Choosing a wedding photographer

This is the time of year when young couples often start thinking about weddings, well when it comes to booking the wedding photographer heres a few pointers.
 Don't book uncle Bill, even if he has a nice camera!  My mun has a set of spanners but she's no mechanic trust me!  Seriously though, book a pro, uncle Bill may be a great photographer but theres a lot more than taking pictures to a wedding photographers job, theres having back up gear, knowing how to cope when it's pissing down etc etc.
 Go and see the photographer, preferably one who has done a friends wedding, talk to him, see his portfolio or albums. See if you get on, he's going to be spending the day close to you, you need someone your comfortable with.
 When you go to see the albums or portfolio DO NOT take a dozen pics from Vogue magazine and say this is the sort of pictures you want.  If you want that style, book the photographer from Vogue, it's called expectation fail.
 You don't book a London cabby to drive your formula one car do you, so don't expect a £10.000 Vogue shoot on a £500 budget, and besides do you look like the Vogue model... No I thought Vogue didn't use size 32 models either.
And while I'm at it buy a dress that actually fits, yes I know you were a size 12 when you were sixteen, but then I had a 30 inch waist once too, I bloody haven't now  so be realistic, don't expect to slim down a few sizes to fit, chances are it won't happen and you'll be bulging out all over, very flattering.
 Do ask the photographer if he/she has a second photographer and book one, it's not only a back-up if the first photographer falls down a well, but the second photographer is seeing and taking different pics the main photographer will miss because they are concentrating on the bride and groom.
 Ask the photographer what plans he/she has if it's pouring down with rain, and ask if they have back-up cameras and lens too. Don't get one of those pointless lists for the bridal magazine which ask what sort of camera the photographer has, first off he'll think your looking at pinching his gear and secondly unless your a photographer you'll be none the bloody wiser whan he says he has a Canon S6GD7Z or something equally obscure. And to be honest it's doesn't really matter what camera he has these days, any decent camera can take superb pics in the right hands, and your album is very very unlikely to be much bigger that A3 anyway.
 When you book the wedding make sure you allow time for pictures, booking the meal for 20 minutes after the service finishes might give you more time to get rat arsed but you won't give the photographer time to do his job properly, if time is tight get the vicar to cut down the service and miss out a hymn or two....               Remember  after the wedding all you'll have left is the dress and the pictures, don't spend less time on them, and less money than the sweet trolly!