As if choosing your wedding guest list wasn't hard enough with the limitations of space and budget, you face an even tougher dilemma...

Should you have children at your wedding?

There is no easy answer to this one. It really depends on you. Are you super close with your nieces and nephews? Does your family party together with the kids on a regular basis? If so, it might be hard to imagine NOT having them as a part of your wedding.

Let's explore some of the pros and cons to keeping the kiddies.

Cons

• Kids are kids. They can be delightful, but then can also be disruptive and noisy, especially during those "quiet moments" in the church.

• The parents of those children will spend the entire night chasing them around, wiping snotty noses and swatting bottoms instead of enjoying themselves.

• You're likely spending $40-200 per plate to feed your guests. The extra expense to feed children who are going to throw most of it on the floor can make you want to scream.

Pros

• Parents will easily be able to attend because they won't have to make special arrangements.

• If you have a close family, having the kids there everyone who is special to you and makes them a part of your memories.

• Kids have lots of energy and energy is FUN. They'll be the first ones on the dance floor and will give the ladies an excuse to get up with them.

• They're just so darn cute! Especially in those mini-tuxedos and flower girl dresses.

Speaking from my own experiences at hundreds of weddings in the Hudson Valley, I love having kids there. They bring a smile to grown up faces and provide built in entertainment tearing around the dance floor. There's nothing quite so adorable as a toddler bouncing up and down to the Black Eyed Peas, surrounded by a circle of adoring wedding guests.

Of course, it's not always that cute. At one Hudson Valley wedding location (which shall remain nameless) Jeff and I encountered a hoard of ten year old hooligans who swiped booze from the bar, poked at our DJ equipment and ran rampant without adult supervision all night long.

But this horrific scenario is rare. The picture below illustrates a more typical scenario. Here's Jeff performing acoustic guitar for a wedding cocktail hour at Christo's in Poughkeepsie, NY...with a gaggle of kids dancing and doing "airplane wings" around him.

Photo by Lori O'Toole

Solving the Kiddie Dilemma

Choose what's right for you. If you can't imagine your day without the kids, invite them. If the thought of screaming babies gives you wedding nightmares, make your reception "Adults Only." And don't let your family and friends pressure you.

Make one general rule and stick with it. If you decide not to have kids, don't allow any. This makes it easier to explain. "I'm sorry, we just don't have enough space/budget/patience for kids at the wedding." When you start making exceptions, things can get ugly.

Do yourself and your guests a favor and HIRE BABYSITTERS. Pay someone to watch and play with the children. This way their parents will actually be able to relax and enjoy themselves, and the kids can still be a part of the day.

Give the kids a diversion. Provide a kiddie craft table with coloring books and crayons at the very least. A gift bag stocked with toys can keep them occupied.

Or if you have a lot of children and you want to keep them REALLY happy and totally out of your hair...rent the Amazing Fun Bus for your wedding. It's got pinball, Wii, carnival games and more. They'll love it! Of course, you'll probably have trouble keeping the groomsmen away, too.

What's your take on children at weddings? Leave a comment and share your experience.

With the influx of low-cost online printers over the last half decade, more couples are looking to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) options to save some money on their wedding album. There are a lot of factors to consider with DIY and professional studio albums - so lets take a look at some of them in detail.

Cost (Winner - DIY Album)

This is pretty much a no brainer. DIY albums can start around $50 and that price is hard to beat when compared to the hundreds or thousands of dollars you can end up spending on a professional album.

Time Commitment (Winner - Professional Album)

The time you spend picking out the photos is going to be the same regardless of which album you choose. However, once you start the process of creating a DIY album, you are committing to spending a lot more of your time on creating the book (instead of paying your photographer for their time creating the album.)  In my experience, newlyweds don't tend to have loads of free time. In fact, I've had clients come to me years after their wedding telling me they found they just didn't have the time to do the album themself.

Layout Flexibility (Winner - Professional Album)

Most online album printers have set templates that you have to fit your photos into. If you want to create your own unique page layouts, start adding to that time commitment category. Your studio will likely create a custom layout based on your photos and your input as to how you would like the album to look.

Image Quality (Winner - Professional Album)

Most wedding photographers now provide clients with digital copies of their photos. However, the amount of color correction, lighting adjustment, and general retouching varies widely. Optimizing photos for printing is included in the cost of most studio albums. Unless you want to spend the loads of time that retouching your own photos would require, and you have the software and the skill to do so, the photos most likely won't be the same quality that your photographer will produce.

Durability / Longevity (Winner - Professional Album)

Some DIY albums are printed on archival quality papers, ensuring that the pages will not fade or discolor over the years. Some, however, are not! Research carefully before choosing a printer for your DIY wedding album. You will also find that regardless of the archival quality, the pages themselves are very thin (like a magazine page) and are highly susceptible to tearing. Many DIY album covers are also made from cheaper, thin, lightweight materials to decrease cost. These covers can warp or bend over years of storage if you are not careful.

In most cases, professional album pages (or photographic prints in the case of traditional matted albums) receive special treatments to ensure longevity. The books are bound with covers made of high grade materials including leather, metal, or acrylics. While using these higher-grade materials and treatments increase the price of the professional album, they add decades to the life of your wedding album.

Why can't I just get a professional album on my own?

Most wedding album companies will not sell you an album unless you can prove you are a professional wedding photographer or studio with at least 3 years in business. Why?  Because they are not looking for individual clients.  They are looking for continued, steady business.

Conclusion

You know how much money you can spend. The money you save is directly related to time - either time you spend putting the album together or time before your album starts to fade or deteriorate. Consider that this is the first tangible heirloom of your new family - how long do you want it to last?

Casey Fatchett is the owner of Casey Fatchett Photography and has been photographing weddings and events in the Tri-State area (and nationwide) for over 10 years. He is an active member of the WPJA and WPPI.