I LOVE getting prints of my photos to display around my home and office. Some of them are in glass (or plastic) frames, and some are tacked up to cork-boards or on the refrigerator. There are two main reasons to consider purchasing the prints from you photographer: 1) The quality of the paper/ink and 2) The quality of the photo itself.
Quality of the paper and ink
I usually have a ton of natural light in my home during the day, so it is important to me that my photos do not fade in the sunlight. Here is an example of a print from CVS (sorry, CVS) and a professional print. Both were tacked to a cork-board for just under one year. (These photos were taken by my wedding photographer, Happily Hitched Photography. If you are getting married in northern Ohio, I cannot recommend them enough!)
Keep in mind that these pictures were not in a frame. But even if they had been, the fading would have been the same. Frame are often sold with acrylic-glass, which is lightweight and durable, but not protective against fading. Glass is heavier, very reflective, can have a green tint, but is less likely to scratch when being cleaned. However, glass itself will also not protect against the fading. The only to to protect against the fading is to have UV-resistant glass… or just purchase professional quality prints and display them however you want.
Quality of the photo itself
Different printing companies–like Walmart, Walgreens, or CVS for example–often have different color profiles and contrast settings. This means that the picture you get printed may not necessarily match how it looked online. Furthermore, if you are purchasing Christmas cards from a company like these with the cute borders and text, the printing service might compress your photo or add a slight filter that can cause your photo to look grainy or discolored. These are issues that people often do not think about until after the prints arrive and they are unhappy with the outcome. Here are a few examples from fellow photographers who have ordered the same picture from several printers and compared the results:
If you google “print lab comparison,” you will see that time and time again comparisons have been done that highlight the differences between photo labs. Professional prints will always give you the prints that are have the truest colors and contrast.
Pfahler Photography 