For all but the smallest weddings, a professional photographer is usually needed to capture the essence of the day — the bride gathering with her attendants; the groom waiting nervously in the church; the guests whooping it up at the reception. You want to know that you're going to get your money's worth. What will you ask your prospective photographer?

For starters, ask about his or her experience (how many weddings has this person done?) and/or education (did he or she study photography in college, for example?). This is not the occasion to give an aspiring photographer a chance. You want someone who knows what they're doing. You should also ideally try to find someone who takes pictures for a living instead of a hobby. (Yes, the guy who does this as a hobby will be cheaper — but the quality of your pictures may turn out to be much less than you expected.)

Ask how many pictures he will take; when he'll take them (some photographers like to scoot out of the reception as early as possible and will insist on staging certain events to meet their own timeline) and who will determine which photos will end up in your wedding album. Most photographers will give you the proofs to choose from, but some photographers choose to skip the whole proof process and will choose your pictures by themselves — a plus if you have a hard time making decisions; a minus if you end up with a lot of pictures of people you don't know. Ask to see samples of the photographer's recent work.