Apologies in advance for this, but I need to vent...
Just like any other person running a business (and as much as I love photography, it is a business), I periodically check out "the competition". Now, for a wedding photographer this is quite straightforward - I can just Google to my heart's content and peruse thousands of other photographers' websites. I can see their work, a description of how they work, and often their prices.
But its hard work. The standard of not just the photography itself, but the DIY website design, the cheesy slideshows, the stolen music, and the copywriting - well it can be truly awful.
Now don't get me wrong, there are some really amazing photographers out there, shooting fabulous pictures, and those pictures are presented beautifully online. But they are in the minority, and I pity those couples who are just starting out their Googling process, because it seems to me that the really bad websites quite often make it to the top of the search results. Unfortunately Google has no taste and no understanding of good photography. And that makes the wedding photography hunting couple's job so much harder.
This probably sounds like I'm bitter about the fact that my own website doesn't always rank right at the top of the search results!
But really my point is this :
If you're looking for a wedding photographer, don't get discouraged by some of the stuff you see. There are very talented photographers out there, shooting in a wide variety of styles. Even if you don't think my style and approach is for you, that's fine. Just keep looking until you find the photographer who is showing finished work which matches what you would like to receive yourself.
Find that photographer whose work gets you excited.
Don't settle for "good enough". Because its not.