Wedding photos are a precious keepsake of an event that can't be repeated - your wedding day - so you want to make sure you hire a photographer that best represents your personal style to capture those special moments on film. Here are some tips on selecting the right one for you, from professional photographer Eliot Khuner.

1. Do research and make appointments. Visit wedding photography Web sites, then decide which photographers you want to call for appointments.

2. Look through photographer portfolios. During your visit, look through sample albums, paying attention to your emotional responses to the photography and who you feel comfortable speaking with. Look for a photographer whose work moves you and whose technical quality is tops. If you find a photographer who makes you happy, you will never regret your investment, whatever the dollar cost.

3. Look at candids, formals and illustrative pictures, and choose a photographer whose technique, style and spirit closely matches your personality. Look for memories and feelings. Do the photos capture the spirit of the occasion? The images should have a fantasy-like quality and capture genuine expressions of relationships and decisive moments.

4. Look at photos for each wedding separately. Make sure you view one wedding at a time from start to finish - not a collection of highlights from a dozen different weddings. Otherwise, you will get an inaccurate representation of the results you might receive from your wedding.

5. Check availability. Once you find a photographer whose photographs you prefer and who's available for your date and location, ask if that photographer will be covering your wedding. Some studios have several photographers, and you may be speaking to a salesperson. The sample albums may be the work of photographers who don't even work for the studio anymore. If this is the case, you should arrange to meet with and see the work of the photographer who will be doing your wedding. You should also ask for a written commitment from the studio, stating that the photographer you want will, in fact, be covering your day.

6. Discuss pricing, deposits, packages, quantity of pictures, etc. Of course, you should determine if the photographer is within your budget, give or take a little. Prices can range from anywhere between $950 to $10,000, depending on the photographer and the packages you choose. Expect better photographers to charge higher rates. If you are looking for a bargain and shopping via phone for pricing, you are asking for poor to mediocre photography.

Photography runs between 9 to 15 percent of the total wedding budget. When couples value photography highly and are on a limited budget, they will spend up to 30 percent of it on photography. Most brides initially underestimate the cost of photography by 50 percent. You will probably spend at least twice as much as you budgeted.

7. Discuss the style of photos you prefer in advance. According to Kodak, formal posed photos offer a classic approach that's always in style. This type of photography requires a professional who can gather and pose people in a way that best captures their expressions and emotions. Candid, "photojournalistic" photography produces images that are offbeat, light and energetic.

Kodak mentions that even though the pictures look natural, they should still be beautiful with good lighting and backgrounds.