Photographer Fee

knottied66af5c4f8519104

Hey guys I need some advice. I booked my destination wedding threw destinationweddings.com. travel wedding planner has been great. I booked grand bahia san juan in domincan republic. 

Got put in touch with wedding planner from the resort. My goodness it's been a nightmare since. Already have 25 guests booked for there so couldnt change it. 

Anyways my question is if anyone has ever been made to pay a photographer fee. I ended up bringing/paying for a friend who is a photographer to come with the group. He is also bringing his wife. So they are guests of the resort for the full 7 days like all my other guests. I mentioned this to the resort because my package came with a photographer and i said i didnt need their service because i was bringing my own. Well it all went downhill from there.. they informed me that would cost me 500$ more because I'm not permitted to do that because resort gas a contract with a photographer. I informed them that he is a guest not a local and that they can still charge me for what's included in the package.. no deal  still have to pay the 500$

I'm pretty much at the point with the horrible customer service because everything has been a nightmare dealing with them but I feel like I'm not going to pay it I just dont want the drama. I'm spending 2000 on the package 1500 on extras and having 23 guests staying there for 7 days and me and hubby for 10. 

What's everyone's opinion on this. What would you guys do? 

bubblylove

Well, when you paid the fee you should have had a contract that included details on the photographer and any extra fees. If those are not in the contract you can argue it. 

charlotte989875

knottied66af5c4f8519104 said:

Hey guys I need some advice. I booked my destination wedding threw destinationweddings.com. travel wedding planner has been great. I booked grand bahia san juan in domincan republic. 

Got put in touch with wedding planner from the resort. My goodness it's been a nightmare since. Already have 25 guests booked for there so couldnt change it. 

Anyways my question is if anyone has ever been made to pay a photographer fee. I ended up bringing/paying for a friend who is a photographer to come with the group. He is also bringing his wife. So they are guests of the resort for the full 7 days like all my other guests. I mentioned this to the resort because my package came with a photographer and i said i didnt need their service because i was bringing my own. Well it all went downhill from there.. they informed me that would cost me 500$ more because I'm not permitted to do that because resort gas a contract with a photographer. I informed them that he is a guest not a local and that they can still charge me for what's included in the package.. no deal  still have to pay the 500$

I'm pretty much at the point with the horrible customer service because everything has been a nightmare dealing with them but I feel like I'm not going to pay it I just dont want the drama. I'm spending 2000 on the package 1500 on extras and having 23 guests staying there for 7 days and me and hubby for 10. 

What's everyone's opinion on this. What would you guys do? 

What does your contract say? If it says you have to use their vendors or else pay a fee then you might be stuck paying. 

Beyond that I think venues often have contacts with specific vendors for many reasons (pricing, liability, control over who works on their property, etc) and while I think it sucks they’re not willing to budge, I think it’s probably because if they did it for one person they’d have to do it for everyone, and then what’s the point of having exclusive vendors? 

LondonLisa

If you signed up for an all-inclusive package, why not just have that and your photographer friend enjoy the wedding? Your friend can still take some photos, but they can enjoy as a guest. Then you can also have the resort photographer do their job. 

I understand where the resort is coming from: it is like any other sort of exclusive deal. You can't bring in other caterers when you have already agreed to go to a place with an exclusive caterer. The resort/ photographer probably have a deal of a minimum number of weddings per year. Also, photographers make a lot of their money selling you the edited prints/ albums, rather than just the fees to photography day itself. 

banana468

LondonLisa said:

If you signed up for an all-inclusive package, why not just have that and your photographer friend enjoy the wedding? Your friend can still take some photos, but they can enjoy as a guest. Then you can also have the resort photographer do their job. 

I understand where the resort is coming from: it is like any other sort of exclusive deal. You can't bring in other caterers when you have already agreed to go to a place with an exclusive caterer. The resort/ photographer probably have a deal of a minimum number of weddings per year. Also, photographers make a lot of their money selling you the edited prints/ albums, rather than just the fees to photography day itself. 

To add to this, because they are a resort with their own photographer they may also have ties related to how they want the resort presented and charge a fee to bring in someone else related to the presentation of their work.

Think of it like your wedding photographer charging you for the prints so you don't go to CVS and then blame the photographer that the shots don't come out the way you wanted.  

I'd look at your contract but beyond that, I'd probably just go with their stock photographer.   Does the contract say that no guest is allowed photos?  Let your friend be a guest!  

climbingsingle

Another vote for letting your friend be a guest, and not have to work your wedding. 

bubblylove

Also, nothing can stop your friend from doing some lovely portraits in your room or taking candids. Then you get the best of both worlds.