Do NOT plan on taking them yourself, you are the mother of the bride and have your own tasks - that should not be one of them. Do NOT count on disposable cameras - very poor quality. Do NOT call the HS or college photographer and tell them you are looking for a cheap photographer - it is an insult! Ask what they would charge. And, I would not recommend a student to do it either. I think both sides of the family need to be included, even though the brides family is paying. The bride is the primary subject, but please don't forget the groom and his family, too. You should be able to direct the photogrpaher to take this photo or that, using a list is handy, but if there are too many itmes, the photographer may be overwhelmed. Really highlight the photos that are really important for you to have. I agree that a formal portrait session is a good idea, lacking the ability to afford much more. Expecting professional results for anything less than $1,000 is laughable. Please hire a professional, these need to last a lifetime. You might try to find an "event" photographer, just because they don't advertise as a wedding photographer, doesn't mean they don't do weddings. Some ways you may be able to save $$ is hire by the hour and schedule 2-3 hours, You don't really need the 30 photos of the bride and her entourage getting ready. Or another 50 of a bunch of drunken guests. Candids are great, formals are necessary. I do really like the "photojournalist" style, but not at the expense of the formally posed. I would be sure to ask for both, time allowing. Also, be sure that you get the negatives or CD of images. That way you can reprint without paying the exorbitant mark up. And any color photo can easily be converted to BW. Maybe try your local newspaper photographer. BTW, I am the college photographer that people call for a "cheap" job. I might offer you a good deal, but I ain't cheap! Good luck!

Are you in an area that has a Master Builders or Home Builders Association? Often times, they have a listing of subcontractos, suppliers and trades people that work in the industry. The lists may and sometimes do include other trades that rely on the homebuilders for their work, such as designers, realtors, advertisers and photographers. Or, you may call a few of the builders in your area and see if they can give you any recommendations. The cost will depend on what you want, how many shots, the way you want the finished product - digital or paper format, etc. The builder I work with most, has a photographer who sets up and does the shot for in the $200-600 range, provides digital files afterwards, however, we do all the "staging". GOOD LUCK! Sounds like a great idea! I look back at the photos and video of our previous home quite a bit! Brings back wonderful memories of all the hard work we did... Another idea, if your new home will be renovated also, hire the same photographer (maybe they will discount the second location) to take professional before pictures of the spaces you are going to work on - even if it's several years off. Who knows, you may want your project published someday!

Although I am currently only working as an advanced amateur shooting for my own purposes, way back in the late 60's while in the Air Force I was professionally trained as a "Still Photographic Specialist" and I worked as a professional photographer for a short time after I got out of the Air Force in 1972. I principally shoot Pentax invented the through the lens pentaprism viewfinder and they were the first company to make cameras with a built in light meter. At the time Nikon was makng the Nikon F, which is unquestionably one of the finest camera ever made, but the Nikon F did not have a built in light meter, Instead they had an optional viewfinder that had the light meter built into the viewfinder and with the optional viewfinder it was designated the Nikon F Photomic. Canon was still making some world class rangefinder cameas but they had not yet got into the SLR market. From 1966 until 2006 I had amassed a collection of 21 ranging from an 16mm fisheye to a full 1,000mm that weighs in at nearly 32lbs including the dedicated wooden tripod that came with it. Pentax lenses, so when I decided to upgrade to Digital I chose a Pentax camera because Pentax has reverse engineered their digitals so we can still use all of our lenses. Needless to say, I am fully comfortable with a totally manual camera, although I do appreciate the conveniences of modern technology. As a sideline, I have been teaching a free photography class at our local senior center for about a year, and as you might imagine I hear your question quite often. First off, let me make it perfectly clear. Just buying a professional camera will no more make you a better photographer than what buying a stethoscope would make you a nurse. Before you buy a camera you have to stop and think about what you intend to do with it. If all you need is a camera to take good high quality scenics and family album type photos then I would not recommend the expense of a true DSLR. Professoinal photographers need a DSLR because they need to select lenses for the type of photography they perform. By example, a news photographer needs a fast normal lens and generally a moderately long telephoto, whereas a sports or wildlife photographer needs super long telephoto lenses while a scenic photographer needs super wide angle and a portrait or fashion photographer needs normal and short tele lenses and a nature or forensic photographer would need macro lenses for super closeups, while a laboratory photographer might need a microscope adapter for their camera. While that Nikon D3100 package is a very good deal, you must keep in mind that it is an entry level DSLR and while it does have enough automation that you can basically take it out of the box and use it as a point & shoot while your learning, but if you decide to really get into serious photography within a year or so you will begin to see its limitations. Basically that camera has different modes, which means you can select Full Automatic mode, Portrait Mode, Scenic Mode, Sports mode, etcetera and the camera will make the necessary adjustments to meet the need of the mode selected. It should also have a manual mode so as you advance it will work with you. For a true beginner making the initial switch from basic Point & shoot to a more sophisticated camera I would advise you to consider what the industry now calls a "Bridge Camera". (In fact, I bought a bridge camera as a backup camera). Generally the bridge cameras have the same basic shape and size as a DSLR and many of the advanced control features but instead of interchangable lenses they have a super zoom lens and they cost much less. By example, Walmart carries a number of bridge cameras from Nikon, Canon, Fugi and Kodak. My personal choice was the Kodak Easyshare z981, which has 14mp resolution and a 26x zoom lens(equivalent to a 26 to 676mm zoom.) It has a 3" display on the back of the body and it will shot both stills and video,and it has all the modes that you will have on that Nikon. All for a mere $238 plus you will have to buy a memory card separately. Another great bridge camera is the Canon Powershot SX30-IS. It has a 35x optical zoom and sells for $350. One word of caution. 200 to 250mm is about the longest lens that you can successfully use as a hand held camera. I would strongly suggest if you buy a camera that exceeds 200mm or 8x you will need a tripod too. Having said all of that, no matter what camera you choose, in the beginning you will feel a bit awkward until you get the feel of it. If you run into situations you don't understand or you have photos that you would like constructive criticism I would invite you to post them in the photography forum and their are a number of very knowledgable ppl that will help you along as you learn.

Another temp drop tonight. It was interesting to me to note that we had so much rain Friday and yet it is taking until today for the temps to drop. Normally for our winters, the rain comes at the very head of a cold front with temps dropping almost as soon as the rain stops, but instead we, my area at least, had a fair bit of rain Friday, a fair bit of sun and relative warmth Saturday and now today the temps are already (10 am) dropping. The temps for my area are supposed to stabilize around noon and then continue dropping around 3, so I am going to let the sun warm all that saturated soil for as long as possible before putting up the covers to trap the heat. As strange and unusual as this winter has been, it is a bit of relief for me as I took a page from Leu Gardens's book and planted a Monstera deliciosa under an oak tree (on the east side so the winds are buffeted by the trunk of the tree). The warm rains and warming sun are giving it fair chances of surviving its first year in the ground without any extra protection from me. I also put some rooted wild coffee cuttings under that tree hoping that the canopy will will protect them enough to allow them to thrive. They can be a little iffy here and might die back a bit under a hard frost, but I am testing and playing with micro-climates. This strangely warm first winter should make it so that all the plants will be stronger and quite established for future cooler winters.