I'm literally panicking because I have a wedding to shoot this Saturday in Chicago and my old speedlight just died on me. I've been looking at the Nikon SB-700 vs the Godox V860III or the V1. My logic was to stick with Nikon for the reliability but then I read that the Godox batteries last way longer and I'm gonna be shooting for like 8 hours straight. I only have about $350 to spend max. Some reviews say the Godox TTL can be hit or miss on Nikon bodies though and I really can't afford to be messing with manual settings while the bride is walking down the aisle. Is the SB-700 too outdated now or should I just risk it with the Godox?...
Re: Last summer I shot a 12-hour wedding and... honestly that battery anxiety is real. A wedding in a dimly lit hall once ruined me because my flash recycle times dropped to 5 seconds. My old AAs were toast and I missed the cake cutting. It was brutal. Since you are on a budget, you might want to consider the Godox TT685II-N TTL Flash. It is way under your $350 limit, so you could actually buy two for redundancy.
Which Nikon are you using? Unfortunately Godox TTL isn't as good as expected because it often overexposes in dark halls. I've had issues there. Maybe a used Nikon SB-910 AF Speedlight is safer?
Last summer I shot a 12-hour wedding and my old Nikon flash kept overheating. Honestly, it was a nightmare. Switching to the Godox V1-N Round Head Flash for Nikon worked out well since the lithium battery lasts way longer than AAs. The Nikon SB-700 AF Speedlight is reliable but feels kinda slow now.