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This photographer was arrested during a wedding, details below! This shot of me was taken by my son Devin at Disney World in Orlando a few years back with his throw-away camera. I still look the same, minus the mustache, made me look too much like Geraldo Rivera... LOL!
1. Bride and groom (with best man & maid of honor) are pulling away from St. Catherines Church in Riverside in a beautiful horse drawn carriage when a drunk driver in a pickup truck crashes into the side of the carriage, knocking the best man out of the carriage & onto the street (11 stitches in his head) and injuring the maid of honor (badly sprained wrist & goose-egg bump on head). The drunk driver then attempts to drive away with part of the carriage jammed into the front of his truck. Bride & groom were shaken, but OK, and after the best man got his 'emergency room' treatment, he performed the toast 2 hours later (big bandage on head-whatta guy). The maid of honor's arm was in a sling as she also toasted the married couple.
2. While arriving at the Humphreys Mansion in Temecula California, I spotted a brushfire approximately 5 miles west (and upwind) from the wedding and reception location. After taking the before the ceremony photos of both bride and groom, I noticed a more intense blackened sky with ashes falling and fire-fighting airplane tankers flying over head (ah-oh). The outdoor ceremony started with a darkened, smoke filled sky, and concluded with a few hundred guests wearing some major ashes on their clothing (bride, groom and wedding party were inside a 2 story gazabo, visable to the guests). Just after the ceremony concluded, the police and fire department stormed the mansion, demanding all people to evacuate IMMEDIATELY. Flames were shooting over 100 feet high less that a few hundred feet away as the tanker planes bombed the mansion and surrounding fields with tons of orange fire retardant. The wedding cake was destroyed (ashes and orange fire retardant took its toll), and all the guests vehicles got a free orange carwash. The bride (in tears, fire retardant on dress, makeup running) and groom relocated the reception to a relatives house nearby and 'Shakey's Pizza' treated the reception to their 'hot wings' & several pizzas (brides brother worked there).
3. Upon arrival at the church (an old wooden church in Upland at the top of Euclid Ave), I spotted the bride chasing the maid of honor with a folding chair, ready to killer her big time. I noticed a rather large trail of water coming down the steps of the church and asked the wedding co-ordinator what happened. She informed me that the maid of honor, who was carrying the brides dress, attempted to hang up her dress on an overhead fire sprinkler inside the dressing room. The hanger broke a retaining pin on the sprinkler, drowning the brides dress in rusty water. The mother of the bride saved the day by rushing the dress to a local dry-cleaners and having it 'emergency' cleaned. The wedding started two hours late, with a different bridesmaid as the maid of honor.
4. At a recent wedding, the open bar provided FREE mixed drinks and beer to a thirsty crowd of rawdy reception guests. One rather intoxicated 'gentleman' (and I use that term loosely) was dancing wildly around the beer keg when he knocked over it's supporting table & ice filled tub, sending a huge wave of ice water rushing across the floor into the DJ's sound equipment. His equipment immediately exploded and caught fire, blowing a fuse in the building. The resulting power outage put the complete reception in total darkness for over 1/2 hour until power could be restored.
5. A beautiful church wedding in the mountains (Lake Arrowhead by San Bernadino) had just concluded, with the wedding party arriving at the reception. All the guests were having drinks and before dinner treats when a 6.3 earthquake hits. I watched in horror as the wedding cake across the room takes an immediate plunge from the table to the floor (nice 5 tear cake with a built in water fountain and a glass blown 'bride & groom' cake top). The punch bowl, munchie trays, overhead party streamers and gifts from the present table also join the cake on the floor. In the parking lot outside, a large rock avalanche came tumbling down the adjacent hill, with large boulders hitting several cars belonging to the guests. Three cars were destroyed with huge rocks crashing down on them. One car was completely covered with rocks. The groom tells the bride during his speech to her at the toast "Hey Honey, I made the earth move for you". Needless to say, the very first photo that I take at the reception from now on is a shot of the cake.
6. It was a very warm fall day at a beautiful country club golf course in Chino. Following the ceremony, the bride & groom and myself get into seperate golf carts, and take off to take photos around the grounds of the golf course. I spotted a beautiful place for photos just off the cart path, and I stopped to lower a dividing rope on the path. I told the groom (driving his cart with the bride inside) to follow me. He got out of the cart, and ran over to move the rope, but he forgot to set the brake on the golf cart. The cart rolled backward down a hill and plunged into a slimy green pond with a screaming bride inside. The bride's feet were stuck inside her wedding dress and she couldn't hit the brakes. The groom jumped into the pond to rescue his wife, and they both came out of the pond SOAKING WET with some NASTY green slimy stuff all over their clothes. The bride and groom (2 young kids in there early 20's with great senses of humor) were spotted laughing by the wedding guests thru a large reception room window as a golf course grounds keeper washed the green slime their clothes with a garden hose.
7. And last but not least, my own personal wedding nightmare. After finishing the wedding party and relatives photos at the church, I asked the groom where the reception was. He told me that the limo driver had the directions, and to just follow the limo. I said "Sure... No Problem"! (Ha Ha). As the limo departed the church he pulled onto the Santa Ana Freeway southbound (Interstate 5) and immediately shot over into the 'no traffic' DIAMOND LANE (a lane that requires 2 occupants in each vehicle). The limo driver, unaware that I was following him, did not know that my vehicle only had 1 occupant. And as 'murphy's law' would have it, within a few minutes, we passed a stationary motorcycle CHP, who spotted my 'one occupant' vehicle and immediately took pursuit. For over 11 miles with his lights and siren on, he attempted to pull me over, with another motorcycle and a CHP car also joining in pursuit. I kept 'motioning' to him that I had to follow the limo, but he couldn't understand and yelled at me on his microphone to PULL THE VEHICLE OVER. After flashing my headlights at the limo driver for several miles, he recognized my dilemma, and pulled over to the left shoulder. I stopped behind the limo, and was immediately rushed by 3 officers AT GUNPOINT and told to exit the vehicle and lie face down on the HOT concrete with my hands behind my back. I was immediately handcuffed and thrown into the back of the squad car. The bride and groom confronted the CHP officers and informed them of my situation. After I received a citation for the 'diamond lane' violation AND resisting arrest, I was released to join the limo in the regular 'heavy traffic' lanes. Ten days later I received my citation notice in the mail, with a 1,372 dollar bail amount (372 dollar diamond lane violation plus 1000 dollars in punitive damages for resisting arrest). I appeared in court with the limo driver, who varified my story to the judge, and my bail amount was reduced to 372 dollars.
More 'Wedding Bloopers' will be included as soon as they happen.
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