I understand your worries. My in-law's had family friends getting married a month or so ago and they wanted me to photograph the wedding. It was very small and relaxed and not a huge deal to them, but I was (and still am) brand new to dslr photography. I just got my 50D in November. Luckily for me, I was already scheduled to be out of town for work. I say luckily in the sense that I didn't have to photograph it, not in the sense that I missed the wedding all together.


The more I learn, the more I realize that I didn't know. Experience is the biggest learning tool for me. Shooting something as important as a family members wedding is big. Depending on the area you live in, you may want to call some local wedding photographers and see if you can take part and/or observe them in action. I've never done that, so you may get nothing but negative responses if they think you are extra competition. But seeing what they do and how they do it would probably help quite a bit.