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Don't worry about the preferred vendor list from your venue! I'm not using any of the vendors that mine recommended. Doing your own research and figuring out what *you* like is the best way to make your decisions.

Unless your venue has an agreement where you must use one of X catering options or something like that, those lists are just a suggested place to start. There's a whole referral network within the wedding community.

My friend is planning a wedding in another state, and plans to pick most of her vendors off of the venue's list for sake of convenience, but she chose her photographer separately.

I always take a look at vendor partners, just out of curiosity. I was pleasantly surprised to find my photographer on my makeup artist's suggested vendor list.

Some venues require that you only use their preferred vendors, others just give you a list of vendors familiar with their venue that they have worked with before. I would ask them if they allow outside vendors or if they require you to only use the ones they provide you with. Usually it's caterers, bartenders, or event rental companies that they require, I haven't heard of many venues requiring a specific photographer. Our venue gave us a list of preferred vendors, but they're just suggestions. I don't think we're using any of them now that I think about it. Check with your venue on their vendor policies.

As long as your venue allows outside photographers, and the photographer has good reviews, I wouldn't worry if they are on the venue list or not.

You should be fine unless they tell you otherwise. With my venue I can use outside vendors for literally anything EXCEPT catering which hurts my heart because the ones they use are so damn expensive.

Some venues require that you use certain vendors so I would double check with them that you can use a photographer other than the ones listed on their preferred vendor list. If they are okay with it, then it shouldn't be a problem.

Preferred vendor lists typically are a list of recommendations, rather than restrictions. Most venues are pretty open to having different photographers, florists, officiants, and musicians/DJs come in. Where venues tend to be more picky is with caterers and bartenders, just because those can have such a big impact on the quality and safety of the event itself. Chances are if your photographer sucks it isn't going to cause people to get sick or injured or damage property, whereas bad food service, irresponsible use of a kitchen, or careless bartending can be a real liability issue for venues. If your photographer is a good fit for you, within your budget, and has good reviews, I wouldn't worry about it.

It’s up to your venue. Some venues get a stipend from having vendors on the preferred list. My venue has a preferred list but it was suggestion only. (Thankfully!!)