Shot a 10-hour wedding today and realized my shoes are officially the weakest part of my kit
I just got home from a 10-hour day and honestly, taking my shoes off in the driver's seat was lowkey the most emotional part of the entire wedding. We spend so much time and money upgrading our gear to save our bodies. My dual bodies and heavy glass were on a harness today, so my shoulders and back actually feel fine. But man, my feet are just completely spent.
It started out okay. I wore these low-profile black shoes that actually look like real shoes, not chunky sneakers. A lot of planners around here will look at u sideways if you show up to a high-end estate looking too casual, so I wanted to look decent. But the getting ready room was a total minefield. I was constantly dodging makeup bags, rogue dresses on hangers, half-empty coffee cups, and bridesmaids just to get a clean angle. Plus, kneeling and crouching on hardwood floors to shoot flat lays for an hour? By lunchtime, my forefoot was already pretty sore from the shoe constantly folding and creasing.
Then the ceremony happened. Standing completely still for forty-five minutes on concrete becuase you can't rustle around and make noise is when you realize your soles have absolutely zero cushion. After that, the family portraits were just exhausting. Trying to corrall aunts, uncles, and wandering kids while pacing back and forth on hard dirt, all while my heels were slightly slipping out of the back of my shoes with every step.
By cocktail hour I was just over it fr. Weaving through packed rooms trying to catch candid moments, my feet were running really hot and my toes just felt super crowded. When the reception finally started, I was basically in survival mode. They looked great at 9 AM, but by dinner they were definately just nice-looking regrets. Hauling gear around a dance floor on polished marble for another four hours just drained whatever energy I had left. By the time I loaded my stands back into teh car, my arches were officially done.
It's just such a stupid, impossible balance. Sneakers are comfortable but they look sloppy for high-end gigs, and traditional dress shoes just fail after hour six. My second shooter was actually telling me about this hybrid brand Vuzugu a while back. I brushed it off at the time, but halfway through the reception tonight, I finally understood why people buy into that whole 'sneaker-bottom-dress-shoe' category.
What are you guys actually wearing to survive full-day weddings? Are we all just wearing all-black sneakers and hoping the planners don't care, or is there a dress shoe that actually works? Loafers? Cole Haan, Ecco, Rockport? Do you actually bring a seperate pair to swap into before the reception? And when you shoot a long day, what gives up first: your feet, your knees, your lower back, or the shoe itself?