photographer advice

SB1512

So, to make a long story short, communication with our photographers (ie: studio manager) sucks.  A lot.  We have had them booked for our june 2013 wedding since March and still have not had our engagement shoot done yet.  We had 2 dates scheduled and both were rain outs and have not been able to reach anyone since august about getting a new date.  It's to the point where I'm basically ready to cut ties with them, but, we paid a pretty hefty deposit and the contract states we do not get it back for cancelling services, which sucks a lot.  I mostly feel bad b/c FI's parents paid the deposit and I hate flushing money down the toilet.  At any rate, FI and I need to sit down and discuss what we want to to, but if we decide to move on to another vendor, does anyone have any suggestions?  I'm mostly worried because we are only 9 months out and vendors book up really fast for summer weddings and I don't know if we'll be able to find anyone.  We'll be paying $6K not including any albums with our current photographers and our package includes an engagement shoot, unlimited hours on wedding day, photobooth and 2 photographers.  and all the prints on a DVD with rights to printing.  Ideally I'd like to get all those thing (the photobooth isn't necessary) without going over that price.  TIA!

whitneyf1

You could try our photographers. We used Victoria Souza Photography. If you want to see some of their recent work go to their blog - victoriasouzablog.com. They were great! They are a husband/wife team. We paid $4700 for an e-session anywhere in CT, 10 hours of wedding day photography and all the rights to the photos - we got them on 3 CDs. Everyone has complimented us on our photos and we think they came out great. We were looking for classic, timeless, natural photos and they gave us exactly that! PM me if you want to see some of ours.

Amanda1443994

You should also check out our photographer Matthew J. Wagner Fine Photography. He is amazing. Everything you listed he will provide for less than $5000 (without the photobooth).

maggieandrey

I would try to contact them one more time and explain that they are clearly not holding up their end of the contract since your package includes an engagement photos. I can only imagine your frustration, but if THEY may be breaching the contract, that means you could get your deposit back. yeah, it's tricky, may involve small claims, etc, but to me, it's would be worth it. I put down $2,700 with my photographer, I couldn't walk away from that kind of money even if it was somebody elses. So I'd say fight for what you signed up for. Just stick to the contract at first because threatening to cancel is potentially lucrative to them anyway.

Good Luck to you!

maggieandrey

But if you're really set on cutting ties, I really liked Eric Foley - he's not available on my date but he has all the options you're looking for around that price.

Mandafly84

In Response to Re:photographer advice:[QUOTE]I would try to contact them one more time and explain that they are clearly not holding up their end of the contract since your package includes an engagement photos. I can only imagine your frustration, but if THEY may be breaching the contract, that means you could get your deposit back. yeah, it's tricky, may involve small claims, etc, but to me, it's would be worth it. I put down 2,700 with my photographer, I couldn't walk away from that kind of money even if it was somebody elses. So I'd say fight for what you signed up for. Just stick to the contract at first because threatening to cancel is potentially lucrative to them anyway.Good Luck to you! Posted by maggieandrey[/QUOTE]

I totally agree with this. Reach out to them again, but pick up the phone and call. Emails are too easy to ignore or blame on a technical glitch.

calindi

Reach out to them again, and let them know that you have documented your attempts to reach them and that they are not holding up their end of the bargain.  Legally, if they are not fulfilling their obligation, you're entitled to your deposit back.  However, that's not to say it would be easy to get - you might have to take them to small claims.

My photographers would definitely be able to work under that price, but they don't do photobooths normally.  You could keep your eye out for a photobooth groupon or hire that separately?  I think even if you were to spend $1000 on a photobooth with someone else, it could still work with mine, for everything else you said - Alexis Stein Photography.  They were FANTASTIC to work with, check them out on WeddingWire.com!

MoonlightSilver

Ditto PPs about reaching out and letting your photographer know that you feel they're not keeping their end of the contract. Is there a physical location you could go to talk to them? If not, try the phone. Leave a voicemail. Ask them to call you back by a specific date, so that the ball is in their court. 

SB1512

Their studio is about an hour from where I live, so driving there is pretty out of the way.  I'll be trying one last time with a phone call and letting them know that they don't seem to be holding up their end of the contact.  It's disappointing when I had first found them there were amazing reviews all over the place and it seems within the past 5 months or so a few bad reviews have cropped up all complaining about the same thing I am.  What worries me even more is the recent bad reviews are brides saying they waited up to 5 months after the wedding to get their photos back!

AMISSA31

We took our Epics in May when the weather was unpredictable.  Well, to make a long story short...we wanted to take pics outside...but the weather wouldn't allow that because of rain.  So we decided to take pics indoors...our Photographer has a studio in his home and it worked out beautifully!  Save the Dates have been mailed out since end of August and everyone LOVED them!

Ask your Photographer is there is a place indoors.  Don't get upset about that...look at other options for Epics. 

Happy Planning!

SB1512

Yeah lesson learned about location too.  In the event we actually get an epic date I'll def have an indoor and outdoor location picked out because if it rains again I'm not cancelling and risking never getting the pictures done.

MichelleBee773

I would suggest contacting them one more time, as many other posts mention. This is you wedding, and you do not want to be stressed about whether or not the photographer is going to show up. I believe vendors, especially those making thousands of dollars, should be accomodating to their clients. Obviously they can't respond to every call and email immediately, but they should respond in 72 hours at the latest, in my opinion. If you are not happy with your current vendor, let them know, and if they do not respond quickly, I would walk away. What is a deposit worth if it gives you anxiety for the 9 months!

I would suggest contacting Eric Brushett for photography if you end up cnacelling the contract. He will make whatever your remaining budget is work! You have a great sized budget, so I think you will easily find anotehr photographer. The hardest part will be finding someone available for your date, but I am sure you will be able to! Good luck!

marci55

I also suggest to call them or write him/her on facebook.  Good luck girl!

SB1512

Thanks everyone, a quick update.  After not getting emails, phone calls or texts returned I finally resorted to of all things, facebook.  Mostly b/c I am "friends" with the studio manager on their and she's been active on it so I figured she couldn't really hide if I Facebook messaged her.  She got back to me on facebook within a day saying she was sorry she was "taking some time off" and the photographer has been swamped with weddings, boudoirs, ephotos and family portraits.  Which I get it's a busy time of year it is still annoying that I've been a client since March and missed the boat on getting photos taking when the weather was warm (and the sun was setting later so FI and I wouldn't have to miss work).  At any rate hopefully we'll get a date set up soon, and the upside of it getting put off so long is that we'll hopefully be able to get the photos done on the weekend vs a weekday since wedding season will have slowed down hopefully. 

JBattista301

Check out www.luciophotography.com. There are many packages available and his work is wonderful.  Definitely worth talking to him )