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Fired Photographer Help

So here's the deal-
We were planning on having one of our friends do the photography for our wedding-before, during ceremony, formal bridal party pictures, and a little at the reception. We were going to pay her, but I know it would have been cheaper due to the fact that she isn't a "professional" photographer.
However, after this was agreed upon our friend had to have back surgery at the beginning of April and I just found out that she's not expected to be recovered until the first week in June (my wedding is 6/22/2012). Plus she is also supposed to be in the delivery room of one of our best friends whose due date is 6/27/2012. Now, after I found out about the surgery I asked her what she thought about doing the photography and she said she thought she could still. Keep in mind that there is no formal contract or even a price discussed yet.
My parents (who are paying for the wedding) took this as they should hire a different photographer which they have already done, especially when my fiance agreed that we should hire someone else. He knows our friend better and felt that if our mutual friend "happened" to go into labor on our wedding day that the photographer would decide to go to be with our mutual friend rather than do the job.
How should I handle this? I tried to argue with my parents about the fact that this had already been decided, but they wanted a sure thing and its their money. I feel terrible for having to cancel on my friend, but at the same time I'm not sure she would have been that reliable.....

Re: Fired Photographer Help

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    I think your parents/FI are doing the right thing. Photos are very important and you don't want that many "what ifs" when it comes to your photographer. I'm sure your friend will understand.
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    Since your parents are paying, I think it would be easy enough to tell her that they put their foot down on this and want to hire someone else.  (although I'm saying that under the assumption that they don't know this friend.)  Either way, tell her you feel awful, but that your parents have a photographer they'd rather go with.

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    In Response to Re:Fired Photographer Help:[QUOTE]I think your parents/FI are doing the right thing. Photos are very important and you don't want that many quot;what ifsquot; when it comes to your photographer. I'm sure your friend will understand. Posted by AmberZ13[/QUOTE]

    This. I'll add that I think hiring friends as wedding vendors is a terrible idea. You are lucky to have an easy out.
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    I agree with PPs, your parents and FI are doing a really good thing. Suppose that hipothetical situation actually did happen, and then you would be out a photographer on the day of your wedding! I couldn't even imagine that! I would apologize to your friend, and politely let her know that your parents went ahead and booked another photographer, and thank her for her offer.
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    Ali092011Ali092011 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    edited April 2012
    I agree with everyone here. In this case, I think there were way too many "what ifs."

    I just wanted to add that I would tell your friend ASAP about the change in case she was making a concerted effort to figure out how to photograph the wedding while taking care of her other obligations. My FI was supposed to cater my friend's wedding (he's a chef but NOT a catering company, so it was like a friend favor kind of thing). My friend decided he wanted to go an even cheaper route and buy some platters of pre-cooked stuff and have volunteers from his church put them out. Problem was, he did this after FI had gone to the restaurant store to calculate how much of each ingredient he needed and how much it would cost. FI spent HOURS making a recipe to feed my friends' guests on the budget he was given, and we only found out that my friend had decided to go a different route when FI called him with the estimate.

    Not saying you would do this or are planning on doing it--just a word to the wise. Your wedding is kind of soon, and you wouldn't want your friend assuming she was still doing the project for much longer.
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    I had a similar situation, (except without the surgery part).  My friends schedule was touchy.. and I didn't want to risk her not being able to make it.

    I told my friend that if she wanted to come and take photos to add it to her portfolio, that was fine, but she would be a "second" photographer.   She is an amateur and is trying to get into the business.   I told her that based on her availability, I didn't want to risk having her be the only person, but I would still love for her to come and take as many photos as she wanted to.  I made sure the hired photographer knew there would be a secondary person there.
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    Okay, thanks ladies-I appreciate the input...I went ahead and emailed my friend (don't even have her number to be honest or I would have called) and relayed what had happened. I deeply apologized and hoped that she and her husband would still attend as our friends :) We already have a secondary photographer or else I would offer that (she's also a friend, but she works in a photo studio) and she said she is more than happy to do it, plus she isn't even allowed to charge for it. So she'll be taking care of some of the photos at the reception. Anyways, thank you again for the advice!
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