The is about the nagging thought in the back of your head sometimes about certain couples where you wonder if they actually know each other that well. Those, ahem, brides who seem to be complete strangers to their intended. Now I’m not saying for a moment that these aren’t genuine unions of two people very much in love, but there is sometimes the feeling that there may be more to the conjugation than just companionship.

Often the first signs of this are when the initial wedding meeting is held with only one of the wedding couple – this sometimes happens when the other partner is:

a)    Too busy to attend

b)    Overseas

c)    Doesn’t speak any English

d)    Overseas, too busy to attend and doesn’t speak any English

That’s ok, that happens, but it’s when we get to the wedding itself that things manifest themselves which may give an indication of what may happen in the future. I’ve had at least one instance of a bride holed up in her expensive hotel room with her posse of bridesmaid’s chattering away in Russian with a completely confused looking mother looking out the window wondering where on earth she is and whether Premier Inn is another name for the local Register Office.

The bridesmaids, hilariously inappropriately dressed in pink microdresses shashay down the aisle in front of the bride to be, shamelessly trying to upstage her and winking at the boys in the seats. Once the bride has the chance to have her big moment, she’s walked down the aisle by her ‘friend’ (dad couldn’t afford the airfare) and meet at the alter by her groom. A man who, invariably works in IT, and who it seems she knows not much else about.

During the service the groom tries to catch the eye of his bride, who is ignoring it and just enjoying her big day whilst the bridesmaids giggle exchanging glances with the ushers. The ceremony is normally doubly long as each passage has to be translated into the other language by the translator who has turned up in track suit bottoms and an adidas t-shirt (well it IS Saturday after all)

On proclamation of marriage, he gets a cursory peck on the cheek and she turns to her girls and shrieks! it seems that her real joy is shared with them, rather than him. She runs off down the aisle and into the side room where the real action is, the signing of the register. Legality! Now she has that, there’s no stopping her…

Everybody knows someone who has a camera and is a bit of an “enthusiast” so why can’t he do it? Well, for starters, he may want to come as a guest and have a drink or two…. But most importantly, you’re spending a fortune on probably one of the biggest days of your life, so surely it’s a good idea to make sure you have a great record of the day? According to estimates 10% of your total wedding budget should go on the photographer.

So what makes the difference between a bloke with a nifty camera and a professional wedding photographer?

Pointing and taking a snap is pretty easy, especially these days when you can see the outcome right away. But what if it doesn’t come out right and it’s an important part? Walking down the aisle, exchanging rings, that kiss as your declared married. Yes people will have camera’s on the day and yes there will be some amateur photos taken at the wedding that are acceptable, but do you really want to leave capturing such an important event to chance?! Whoever you choose as your photographer, you should have met before the big day, a rapport is important so that they understand exactly what you want from your photographer on the day. You should find them personable and approachable, you’re paying them a lot of money to give you the images you want so you want someone who you get on with, there’s nothing worse than a prima donna wedding photographer prancing around like a drama queen screaming instructions at everyone.

What you get with a professional is a photographer who carries professional equipment and knows how to use it properly. He or she will have backup gear often with a (lovely) assistant, will be aware of what happens when during the day, be allowed by the church, registrar and venue to shoot from a special position. Every moment from entering the church to leaving for the honeymoon will be captured. You won’t have to worry about whether someone is getting those pictures. A professional photographer is trained to capture those moments. That means your first dance, cutting the cake, throwing the bouquet, the garter toss and everything up to but not including when you retire or get to drink to care is recorded, ready for your wedding album or to be hidden away forever….but at least you have everything you’ll need.

All of the above separates a professional from the guest-with camera guests at your wedding. Professional wedding photographers depend on satisfied clients to refer future work to them for their livelihood and therefore take the wedding business very seriously. There’s the pre-preparation work, meeting with the bride and groom, visiting the venue with them. All the preparation combined with industry knowledge and experience, allow a professional photographer to arrive on wedding day and be prepared for torrential rain, late brides, hungover grooms, missing rings, missing best men with rings or other challenging obstacles on the day. Things can go wrong at weddings and often do, so you want a calm professional to take it all in their stride, ease your stress and from the resulting image, make you wonder if those problems really happened at all.

So why should you pay so much to have a professional wedding photographer cover your wedding? Because you can’t afford not to..