Hiring two different photographers?

My future sister in law hired two different photographers for her wedding. She was a photographer herself and had some photographer friends who worked her reception. But she hired a higher quality and more expensive photographer just for her ceremony. This helped her cut down on the cost a bit while still getting the photos she wanted. But its important to know that she worked this out with the photographers. My photographers contract basically says that I can't hire any other professional photographers for my wedding.

I understand why you might want to do this, but I think it could go wrong for so many reasons and likely won't work out. Most photogs won't allow this as part of their contract. If they do allow it, then it could be a disaster as others have stated because each photog has their style of posing and directing the day, so they may clash.

If you book them for separate portions of the day I would really worry that your overall photo collection won't look cohesive and you will be able to tell where one left off and the other picked up. It could also piss your photogs off.

This just sounds like a bad idea all around.

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I'm having two photographers for my wedding. They are Ok with it, they just work with each other to get the best of each moment in the timeline of the wedding.

I wouldn't do this (I'm a photographer). When photographers work together (such as having a lead and a second shooter) there is a clear hierarchy and their working relationship is balanced. Each photographer has a distinct role and they are acutely aware of the strengths that each bring to the working relationship, who leads what, and how that impacts overall product delivered. The entire effort is coordinated.

Two photographers who haven't worked together aren't going to know each others workflow for the event. They are going to be more likely to get in one another's way or they might miss shots for fear of doing so. You can certainly ask them if they would be willing to work together (wedding photographers typically have a network of other professionals that they work with, so its possible they already know each other and have worked together before), but don't be surprised if they are reluctant to do so or add on an extra fee. You may think you are making their work easier by giving them a backup, but in reality they are going to likely have to do more preparation than if they were shooting solo and forcing them to co-shoot with someone they don't know - especially without a clear hierarchy - adds stress to the event.

I think you should consult with your partner, both of you should meet with both photographers (do a phone/video chat together if meeting in person is not possible), and then select the photographer that feels like the best fit for what you want. If you are really uncertain and both are reasonably priced, you could book an engagement shoot with one photographer and book the other for your wedding, or you could do an engagement shoot with both photographers and then select the one you felt the most comfortable with for your wedding. That way you'd have something of both styles, but wouldn't be forcing your photographers to work with (and against) each other on your important day.