Wedding story:

On Friday morning, I took a look outside the window; my worst fears were confirmed. The sky was heavily clouded. Friday the 13th and a rain! Heavily sighing, I started packing my photo equipment.

When I arrived at the meeting place I found the bride crying and the groom arguing with his future mother-in-law. This scene gave me a feeling that the newlyweds have already agreed on separation terms. The father-of-the-bride was pale and nervous, paced across the room and whispered: "wedding cake - $300, limo - $150 in hour, photography. Hmm.. at least he was reasonable.

The father of the groom looked much more relaxed; I suspected that he already had a few shots from the reception drink assortment. The rain began right when I prepared to take the first portrait of the bride. What can I do, I asked myself; everyone is nervous and it is raining.

Then, I decided to do something. I felt like I was the only the person who could help these people and save their wedding. The first thing I did was stopping the rain. For me it was a peace of cake. I did it by pulling two huge umbrellas and two raincoats our of my equipment bag. I gave the umbrellas and the raincoats to two tallest groomsmen. One of them kept the umbrella over the heads of the bride and groom and another kept my equipment covered. Funny, but after the rain realized that it cannot harm the wedding anymore, it stopped by itself a few minutes after my brilliant trick. After that I told the bride to stop crying, explaining that it will ruin her beautiful face.

The more tricky part was to make peace between the groom and the mother-of -the-bride. This problem posed more of a threat than the weather. I offered them a picture together as a first step towards peace. I made them stand so close together that their cheeks touched. Pretending, that I was setting my equipment I made them move closer and closer. Little did they know that I was doing it on purpose.

The mother's eyes softened up and I thought that she finally realized that this man might be not the worst in the world. The groom seemed to understand that this woman is not only the evil mother-in-law but also the mother of his bride. The next problem was with the father of the bride. He was walking around in circles like some ancient shaman, whispering: "The cake - $1000, the limo, the reception, I am ruined".

I came close to him and asked if he knew how much he was paying for the photographer. He became even more pale and yelled: "You told that your prices are reasonable!" I smiled and wrote the price on a piece of paper. He took a quick look, closed his eyes and then looked at the price again. The color momentarily came back to his face The cake is expensive, the limo and reception are way too much, but only then he figured how much he saved on the photography.

After those little incidents, everything went smoothly. I took pictures. The bride and groom were glowing with joy. The guests were drinking champagne. The father of the groom tried to drink with everyone explaining that this was his first drink in twenty years. The bride's mother walked around bragging about her new wonderful son-in-law. The father of the bride was working on his calculator and smiling happily.

Late at night, I came home feeling good myself. I knew I did a good job. Unexpectly, the phone rang. -Is this IQ photo? -Yes This was another bride. Guess when her wedding will be?! Yes!!! On Friday the 13th.