Personal recommendations? Pictures you love at the right price? They are all relevant factors. Here’s what I would look for:

1. Experience: An enormous amount of photographers and studios out there have only been shooting “professionally” for less than five years. There’s been an incredible saturation of the wedding photographer market of people who bought a decent camera at Best Buy with no other experience and are now “professional photographers.”

Photographers with many weddings under their belt as well as shooters with experience in daily newspapers or magazines are wonderful choices for wedding photographers.

2. Integrity: Check their references and make sure they live up to their promises. Make sure they deliver their product and service on time. Is their second photographer truly qualified? The husband and wife photographer “team” you are considering is often nothing more than one photographer plus another person who is little more than a camera holder with virtually no qualifications.

Too many photographers get in over their head and start hosing clients due to a lack of integrity or a lack of experience or a lack of both.

3. Likeability: The right photographer for your wedding will make great pictures AND do so in a way that makes your wedding day even better. Are they courteous? Do they seem interested in you enough to ask questions? How do they handle pressure situations? You need someone who works efficiently, stays calm and polite and can deliver a professional result in situations that are often less than ideal.

4. Education: The vast majority of wedding photographers have no formal training in photography. Look for photographers with some kind of education in photography.

5. Price: Hey, it matters… especially these days. But ten years after your wedding you’re not going to be concerned how much you spent on photography, you are going to concerned about the quality of your pictures. With that in mind, don’t you think it is better to pay more than you expected rather than less than you should?