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Mariam and Umar Rafique, from Cardiff, got married in July last year - after months of hard work and planning.

"It was a really special day," Mariam said. "It turned out to be really nice weather so we were quite lucky with that and really enjoyed the whole day."

They chose City Hall in Cardiff as the perfect backdrop, and called on the services of a professional photographer and his company, Weddings for Life.

The company been recommended to them and the couple had even met the photographer before the wedding to ensure he knew exactly what they wanted.

The cost was £1,400 and the couple paid £750 deposit, with a further £650 to be paid when they got their finished album.

Mariam explained: "They were to design the album, put the photos in a storybook so telling the story basically from the start to the end. Then he was going to send it to us, and if we wanted to make any changes then we would let him know."

So, after three weeks of honeymooning in Bali, the couple chose the photos they wanted to go in that all-important album. Then they sat back and looked forward to seeing the results.

But after waiting twice as long than they had expected, when they finally received a draft version of the album last December they were less than impressed.

"We did not like the design, it was very basic, there was no editing done. It was just the pictures which he had took, he had basically put in the book. He hadn't edited any backgrounds, any shadows or anything like that, alignment and borders.

There were a lot of mistakes, and a lot of time needed to be spent on it. We weren't happy with the whole layout basically," Mariam said.

The album wasn't up to scratch, so what could they do? Well, surely they could hold back the rest of the money until they got the album they wanted. Couldn't they?

Well unfortunately not, because unbeknown to them, on the wedding day itself, Mariam's brother had, in a bid to be helpful, already paid the rest of the money to Weddings for Life.

Unhappy with their album, the couple arranged to meet with the photographer and go through their problems.

But although the couple say they tried to explain the changes they wanted, progress was slow, and eventually the couple were given a CD of the editing software and ended up designing the album themselves - also adding some pictures their family had taken on the day.

They then sent their efforts to Weddings For Life, for the final, professional adjustments and for the album to be printed.

Then this August, more than a year after their wedding, they finally got the album. And when they opened it, Mariam said they couldn't believe their eyes.

"There were pictures that were flipped the wrong way round, and they weren't aligned properly, border thickness and stuff like that were still not corrected."

So, over a year since they tied the knot and the dream book the couple ordered still isn't up to scratch.

We asked Marina Lois, a Cardiff-based wedding planner, how couples can help avoid a situation like this.

"Most important of all, get yourself a quote from them and a timeline of how they hoped to produce your album for you at the end so there's no surprises.

"And the quote has to be adhered to so in terms of money, so it's dead important that quote is the essential thing," she advised.

"What you should also try and do is have a kind of point man allocated on the day, in charge of paying all of your suppliers. So, they've got a list of who's coming that day, who's owed what - and the cash or the cheques to pay them.

"Then you know it can't go to anyone else, it has to be from that one point of contact and that's how you can kind of control it" she said.

Weddings For Life do say they made several attempts to please the Rafiques, but they claim the couple "struggled to communicate" their wishes clearly and that their complaints about the album were ultimately caused by a difference in personal taste - which is why they eventually agreed to allow the couple to edit it themselves.

Weddings for Life also says they were not aware the couple were adding their own photos to the album - and that this caused some of the quality issues - although Mariam and Umar insist they did check with Weddings for Life before including them.

And they point out that a problem at the printers added to the delay in getting the couple's album finished. But, on the plus side, the company says the finished album should be on the way to the Rafiques in the next fortnight.

For Mariam, it will be a welcome end to this particular chapter of her married life. "It's been a horrible experience and I wouldn't want anyone else to go through it," she said.

"You kind of leave everything to a photographer to do everything and you just want to come out with something you can look back on and memories for yourself. Unfortunately, we still don't have those pictures to hand."