I need to keep my cool

thisismynickname2

It's been two months and 7 days since my wedding and I still don't have my professional pictures. 

Contract says 60 days but "photographer will not be held liable for unforeseen delays."  Basically, it's a meaningless timeline.

I e-mailed the person last week and she replied within roughly 24 hours that she hoped to deliver them by (this past) Sunday.  I e-mailed again on Tuesday and no response yet. 

I'm really trying to keep my cool. I get that in order to produce the quality photos that she has, she has to take time to retouch and edit and everything. She's a small business owner.  My coworker who also was recently married also experienced a delay in receiving his photos with another professional.  I get it.  

In helping my BFF locate a photographer, I looked up a guy who I had been wanting to use, and saw that he did anywhere from 45-90 days in order to do all the retouching.  I know two months and 7 days isn't out of the ordinary for 8 hours' worth of two shooters' photos.... Also, she was delayed in delivering our engagement photos too.  Yeah, I'm sacrificing a bit of customer service for lovely photos. I had a hard time finding any photographer that wasn't ridiculously priced, with any kind of customer service acumen.  I'm praying the wedding photos are as great as the engagement photos.... 

Argggg. I have visions of her computer crashing dancing in my head and all sorts of other "what if!?" thoughts. I don't want to keep contacting her because she might get annoyed.   

novella1186

I'd say give it at least a week before you contact her again. She knows now that you're waiting and aren't happy that they're late so I'm sure she's doing her best to get them to you. 

I'd be mad too if I were you, I think that's a totally reasonable response, but being mad won't get your photos to you any faster! Take a deep breath, drink some wine, and try to focus on other things for now. 

birdybride2014

Don't worry about annoying her, it isn't like she will withhold your photos because you were persistent. 

I would contact her saying something like this:

Hi photographer, I'm just following up on my last request for a estimated date of delivery. I understand you are extremely busy, but I would really appreciate some sort of timeline. I look forward to receiving my pictures, but I also feel as though you have been difficult to get into contact with and I'd hate to leave a review including that there was a significant delay in receiving my pictures. 

blah blah blah.