Picture Perfect

The last thing a bride wants on her wedding day is regret. Unfortunately, I have a major one that I carry with me more than two years after my nuptials: I didn't hire a professional photographer.

My husband, Joe, and I decided on an outdoor destination wedding in the Southwest desert. I was the typical bride-on-a-budget. I wondered aloud to Joe whether we really needed to spend that kind of money for photos. After all, I justified, who sits around and looks through their wedding albums that often once the big day has passed, anyway?

Instead, we relied on the small group of friends and family in attendance with digital cameras to capture the right moments. Not only was this unfair to our guests, but it was unfair to ourselves. We have only one clear photo of the two of us (in which we are regrettably only about an inch tall). Our reception in St. Paul two weeks later yielded no better results. Nearly 150 loved ones attended the event, but thanks to our photography blunder, only about a dozen of them are on film.

Professional photographers throughout the Twin Cities have heard such stories all too often. Here, they recommend fourteen benefits of hiring a professional photographer, who will capture your day full of memories—and give you one free of regrets.

1. Just because someone owns a high-quality digital camera does not make him or her a professional photographer. "You'll almost always get better results from someone who has dedicated their professional life to photographing weddings than you will from a friend, family member, or acquaintance who likes photography and has a nicer camera than yours," says photographer Gregory Gittsovich of Accent Photography in Plymouth.

2. When the day is done, professional photography is the one permanent record you'll have. "Your wedding photos are all you'll have left of the huge amount of money spent on flowers, venues, decorations, cake, and so on," says photographer Ruth Harper of Happily Ever After Photography in St. Paul.

3. A professional wedding photographer will always come prepared. "We carry six or seven lights and three cameras," says Dick Zuleski of A Soft Touch Photography in Maple Grove. "What happens if something malfunctions and your photographer doesn't have a backup?"

4. Professional photographers are able to take the day in stride and thoroughly understand the bride's expectations and emotions. "A photographer's job is to be upbeat and positive, to give you a product that fulfills your vision of the day, to make you look good and feel good, and to take care of you," says Heather Northrup, a photographer with Ellis Photography in St. Paul.

5. You often get more than just a set of wedding proofs. "A professional offers all services such as albums, Photoshop work, reprints on photo paper or canvas, as well as photo folders and frames," says Tom Kemmetmueller of Kemmetmueller Photography in Wayzata.

6. Professionals have superb technical capabilities, such as understanding photocomposition, posing, and lighting. But more so, their photos represent the tone of the entire event. "A professional photographer is looking for and has the skills to capture emotional content rather than a prescriptive photograph," says Mike Fitzgerald of A. Fitzgerald Photography in Woodbury.

7. Because they've photographed hundreds of weddings, the pros bring structure, organization, and peace of mind to a day where tangled nerves run rampant. "The photographer is the one professional who has the biggest influence on how couples enjoy and remember their day," says photographer Eddie Mulkeen. "The intangible they're paying for is experience."

8. Experienced photographers give you something to share with future generations. "The final formal album is a nice book that will be around forever," says Arun Sharma, a photographer with Highland Photography in Minneapolis. "It's a record of your past to show off in your future."

9. Your wedding may be the only time to have a professional photo taken of multiple generations. An image of you and your groom with your parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents is an instant treasure.

10. In an attempt to stay current and even cutting edge, many photographers will find ways to refine their craft. And it's a subject that couples shouldn't be shy about asking, either. "Photographers should continue their education through local and state seminars to stay in touch with new technology and styles," advises Gil Martinez of Martinez Photography in Lakeville.

11. Professional photographers offer quality control. A good wedding photographer will rely on other experts to make sure you're receiving the best product possible. "After I closely review the photos," says Fred Pagenkopf of Pagenkopf Photo & Video in Minnetonka, "my professional printer looks at them a second time and analyzes them."

12. Value-added services, such as Photoshop touchups, have become the norm with professional photographers. Now that almost all photography has gone digital, photographers (or third-party experts upon which they rely) are equipped to enhance, manipulate, or add special effects to photographs at the request of the bride and groom, according to James Flint of Flint Images in Lakeville.

13. Professionals understand family dynamics. A wedding is the one occasion that can bring the whole family together; unfortunately, such a scenario can sometimes bring anxiety, too. Professional photographers, by asking the bride and groom ahead of time, will understand the need to act diplomatically when setting up shots. For example, they'll know the nuances of step-families or feuding relatives and will not force different factions into a photo together.

14. You can expect a photographer to be in touch with you beyond the actual day of the event. "A pro works with you before the wedding to help plan your day and is prompt in answering calls and responding to your needs after the wedding, too," says Steve Rouch of Steve Rouch Photography in St. Paul. Viewing photography through this lens also helps brides and grooms assign more value to the services a professional provides. "Price should not be the only criteria for finding a photographer," says Michael L. Anderson of Anderson's Designer Portraits in Mounds View.