Yes, I mentioned earlier that I was a bit dubious about the SWPP - which didn't list at least one of two very good wedding photographers I know in Dorset, yet it listed somebody who does the occasional bit of product photography. So forget my mention of the SWPP!
If I were hiring a photographer for a wedding I'm sure that seeing a few samples of their work, or at least getting a recommendation from a satisfied customer would swing it for me rather than finding the name in a list. But when that can't be done, I'd go for membership of a professional body. The trouble was, when testing the theory I started from scratch (as a client might do) and used Google to look for some kind of trade body..... and the SWPP came up. Kind of shot my argument to pieces, really!
I tried again, though, and came up with a "
UK Wedding Photographers" site..... and all its members seem to have quality websites - along with samples and testimonials. On the other hand, there don't seem to be many photographers registered. It does seem quite easy for photographers to submit their details, but without going through the whole registration process I can't tell if there's any scrutiny involved.... or whether there's some kind of quality standard required.
Maybe there really is a good professional body for wedding photographers in UK - maybe not.
As you say, some people just want to pay a photographer perhaps 100 quid (or less) for the day, and prints..... when a quality photographer could cost maybe 3000 or more.