A number of years ago I was contracted to photograph a wedding by a couple who just didn't seem all that compatible. The bride was personable and friendly, very outgoing and her intended groom was a total wallflower.

During the interview process, she asked all the questions and he just sat there staring out into space. I thought to myself that this was going to be a very strange union but nonetheless I agreed to photograph their wedding (they were paying me so how could I refuse?). We arranged to start the photography two hours ahead of the intended start time so we could photograph all the formals before the ceremony. This freed up the couple so they could jet straight to the reception almost immediately after the ceremony which was across the courtyard at the church.

On the day of the wedding I arrived early so as to get a view of the church as I had not photographed there before. I was met by the bride who was ready to go and the groom who was looking like he just stepped out of a Twilight Zone episode, kind of disheveled and looking very nervous. We started down the isle of the church toward the alter with the bride leading the way and her groom following, then me. As we reached the "point of no return" the bride turned left towards the alter smiling and happy and the groom turned right for the door leading out of the church which left me trying to figure out what was going to happen next.

Well, once the groom saw that he was inches from a clean getaway he bolted out the door never to grace the entrance of that church for the rest of the day. Needless to say the bride was devastated, confused and totally pissed off all at the same time while the rest of the wedding party and associated family members were just as confused, several men from the church were trying to coax the groom back into the church. As much as they tried for the next two and a half hours the groom refused to budge.

Finally, the appointed time came and the only thing the bride could do was march down the isle in tears with her father to announce that the wedding was called off and to thank the people for coming.

Wedding cake was being served next door to those who were hungry.

As it turned out the groom was finally committed to our local county hospital's "rubber room" for a indefinite stay since he was now a certified basket case. The bride turned her sights on me demanding a full refund because only two photographs were made (the cake and the flowers) so she thought that she deserved her money back. She didn't get it because I told her that I had to be compensated for my time which ate up all of her deposit. Had this same wedding taken place in today's photographic climate she would have had hundreds of images showing all the pain and tears of a failed wedding via a photojournalistic style.

She wasn't happy but the situation was not my fault after all the church, cake lady, tuxedo rental, florist and bridal dress shop certainly didn't refund her money so why should I? She still wasn't happy. Turns out that several months later this bride ended up marrying her groom anyway (after his stay at "the funny farm") and she apparently enlisted another photographer for that gig. All I could say was I'm sure glad it wasn't me that time.