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There are around 2.5 million weddings every year in the USA No one knows how much money is really generated by all of this love but some estimate it over $ 50 BILLION a year! That is from the dress shop, to the ring shop, to the cake shop, to the tux place, to the flower lady, etc.

My wife and I are wedding photographers. During the past 7 years, we have been to a few weddings, and worked with a TON of different vendors. If you are getting married in Southern California, there is no shortage of wedding vendors! The purpose of this article is not to bash on any particular wedding vendor, I just wanted to offer some advise when choosing who you will trust with your big day.

With the economy being so horrible, we have noticed that couples are looking for things to cut out to save money. With any financial struggle, comes opportunists. We have seen some amazing wedding photography ads on our local online classifieds where they will pretty much shoot your wedding, make your album, style your hair and do your makeup for around five bucks! Alright, maybe not that cheap but you get my point. If you're resorting to the classifieds for your wedding photography- um, good luck.

References are HUGE. If anyone in this industry does not have referrals, beware. If they do not have examples of their work, beware. If they are just starting out, it's up to you if you want to gamble with your wedding day!

We once shot a wedding at a very nice country club in Newport Beach, CA and the reception was about the worst we've ever seen. No, do not get me wrong- the couple was beautiful, the table settings were elegant, the food was great, but there was one problem … The DJ was bad. I mean bride running out of the room crying-bad! I'm talking groom asking the DJ to actually leave- bad! Was it their first time? Maybe. They were a "great deal" not so much. It was sad but I asked asking myself- what made the couple decide to hire THAT DJ? To me, it was obvious that these people never worked a wedding in their lives. I'm sure the couple would've gone a different route if they could do it all over again.

We love to give the sellers we love referrals. It's great to work with professionals who know their fields and it's even better when the couple thanks us after the wedding. Vendors who work together frequently, will make your day 99% problem free. They know what to expect and work together to look out for your wedding day. We typically like to refer owner-operators. They care about their business a little bit more than a hired worker usually does. If you are not sure about a particular vendor, just ask someone you've already hired. If they will put their name on it, it's as good as gold.

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Source by Brian Gilmore