When planning a wedding, there are certain products/services that you simply can't take short cuts on - your wedding photographer is one of them! The food at the reception will be eaten; the wedding cake will eventually expire, the flowers will die and all the rental items will be returned... but the photos will last forever! For that reason it's very important to choose your wedding photographer very carefully.

Step 1 when choosing a photographer is to have a look at their portfolios. Be very careful when only making a decision based on what you saw in a photographer's portfolio. It is obvious that when a photographer takes 500 or more photos at each wedding, there will be at least 2 or 3 stunning photos for each wedding. The problem now comes when the top 3 photo's of 100 weddings are put together to form a wedding portfolio that's almost too good to be true. Ask to see a complete album of at least 2 or 3 weddings - even if you have to contact some of the couples who made use of the photographer's services.

Step 2 is to make perfectly sure that you will be comfortable with the photographer on your special day. Remember that he/she will be with you every step of the wedding day; therefore a photographer without a personality or a photographer you don't like is a recipe for disaster! Also insist to meet the rest of the team. Most photographers have at least 1 assistant or partner, making sure that the wedding is covered from different angles. Using our own wedding as an example: We immediately felt at ease with our photographer, but his assistant on the day definitely didn't share his passion for photography.Where the photographer was a chirpy, easy going person, his assistant was unfriendly and blunt with no people skills, resulting in a very awkward photo session at times.

Lastly it's very important to make a LIST of any specific photo's you want taken on the day. With all the excitement and activity on the wedding day, you might forget that you want a photo of the bride and her brother, or the groom and his primary school friends. Make sure you supply your photographer with a list of requests; that's the only way to avoid blaming anyone after the wedding.

Article courtesy of For Ever After Bridal Directory (www.foreverafter.co.za) - where you will find everything from the day you get engaged, right through to your honeymoon!