I have been asked to shoot a wedding for a friend, but I'm not sure what equipment to start with. The camera I have is an EOS 10D.

The main compenents that I'm inquiring about are the flash and flash bracket. I know that my camera supports E-TTL, so a Canon Speedlight would seem like an obvious choice... unfortunately (as with every product out there) there always seems to be mixed reviews that leave me just plain confused. I've seen reviews on the 550ex go from outstanding, to emergency use only.

My experience level is moderate, but I don't think I could do it all manual. I really would like to go with the 550ex, but wedding shots seemed poor with that flash in the reviews I read... but I assume that's because of the extreme contrast in the attire.

Well, I'm not sure where exactly to start, so if I could just enlist the help of all of you awesome photographers out there...

Thanks,

Michael