Post Wedding Vendor Issue

KJiras

Posting from my phone, the copy and paste is looking weird so sorry for any format issues!!

Hi Ladies,

First and foremost thank you for all the wonderful advice on
this board. My husband and I got married in October and it was such a great
resource. I asked some questions, but mostly read a lot of threads and feel
like it was such a source of knowledge. We had a great wedding day and feel
like our guests were well taken care of and enjoyed it as much as us. So
thanks! This question is not really etiquette related per say but I thought you
may be the best equipped to answer it!


I’m going to try to make this as brief as possible. While we
had a lovely experience working with our photographer up to and including our
wedding day I’m running into a bit of an issue and need some advice on how to
proceed. She came well recommended to us by an art photographer friend, she is
local to where we live and got married and we really liked her portfolio.

We
also referred a friend who got married a few weeks before us to her and they
booked her as well. Our contract with her states that we’d receive our online
gallery of images (350) within 90 days of the event coverage. While naturally
we were secretly hoping to receive them on the earlier side of 90 days we totally
did not expect it. Especially when my friend relayed to me that about halfway
through her 90 day period she reached out to our shared photog about the
timeline (would it be the full 90? Etc.) she was directed to review her
contracted, and that they felt good about their 90 day turnaround time in
comparison to other photogs and they’d likely need the full time frame given
how busy of a season they had. So…I decided not to bother her! My friend was
married 3 weeks before I was so I knew she’d be first to receive her pictures.


Fast forward – our 90 mark was last Wednesday. Monday I had
emailed her to wish her belated happy holidays and see when we could check our
online gallery for images. I kept the email super light and friendly, I hadn’t
spoken to her since sending her a note of thanks right after the wedding. Thursday
I checked our gallery and about 24 photos were online. When I didn’t hear back
by Friday I had emailed again, again really polite, just asking if she had a
chance to read my last email. I also mentioned that since we had just passed the
90 day mark could she send us a new deadline for when we’d receive all our
images in the online gallery. I did hear back from her Friday afternoon and she
relayed to me she had been very sick recently (hence the delay in email) – and then
she tells me that “we actually use 90 business days” since they are shooting on
weekends and off on Christmas and such. Our new deadline is end of February. As
of today we have about 50 of our 350 images online. She says more are added
every day, as she edits.


I was really surprised because I didn’t remember that at
all. I checked my contract, and it does not state that at all – it just says “within
90 days of event coverage.” I checked with my friend about her situation with
our shared photog, she still was waiting for half of her photos and her contract
did not say business days either, nor the email she had gotten from her around
Thanksgiving. I remembered my husband telling me that her ran into her out on
the town in early/mid December. She approached him and said hi, she also told
him our photos would be ready in about 2 weeks from that day – coming in just
under the true 90 day mark. So, I have a feeling that she did not originally
intend for it to be “business” days or else she would have it in the contract –
it’s a 43 day difference! – and she wouldn’t have told my husband to expect our
photos at Christmas.


Sorry for such a long post! My question is just what do I do
now? I wrote her back saying that I was so sorry to hear she was sick, hope she
was feeling better, etc. I told her I must have missed the “business days” part
of our contract and would have to go back and re-read that. So she has to know
I’d find that it is not in there, and the time frame we’ve been looking forward
to all along was correct. I’m an adult, I realize things happen and sometimes
life gets in the way. If she was running behind and came to me about it I’d
have been happy to wait a bit longer, but not 40+ days. I’d like to meet her in
the middle here, but I’m also afraid of straining our vendor-client
relationship by being really demanding or obnoxious seeming. She has been paid
in full since before the wedding day, she is not waiting on anything from us.
How common is this? Has anyone else encountered this kind of delay? Should I
just suck it up and wait til the end of Feb or ask her to split the difference
with? All I really want are our wedding pictures, and minimal hassle – I’m just
excited to relive some great memories! I’m afraid if I continue to be relaxed
about everything they won’t even be ready by the next “deadline.” Thanks so
much for reading this novel of a post!!

Weesh

KJiras said:

Posting from my phone, the copy and paste is looking weird so sorry for any format issues!! Hi Ladies, First and foremost thank you for all the wonderful advice on this board. My husband and I got married in October and it was such a great resource. I asked some questions, but mostly read a lot of threads and feel like it was such a source of knowledge. We had a great wedding day and feel like our guests were well taken care of and enjoyed it as much as us. So thanks! This question is not really etiquette related per say but I thought you may be the best equipped to answer it! I’m going to try to make this as brief as possible. While we had a lovely experience working with our photographer up to and including our wedding day I’m running into a bit of an issue and need some advice on how to proceed. She came well recommended to us by an art photographer friend, she is local to where we live and got married and we really liked her portfolio. We also referred a friend who got married a few weeks before us to her and they booked her as well. Our contract with her states that we’d receive our online gallery of images (350) within 90 days of the event coverage. While naturally we were secretly hoping to receive them on the earlier side of 90 days we totally did not expect it. Especially when my friend relayed to me that about halfway through her 90 day period she reached out to our shared photog about the timeline (would it be the full 90? Etc.) she was directed to review her contracted, and that they felt good about their 90 day turnaround time in comparison to other photogs and they’d likely need the full time frame given how busy of a season they had. So…I decided not to bother her! My friend was married 3 weeks before I was so I knew she’d be first to receive her pictures. Fast forward – our 90 mark was last Wednesday. Monday I had emailed her to wish her belated happy holidays and see when we could check our online gallery for images. I kept the email super light and friendly, I hadn’t spoken to her since sending her a note of thanks right after the wedding. Thursday I checked our gallery and about 24 photos were online. When I didn’t hear back by Friday I had emailed again, again really polite, just asking if she had a chance to read my last email. I also mentioned that since we had just passed the 90 day mark could she send us a new deadline for when we’d receive all our images in the online gallery. I did hear back from her Friday afternoon and she relayed to me she had been very sick recently (hence the delay in email) – and then she tells me that “we actually use 90 business days” since they are shooting on weekends and off on Christmas and such. Our new deadline is end of February. As of today we have about 50 of our 350 images online. She says more are added every day, as she edits. I was really surprised because I didn’t remember that at all. I checked my contract, and it does not state that at all – it just says “within 90 days of event coverage.” I checked with my friend about her situation with our shared photog, she still was waiting for half of her photos and her contract did not say business days either, nor the email she had gotten from her around Thanksgiving. I remembered my husband telling me that her ran into her out on the town in early/mid December. She approached him and said hi, she also told him our photos would be ready in about 2 weeks from that day – coming in just under the true 90 day mark. So, I have a feeling that she did not originally intend for it to be “business” days or else she would have it in the contract – it’s a 43 day difference! – and she wouldn’t have told my husband to expect our photos at Christmas. Sorry for such a long post! My question is just what do I do now? I wrote her back saying that I was so sorry to hear she was sick, hope she was feeling better, etc. I told her I must have missed the “business days” part of our contract and would have to go back and re-read that. So she has to know I’d find that it is not in there, and the time frame we’ve been looking forward to all along was correct. I’m an adult, I realize things happen and sometimes life gets in the way. If she was running behind and came to me about it I’d have been happy to wait a bit longer, but not 40+ days. I’d like to meet her in the middle here, but I’m also afraid of straining our vendor-client relationship by being really demanding or obnoxious seeming. She has been paid in full since before the wedding day, she is not waiting on anything from us. How common is this? Has anyone else encountered this kind of delay? Should I just suck it up and wait til the end of Feb or ask her to split the difference with? All I really want are our wedding pictures, and minimal hassle – I’m just excited to relive some great memories! I’m afraid if I continue to be relaxed about everything they won’t even be ready by the next “deadline.” Thanks so much for reading this novel of a post!!

There's a big difference between 90 days of event and 90 business days of event.  If it doesn't say that in your contract, that's on her.  So if I'm reading correctly, both you and your friend do not have your photos yet (or only have a limited number)?

I think you've handled it well so far; the e-mail you wrote to her sounds fairly light but firm in that you'd be checking to see if business days was listed in your contract.  I think I would write to her again, saying that you've checked the contract  and that it did not state business days and that you would like a firm deadline for when the entire album will be available.  Honestly, it might have something to do with the fact that she's paid in full.  She isn't waiting for any further payments, and that might not light a fire under her to complete everything in a timely fashion.

And nothing you've done so far seems obnoxious.  Remember, you are paying her and you are the client.  You're right that things happen, but she needs to be honest and give you a firm date of when you should expect to receive your photos.  Something similar happened with my engagement photos; my photographer does not use a Facebook page, a blog, or a website.  We took them and he told us it would be 4-5 weeks, but we didn't end up getting them until 7-8 weeks later.  It was so hard because we wanted to see them so badly, but we didn't want to strain our relationship.  The photos did come out beautiful, but it was definitely frustrating.  

cruffino

KJiras said:

Posting from my phone, the copy and paste is looking weird so sorry for any format issues!! Hi Ladies, First and foremost thank you for all the wonderful advice on this board. My husband and I got married in October and it was such a great resource. I asked some questions, but mostly read a lot of threads and feel like it was such a source of knowledge. We had a great wedding day and feel like our guests were well taken care of and enjoyed it as much as us. So thanks! This question is not really etiquette related per say but I thought you may be the best equipped to answer it! I’m going to try to make this as brief as possible. While we had a lovely experience working with our photographer up to and including our wedding day I’m running into a bit of an issue and need some advice on how to proceed. She came well recommended to us by an art photographer friend, she is local to where we live and got married and we really liked her portfolio. We also referred a friend who got married a few weeks before us to her and they booked her as well. Our contract with her states that we’d receive our online gallery of images (350) within 90 days of the event coverage. While naturally we were secretly hoping to receive them on the earlier side of 90 days we totally did not expect it. Especially when my friend relayed to me that about halfway through her 90 day period she reached out to our shared photog about the timeline (would it be the full 90? Etc.) she was directed to review her contracted, and that they felt good about their 90 day turnaround time in comparison to other photogs and they’d likely need the full time frame given how busy of a season they had. So…I decided not to bother her! My friend was married 3 weeks before I was so I knew she’d be first to receive her pictures. Fast forward – our 90 mark was last Wednesday. Monday I had emailed her to wish her belated happy holidays and see when we could check our online gallery for images. I kept the email super light and friendly, I hadn’t spoken to her since sending her a note of thanks right after the wedding. Thursday I checked our gallery and about 24 photos were online. When I didn’t hear back by Friday I had emailed again, again really polite, just asking if she had a chance to read my last email. I also mentioned that since we had just passed the 90 day mark could she send us a new deadline for when we’d receive all our images in the online gallery. I did hear back from her Friday afternoon and she relayed to me she had been very sick recently (hence the delay in email) – and then she tells me that “we actually use 90 business days” since they are shooting on weekends and off on Christmas and such. Our new deadline is end of February. As of today we have about 50 of our 350 images online. She says more are added every day, as she edits. I was really surprised because I didn’t remember that at all. I checked my contract, and it does not state that at all – it just says “within 90 days of event coverage.” I checked with my friend about her situation with our shared photog, she still was waiting for half of her photos and her contract did not say business days either, nor the email she had gotten from her around Thanksgiving. I remembered my husband telling me that her ran into her out on the town in early/mid December. She approached him and said hi, she also told him our photos would be ready in about 2 weeks from that day – coming in just under the true 90 day mark. So, I have a feeling that she did not originally intend for it to be “business” days or else she would have it in the contract – it’s a 43 day difference! – and she wouldn’t have told my husband to expect our photos at Christmas. Sorry for such a long post! My question is just what do I do now? I wrote her back saying that I was so sorry to hear she was sick, hope she was feeling better, etc. I told her I must have missed the “business days” part of our contract and would have to go back and re-read that. So she has to know I’d find that it is not in there, and the time frame we’ve been looking forward to all along was correct. I’m an adult, I realize things happen and sometimes life gets in the way. If she was running behind and came to me about it I’d have been happy to wait a bit longer, but not 40+ days. I’d like to meet her in the middle here, but I’m also afraid of straining our vendor-client relationship by being really demanding or obnoxious seeming. She has been paid in full since before the wedding day, she is not waiting on anything from us. How common is this? Has anyone else encountered this kind of delay? Should I just suck it up and wait til the end of Feb or ask her to split the difference with? All I really want are our wedding pictures, and minimal hassle – I’m just excited to relive some great memories! I’m afraid if I continue to be relaxed about everything they won’t even be ready by the next “deadline.” Thanks so much for reading this novel of a post!!

i would have respected her if she had just said, "i'm sorry but due to x,y,z, there will eba  delay in getting you all of your photos. here's what i can do to make it up to you (ie: free x,y,z)". sounds like the "business days" is just a cop out. i don;t respect that. 

i'm not sure what i would do. probably just suck it up and wait. since the photos are coming in one by one you know she's working on it, so there isn't the worry that you won't get them at all. once i got all my photos, i would put up honest reviews. 

delujm0

Keep it light, don't make her angry, make sure you get your pictures before doing anything about this - she's already in breach of contract, there's not really anything keeping her from destroying your pictures and giving you your money back, and then you'd have nothing.  If you don't have what you're supposed to have by February, you can engage a lawyer to send her a form letter regarding her breach of contract and maybe at least get some of your money back.  But you don't want your money; you want the pictures.  I wouldn't be too extreme with this person until you get them from her.

 

As soon as you get your pictures and any other items from her, comment on all online vendor forums about your experience.  You woldn't want other brides dealing with this same issue.  I agree - if she had just said "I'm so sorry, I've been sick, I'll have your pictures by X date" I would be completely fine with that.  Instead she claims to be using "business days" which isn't in your contract and doesn't even make sense given that her industry operates on weekends quite a bit.  She's being unprofessional.  Wait until you have what you need from her...and then review her accurately on whatever local/national websites she is represented on.

HisGirlFriday13

I would e-mail her back and say, 'I have re-read our contract, and nothing in it states '90 business days.' Given that our contract states 'within 90 days of event coverage, and that date was X, I don't feel that a unilateral (by you) extension to date Y is fair. I expect that all of our photos will be online by Z date [and here I would insert a date that you think is reasonable], and I would like to discuss what compensation on your part you think is fair in light of this breach. I enjoyed working with you, but this is negatively affecting my feelings toward you as a vendor.'

Because ultimately, she holds the cards -- she has the photos you want. But you hold the (implied) threat of bad reviews and negative publicity, which she can't afford.

But I would absolutely be demanding something free from her -- prints or an album or a CD or something.

ETF: Several smartypants phone typos.

melbelleup

Ugh, I'm sorry you're going through this. Sadly, I have no additional advice to give other than make sure you review this photographer so you can pass on your experience to others. I'm glad my contract states the days clearly and give weekly updated on their progress until it is done. If it's beyond their bench mark they say they'll give you back $50 a week past the 8 week.

Jen4948

HisGirlFriday13 said:

I would e-mail her back and say, 'I have re-read our contract, and nothing in it states '90 business days.' Given that our contract states 'within 90 days of event coverage, and that date was X, I don't feel that a unilateral (by you) extension to date Y is fair. I expect that all of our photos will be online by Z date [and here I would insert a date that you think is reasonable], and I would like to discuss what compensation on your part you think is fair in light of this breach. I enjoyed working with you, but this is negatively affecting my feelings toward you as a vendor.' Because ultimately, she holds the cards -- she has the photos you want. But you hold the (implied) threat of bad reviews and negative publicity, which she can't afford. But I would absolutely be demanding something free from her -- prints or an album or a CD or something. ETF: Several smartypants phone typos.

This is how I would do it too.  She doesn't get to get away with unilaterally subjecting you to terms that aren't in your contract.

phira

"Hi. [photographer],

[Husband] and I took a look at our contract to see if we indeed misinterpreted the wording regarding when all of our photographs would be ready. The contract reads, "[write verbatim the part about when the photos should have been ready]." It does not seem reasonable for us to assume that this part of the contract means "90 business days," since that is not explicitly stated here in the contract, and you did not verbally inform us of this until the initial 90 days had passed.

"We really enjoyed working with you, and the photos you have made available are lovely. However, we consider the significant delay in photograph availability to be a breach of contract. We do not think it is reasonable for us to wait up to [x] more days for our photos when they are already [x] days late. Please get in touch with us so we can discuss when all our photographs will be provided to us, and to discuss what compensation on your part would be fair in light of this breach."

I borrowed @HisGirlFriday13's wording for the end because I thought it was clear and professional without being rude.

Honestly, while I can't prove it (and you probably can't either), I'd guess that something happened that caused a delay with your photos. Maybe the photographer was really ill. Maybe there was a family emergency. Maybe her computer died and she wasn't able to access her photos right away. Maybe she lost some of your photos and is trying to recover them without alerting you to the issue. Maybe life just overwhelmed her and she's behind in all of her editing (which happens to me all the time; it feels awful). But whatever the reason is, she's hiding behind the whole "business days" thing to avoid having clients say, "You breached our contract because we haven't gotten our photos yet."

And of course, that's the very thing that's happening anyway.

I think it's relevant AND irrelevant that your friend also hasn't gotten their photos back yet. It's relevant because I think the photographer is probably just behind in EVERYTHING, and it's not a problem with you or your photos. It's irrelevant because you're still dealing with a breach of contract even if the same thing WEREN'T happening with your friend.

photokitty

This sucks and she is being totally unprofessional

However, I'd probably wait it out until Feb. She has given you an answer, and while it is BS, pushing the matter won't do much for you. You will either get undated photos or upset her. In the end you can take her to court, but all your would get is your money back - not what you want, you want the photos. So I'd wait until Feb. I would not threaten with negative reviews at this point, I'd save that in case she doesn't deliver by the end of Feb. I would leave negative views regardless to warn future clients. But right now you need to do what you can to improve the likelihood of you getting your photos.

350 is not a ton of photos. She obviously takes her time editing or does more than the average photog. Is she actually a wedding photog or an art photog who occasionally does weddings? If it is the latter, that might be the issue.

I think she should give you something, free prints, an album, something. But at the same time if you push too hard you could find yourself without the images. IMHO, I would want my images more than anything free regardless of the length of time.

Again, this sucks. GL!!

cowgirl8238

I have to agree with Photokitty.  I would try to keep it light yet professional until you get your photos.  Once you have photos in hand you can feel free leave negative feedback or even take legal actions that you deem necessary.  I would also try bargaining some form of compensation from her using the wording provided by HisGirlFirday above.  Good luck!

dramamonkey

Side note: 

90 days for turn around? 

Is this normal? 

Was my photographer just super quick at editing? 

She does at least 2 weddings a weekend (often 3) and she was able to post a teaser on her blog 3 days after our wedding, and we had all 790 of our photos available for download in about 3 weeks (and would have been sooner, but she spent a week in St. Lucia after our wedding).