Kristen, I come from the 'old school' of photography where we had no AF and no AE. That means there was no 'blaming my tools' if a photograph was poorly exposed. If a professional photographer had turned-up at my wedding using consumer equipment they would have been shown the door. These days many of the guests at the wedding will have better kit than you.
My tip in all this? If focusing manually won't do the job, bin the camera and buy full-frame kit if you expect to take other peoples money from your photography.
