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Eek! Help! What do you think?

[Deleted User][Deleted User]
First Comment First Anniversary
in Wedding Photography and Videography Forum
So, my BFF from college is attending my wedding (a destination wedding to VT- I live in SC and she in KY) in September. Long before I got engaged I asked her to shoot the wedding when the time came and she agreed. She is a pro and does it on the side and I just looked at her website and she charges $3500 normally to shoot weddings. I am paying for her two nights at the B&B where we are staying/having the wedding and also told her we would pay to print whatever prints we choose. Question: do you  think I need to cover her and her husband's flight and/or rental car also? They would be coming anyway, but I want to be fair to her. As a backstory, when she got married, I was a BM and spent about $1000 out of pocket between the dress, travel, hotel, rental car, gift etc. I don't know what to do. Any advice would be great.
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Re: Eek! Help! What do you think?

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    StephBeanWed61502StephBeanWed61502 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    What you spent on her wedding is irrelevant - you can't "count" money you spent years ago that you would've spent regardless of whether she was eventually going to "repay the favor" or not, so take it out of the equation.

    That said, the question here is whether she's attending your wedding as a vendor or as a friend - if she's attending as a vendor, yes, you'd be expected to pay for all expenses related to her travel, including flight/car/etc.  If she's attending as a friend, you're not wrong to point out that she'd be spending the travel money regardless.  With that said, she is doing you a MASSIVE favor by covering your photography for you for only the cost of the prints, so if I were you, I'd pay for at least the car and her flight (although maybe not the husband's, since he's not filling a "vendor" role the same way she is).
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    egm900egm900 member
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    I have a friend that is a photographer, and she has frequently traveled to cover friends' weddings, and her flight and hotel have always been covered by the couple.  She said they have all either rented her a car or gotten someone to chauffer her around, like a sibling or cousin.  Her husband is her assistant (carries around her equipment, helps pose people, etc.), but he pays for his airfare when it's a friend's wedding.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    First Comment First Anniversary
    Thanks everyone. I am going to cover her airfare and her lodging. I think that is fair. We have only 15-20 coming to the wedding and no reception - just a small dinner afterward so she won't be shooting as much as a 'typical' wedding.
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