As a Wisconsin wedding photographer I believe in showing a good portfolio. But I also suggest a good portfolio isn't enough to hire a wedding vendor. It's too easy in the 21st century to steal images, put up a fake website over night and start collecting checks from clients. Check if a vendor's pictures are stolen before you even contact them.
It's not just photographers you have to worry about. Anyone -- florist, uplighting, caterer, planner -- asking for your investment should be able to produce credible examples of her own work, whether a third-party's pictures used with permission (for non-photographers) or her own pictures.
I'm going to teach you how to identify probable sources of images so you can decide if the person you're researching is worth your investment. If you think the problem is too rare to affect you, consider that I uncovered two fakers in 2017 in Wisconsin alone and there are thousands of documented cases of these scams. Many will continue to perpetuate the scam even after they've been caught and exposed.
Use Google Images
Right-click the suspect image and copy the image's address or URL.
Open a new browser tab and go to "images.google.com."
Click the camera icon in the Google Images search bar and click the "Paste Image URL" tab.
Press Ctrl+V to paste the URL, or right-click and click "Paste."
Press "Go" or "Enter" to search for the image.
Review the results and note any sources of the image other than the one you got the URL from.
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