the guy is a GOOD photographer, he has everything he needs. He probably has a speedlight, what else is there?
Because YOU don't have the confidence in your abilities to do a wedding, why do you think he can't get it done?
WHY does he need fast primes?? To be sure nothing is in focus?
He's only gonna be an amateur like you till he shoots that wedding, then he'll be MORE professional than you!!!
It's always the 12" behind the camera till it comes to a wedding, suddenly it's ALL about the camera?! Hmmmm, funny how that works!!! LoL
SS

A friend who owns a Nikon D7100, and owns only two lenses, a Nikon 18-55mm kit lens, and a FX 28-300mm, wants to save his sister money, from not paying a pro photographer to do a small Wedding. He is an amateur just like me. I asked him, why didn't the Bride and Groom's family chip in to hire a pro photographer. He said they were already paying for other preparations to the Wedding. I told him those 2 lenses he owned were not going to cut the mustard. He does have an external flash unit. I offered to loan him my prime lenses of 35mm f1.8 and 50mm f1.8. And an outdoor plug in work light he could use inside the small Church. He has never done a wedding before. He said he will have two young laborers to help out. He says he can handle it. I told him to prepare for a long day when he does it. Reception included. I'm glad I'm not doing it.

A friend who owns a Nikon D7100, and owns only two lenses, a Nikon 18-55mm kit lens, and a FX 28-300mm, wants to save his sister money, from not paying a pro photographer to do a small Wedding. He is an amateur just like me. I asked him, why didn't the Bride and Groom's family chip in to hire a pro photographer. He said they were already paying for other preparations to the Wedding. I told him those 2 lenses he owned were not going to cut the mustard. He does have an external flash unit. I offered to loan him my prime lenses of 35mm f1.8 and 50mm f1.8. And an outdoor plug in work light he could use inside the small Church. He has never done a wedding before. He said he will have two young laborers to help out. He says he can handle it. I told him to prepare for a long day when he does it. Reception included. I'm glad I'm not doing it.