"Wow, getting married sure can be expensive." You may have said it a few times and you may be nodding your head in agreement right now. You may be thinking that it's time to cut a few corners or you are never going to make that honeymoon you have been dreaming about. Surely photography cannot be that hard so why pay a professional to do it. Perhaps you have a friend or an Uncle Bob (insert name of choice) who took some family vacation pictures that looked great. He has a "big camera" and will be at the wedding. You may be thinking of asking him to photograph your wedding. Don't do it!!

I won't get into all the technical aspects of why you should hire a professional or the amount of work involved in post processing, etc. and why all of those things are worth the investment. I just have a few numerals for you to consider - 2030. Presuming you will be reading this the year it was written in 2010, this future year will mark your 20th Anniversary. You will probably want to pull out your wedding album and have a look back at your big day. Will you be looking at images that tell the story of your wedding in vivid detail and glorious color and black and white? Will you be looking at professional prints (not retail store one hour photos) that have stood the test of time?

Wedding Photography is not the area to cut corners on. On this anniversary and others, the expensive decorations that got discarded will not be remembered. The extra filling not added to the cake will also be a distant memory. However, the images will still be there to be enjoyed over and over again.

Uncle Bob's a great guy who means well and will fix your car in no time flat. However, he does not eat/sleep photography 24/7. Don't put him or yourself through all that stress. Think about the year 2030.