[RioRico]

2. Do NOT commit yourself to be the wedding photographer for family or friends if you want to continue your relationship with them ! Honestly, tell them to hire a real pro (not a weekend pro of which there are lots around). Just search for Wedding on this forum and you'll get tons of advice, even the experienced togs (photographers) back away from weddings (there is an incredible amount of work involved - not just on the day - and expectations are always high no matter what they ).

Dead on! +1! Shooting weddings for friends WILL destroy friendships. (Shooting for your boss is even worse, believe me!) The results can be disappointing at best and tragic at worst. Wedding photography is a specialty, labor-intensive as Frogfish says. If a couple wants cheap photography, they should buy a batch of disposable film snapshot cameras to pass out to the guests and collect afterwards. Then they'll have nobody to blame but themselves, especially if the finished photos are randomized for anonymity.

[Drom]

I think for just pure 100% fun, you can't beat one of the fast sports zooms. I am also new to photography and while I had targeted the 70-200mm 2.8 zoom as an eventual must-have lens due to my interest in equestrian sports, I was surprised to find out how versatile this type of lens is; Wildlife (great for waterbirds), Portrait, Lunar images-it's been really great for all of these types of images.
I got the Tamron 70-200mm 2.8. It's much less expensive than some of the others and is super sharp and fast. I found it to be great for a beginner like me because it's hard to take a crappy picture with this lens. It's just pure fun.