Don't cut corners on photos

Wedding flowers wilt. Cake grows stale. The lights go out at the reception hall while brooms, vacuums and garbage cans remove any trace that you were there. The next day's wedding party will take your place and reclaim the space as their own.

What does that leave the happy couple? Only memories — and photographs.

The photographs are the only tangible items that will be left after the happiest day of my life ends. So to me, of all the many demands on finances and energy, the photographs are second in importance only to loved ones.

Wedding photos can be broken down into three categories: (1) The engagement sitting. (2) The bridal sitting. (3) Wedding-day photos.

While the groom may not have a lot of say about a lot of things, I was not going to compromise on photography, even if it meant I had to sacrifice everything else, work extra jobs or sell my comic book collection.

For nearly-weds who are bombarded with eye-popping wedding expenses, it will be tempting to cut corners on photography because your guests aren't going to see your photos like they will your wedding cake, dress or tux. But in my opinion it is the most important expense of your day. I don't advocate mortgaging your financial future, but I strongly feel the photography will have the most lasting effect on how you remember your wedding day outside of the loving relationship of two people joined in matrimony. Shannon, my fiancée, didn't feel quite that strongly about the photos, but we had a similar vision.

Here's my advice:

First, set your priorities. To me (us), the wedding-day photos will make the most important visual memories. We passed on the wedding-day video and put our support behind finding the right person for one job, not spreading expenses over two services. I scouted wedding shows — yes, men can go, too — and visited many of the photographers' booths. To those unacquainted with costs, this can be disheartening. Prices might seem much higher than you hoped and worse, you only get a limited number of prints and not the entire day in pictures that you dreamed of.

There is no magic formula such as cost-per-photo divided by the hours of the photographer's time multiplied by his years of experience. Each photographer will have different packages at different prices with different levels of skill and personal creativity.