What I have learnt is you get what you pay for in that business. We paid nearly $3k all up for our wedding pics nearly 10yrs ago and they are gorgeous pics and worth every penny, but two different friends of ours and DH's brother went with the cheaper option of getting a 'semi' professional - someone who did photography on the side and they got ripped off. One group of friends don't even have their photo album, only about 1 dozen shots and they got married 8 months after we did! The other friends photographer only took 2 rolls of film and BIL and SIL can't even bare to look at their photos they are that bad! Now I know there are a lot of wonderful photographers out there who don't charge a lot, but when choosing someone you should always aske to have a look at their previous work and ask what their refund policy is if you aren't happy with the photos - plus these days we have the benefit of the internet so if you want to double check, google their name and look for independent testimonials about the photographer as they aren't going to put bad ones on their website kwim?