I work for a professional photography lab (not to be confused with studio) and I see horrible work every day! BUT I also see magnificant work as well everyday. If you have no knowledge of any photographers then try to ask around, word of mouth
is the best. Have you seen any couples wedding pictures and liked them, ask who their photographer was. My advice is to search the professionals in your area and look at their sites. BUT don't book any one off their site. Meet them, talk to them and
see their work in person. Cause what you see on your computer screen may not match what you see in person. Also ask to see a wedding album. All photographers have a different style of designing their albums so you want to make sure their layouts are
something you like as well as the paper type they use, the cover material & colors. A lot of people think that photography is one of the least important parts of that day but that is so wrong! If your photographer makes you or any of your
guests uncomfortable you will remember that. Doing an engagement session will get you use to the camera and the photographer. If you don't enjoy your session you WON'T enjoy that photographer. My fiance & I had so... much fun doing our engagement
pictures we are thinking about doing them again in the fall/winter since we did our 1st ones in the summer. Also make sure the photographer uses a professional lab as opposed to Wal-Mart, Target, Cosco, Sams, Walgreens, etc. These places are not
professional. They do not have relationshiops with their photographers. And they do not calibrate their machines like a lab. You want your prints to be on professional grade paper with quality colors! Lastly you can save some money hiring a student
or ameteur but you are taking a risk! A big risk! There is a reason a photographer in the industry for years gets paid more, cause they have more experience! Would you want to get plastic surgery from someone that's only done it a few times or
someone that's done it 1,000s of times??? After all the planning, stress & money of this 1 BIG day, all you have to look back on is your memories & pictures! That makes it #1 on my list.
