Use the fastest memory card that your camera will allow. Don't skimp on it! Spend some time investing in your memory cards - and yes, cards because you need more than one. A lot of manufacturers will tell you the read speed maximum for the card, but not the write speed. The latter is the most important for us as we need to know how quickly the photos will write to the card before allowing us to shoot again. I found out the hard way about memory cards, whilst trying to shoot a santa fun run. I was in sports mode to capture as many shots as possible but my memory card allowed about five before 'writing- unable to operate' flashed up. Needless to say I ended up with a lot of backsides and not many faces! There's nothing worse than snapping the wedding speeches only to find that the cake has been cut and everyone has gone home by the time you're ready to take another shot. Shocking.

If you're a journalistic style shooter and this is the approach you take to Wedding Photography (like me!) then you need to consider the frame rate of your camera. To capture as many moments as possible, sharply, clearly and without much stress a camera that can capture 3 - 4 frames per second in RAW is your new best friend. Anything higher than this is better suited to nature, sports and event photography.

I talk about reflectors all the time - relatively cheap piece of equipment, most come in handy foldy type bag thingies, and they just might save your life. Seriously. Having a reflector, even on standby in the car or something, is a great way of being prepared. Don't be afraid of popping that thing out, I know it's embarrassing walking around with a great shiny piece of tinfoil in a frame, but the bride and groom will love you for it, eventually.

I can't even begin to understand why I ever thought something like Picasa was enough for editing my photos...! But we learn and move on. (Picasa is great by the way for simple things and as a free program). Photoshop and Lightroom are great for the Wedding after party - i.e the time when you go home and frantically upload your photos with your fingers crossed and your breath held. Adobe offers a Creative Cloud monthly membership - for students this is around £22 a month I believe (that's what I pay) and it's worth the investment. Dodgy versions, free versions, versions that aren't quite 'right' aren't worth it. If they fail, you've got no backup.