Preventing the Wedding Hangover

[k_shipsides]

Wow,  we had our first Indian wedding and boy are wiped.  After two days, 18+ hours we are exhausted and I feel hungover without the fun night of drinking.  I drank a lot of water and fruit juice but woke up with the worst headache and have been hurting until now, 8pm.  Does anyone have an suggestions on preventing this awful feeling the day after the wedding?

Katie   

[HankCastello]

Have done those two-day Indian weddings with the mehndi (sp?), etc.  Colorful and lots of great sounds.

I think that once you're more experienced and can relax during your shoots, you won't be so stressed and the headaches will  disappear. 

After several years, once you've topped the 100 wedding  mark, you'll be able to relax and have fun with your shoots, knowing that you're prepared for any and all  eventualities.

[k_shipsides]

Hi Hank,

I hope you are doing well!  I have been a stranger these past couple of months.  It has been one crazy year and here we are again ready for another exciting season.  We have taken on less weddings this year (5 total) and are trying to find more balance in our lives.  Last year after I was laid off we threw ourselves into work. It has been all work and no vacation/time off for a year now.  The wedding biz is a tough one.  We are planning on taking 2011 off completely to focus on ourselves and finally edit our own wedding video.  )

Best,
Katie

[HankCastello]

Ouch! You HAD to remind me?  (I haven't edited our wedding video yet either!).

After years of doing one or two weddings each weekend from April through October and one or two a month in-between seasons, we finally decided to do only six weddings a year and are happier for it.  Of course, with our retirement income and our rental properties, we don't really need the income any more, and we do more corporate shoots now.

In two more years, we hope to stop working for clients altogether and just sail and work on our own documentaries.

Shooting weddings every weekend is tough because you have the pressure to finish editing before the next wedding and invariably, before the season ends, you're four to six edits behind.  But it helps if you can stay loose and relaxed during the shoots.  Have fun with them.  Don't stress.  Using extra cameras and having backup gear helps to relieve some of the worry.