That picture is one of a small handful of photos from my wedding day that I actually like- and sadly it doesn't even feature my husband or me. Planning a wedding can be hard, and sticking to the budget even harder, but one of the most important lessons I learnt was: the cheap option isn't always the best option. My husband and I got married when we were very young and were given a budget from our parents that we had to work within. Sadly we made the decision to let the photography be one of the areas we skimped on and the results were devastating. All in all our photographer was a nice guy and obviously knew his way around a camera a lot better than most people, but when it comes to capturing the most important day of your life that just isn't enough. From poorly composed images to unnecessary over-editing and unnaturally staged poses, we definitely got what we paid for. We received back a disc with 400 photos, from which we found 30 that we liked and five or less that we LOVED. I don't know what we were thinking - our wedding was beautiful and the photographs are one of the only things that you have to help you remember your day. The biggest lesson I learnt is that your photography shouldn't be the area of your budget you skimp on. Whether you have a large budget for your wedding or whether things are a little tighter, there's always a way around it. Don't do what I did and end up with five photos from a 12 hour event. - Amanda