New Jersey - South

My photographer

Hello ladies!

So I am writing basically because I'd like to sort of update my vendor review on my photographer because I don't want anyone booking her on my initial recommendation based on what's happened since.

So our wedding was January 16. The timeline we agreed on was within a week, she would send us a slideshow of 30-40 of the best images edited and ready to be used for thank you's, announcements or whatever we needed. Two to three weeks later, we would receive a customized DVD with a photo show plus all of our images completely edited. We paid her in full the night of the wedding and had a wonderful day with her so everything looked great.

Fast forward three months and we have not received our photographs. The one photo I have as my thumbnail is the ONLY photo we have received from her and it was one she sent to me on Facebook. In mid February she told us that her computer had crashed and she lost all the work she did on the editing so she had to start over and that was the reason for the delay. She ignored all of my emails for a month and finally emailed me on March 27th (I can only assume she finally emailed me in response to seeing my FB post asking people if they had any information about taking wedding vendors to court or something like that) saying she sent our DVD out and we should receive it in a few days. She told us the reason for THIS delay was because the second shooter had taken so long editing his images from the wedding. Which is sort of funny because both she and the second shooter told me at the end of January she had been given all images from the wedding. I waited five days and after getting no DVD, I began emailing her asking what address she sent our DVD to so we could ensure she had the correct address since we hadn't gotten anything. Since then we have gotten no response to any method of communication, she has blocked my ability to contact her via FB and clearly we have not gotten the DVD that the post office swallowed I am sure.

I'm not bashing anyone, I'm not calling anyone names. I'm giving an honest review of what happened because I reviewed her very highly at the time and have had a few girls ask me for her infomation and I do not want to be responsible for causing someone the same heartache we are going through at the moment. My thinking here is that when her computer went down, our pictures went with it and she's just stalling on telling us this. I can't think of any other reason for this. The thing that complicates this and hopefully explains why it's even worse is that this girl happens to be one of my sister's best friends and someone I have known for over ten years - in other words, someone we felt we could rely on and trust and not just some shady businessperson who is screwing us over.

When I was planning my wedding, everyone told me there are several areas that you can skimp on but that photography was the one area that you absolutely could not be cheap, cut corners or try and save your budget. To all you girls out there planning, please please please trust me. Do NOT cut back on photography. Do your research on your photographer, make sure they have a good reputation for delivering their goods. We actually didn't get off all that cheap for our package but I guess the other lesson here is don't mix business with frendship because you never want to have to sue your friend for not delivering on their business!

Re: My photographer

  • edited December 2011
    May I ask who you used?
  • teacup0618teacup0618 member
    Fourth Anniversary 500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Who is it?
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  • edited December 2011
    I just saw the original post. It's Kacey Semler from SI, NY.
  • edited December 2011
    I'm sorry girls, I didn't realize I never said it... I was fairly frustrated when I wrote that, wasn't paying attention. Kacey Semler is her name like April pointed out. She is from SI (like I am) but travels for work as well.
  • angel33284angel33284 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    You say she is your sister's best friend? First you should go yell at your sister for recommending her. Because she knows your sister did she give you any discount on price? Maybe if she cut you a break on price she's thinking you'll cut her a break on delivery time when her computer went down. It would seem like a logical trade-off to me, but I don't know the details of the transaction.

    Frankly I think to be complaining only 3 months after the wedding is too soon. And I'm sure that once she reads your review she'll be super excited to put lots of effort into your pictures (not).
  • edited December 2011
    I can't believe how many vendors promise to deliver within a certain timeframe and then don't.  I think 3 months is way too long to wait for your proofs.  For all of the broken promises, she should be driving down from SI to hand deliver the disc to you in person. 
  • edited December 2011
    Oh Ranger Girl I'm so sorry.  That is heart breaking.  Waiting 3 months for proofs is a ridiculous amount of time.  You don't even need all of the editing completed but at least you should be able to view all of the photos.  That just sucks.

    I had some issues with my photographer but in the end the final product has been worth it.  I just wish he'd kept his mouth shut the day of my wedding!
  • edited December 2011
    The complaint is based more on not seeing any proofs and her lack of communication more than the actual not having the photographs in hand. Like Carli said, don't promise a timeline you can't deliver - especially being that the timeline has been LONG passed and I didn't even begin to get upset until several weeks past that deadline.

    As far as the price, we spent exactly what our budget on photography was and we had seen several photographers within that budget so we didn't really get a big break. The thing we were looking for, more than a break in price, was looking for a photographer willing to work with us on not forcing us to get a huge expensive package with all the albums and physical photos. I have access to photo printing and such so I didn't need those things. So while she may have done us a "favor" (which I am not sure it was - there were other photographers out there who did that) it was nice to know we were able to work out that deal.

    My father was a professional photographer for more than 30 years... I know how much time and effort goes into editing photos and I am aware that 3 months in the wedding world may be looking for a lot to have all the photos. However I DON'T think it's unreasonable to expect having seen at least an online album of the unedited proofs and a selection of edited pictures to do thank yous, a wedding announcement, etc. Especially when SHE is the one who provided me that timeline from the beginning.
  • ev4149ev4149 member
    500 Comments Third Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    Maybe see if you can find an attorney (a friend maybe?) who would be wiling to send a letter on attorney letterhead explaining that if they fail to deliver pictures, you plan to proceed in court, or something like that.  That may be enough to scare her into sending them to you.
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