I got this feedback from a lady who is now married (We'll come and came across my article about choosing wisely and what happened to Carina with her choice of photographer). To avoid making mistakes like poor Carina and avoid being scammed, Mrs Sue prior to her wedding contracted two wedding photographers to cover her wedding ceremony even though she needed just one.
Her reason was that in the event where one photographer didn't show up to the venue, at least the other one will do. She was shocked when she had the wedding and both of them actually turned up.
What a mess
That's how it seemed but it was not a mess for Mrs Sue because she had the money to pay both wedding photographers. But this was totally unnecessary by the woman. Well, you cannot blame her since to her that was the best approach and she wanted to avoid disappointment at all cost on her wedding day.
Not everyone has such money
I agree with this, even if you have the money, save it for the future or your honeymoon vacation or if it's too much you don't know what to do with it, please give it to me, I will be grateful.
The ideal thing to do
To avoid being in Carina's situation or that of Mrs Sue, avoid any form of complications. You have friends who have gotten married at a certain time before you, if that option is not good enough; then contact a photography agency and they will link you to different wedding photographers. Don't put yourself at a crossroad where you are left with no good option. This is not limited to your wedding photographer. For instance, if you are contracting different caterers to cover your food and drinks, let each one know the role they have to play. Be specific on your instructions and what you want from your vendors on your wedding day.
Do you want blue as one of your decor colours and your picture of the blue is turquoise blue but because you didn't specify, your decorator use sky blue and that's not what you like. If you confront him/her, in their defence they will say you told them blue; you were not specific so they opted for sky blue colour. A good event decorator will know better to ask you specifically the shade of blue colour you want but I painted that scenario as an example of what being not specific with what you want could lead to complications.
Finally don't be afraid or shy to specifically request for what you want on your wedding day with everything that is going to be useful. After all, you are paying with your money to get the services of those vendors. One other tip, Start planning as early as possible for the wedding. Planning on time never hurts but when you don't do what is necessary at the required time, you might end up having complications and getting bad results. Do you want to shed tears on your wedding day? No! So be specific about what you want, plan on time and you won't be disappointed.