...photographer break-up PART 2.

since i got engaged last october, i started my wedding research online. the internet has been my primary source for all ideas, vendors, and advice. since i'm the first person in my immediate group of friends to get married, i didn't have anyone located in the bay area to help me, and therefore the 'net soon became my best friend for all things wedding related.

i became a frequent visitor of theknot, which is the biggest website for anything and everything about weddings. they have forums on there as well, which, depending on the type of posts you read, can be quite informative. so, last week i decided to vent about my photographer qualms on the northern california board, just to ask the advice of other brides like me and see if i was stupid to trip about that vendor or if my feelings were justified.

lo and behold, i come to find that i was not alone when it came to my dealings with the vendor. i hadn't even posted her name in my original post, and i had people already call her out and know who i was talking about as they had similar experiences with her! there were 3 others like me, and then another one that posted on this blog! that made me so upset! i posted a review about her on yelp that night, for no other reason than to inform others like me about the experience i went through. i only spoke about my dealings with her on my review, and in my opinion i wasn't negative at all, save for one little part where i sarcastically mentioned that she does 60 weddings a year (she quoted this number), which is like 4x the amount of any other professional photographer. i even had my brother, who is always able to step out the situation and give me an objective perspective, read the review to make sure it wasn't mean.

the photographer calls me the next morning. on my cell phone. (i guess she still had my number from our previous dealings?) she tells me that my post was mean and that she couldn't understand how i could write that review, and that she was upset about it because she felt like it was a personal attack on her. i told her that those were just my opinions and that i was only commenting about our business interactions, not her as a person. to make a long story short, i apologized to her if i made her feel bad, but that the review stated my honest opinions about what happened. i felt like others, like me, that do all their vendor research online should have this sort of information at their disposal.

since then, i checked her website twice, and each time her prices were higher than the last. the first time i checked, her price went up a couple hundred dollars. this last time i checked, it went up by $900. she now states that her increase in prices is due to the fact that she wants to do less weddings next year so that she can spend more time focusing on her clients. good for her.

because i'm the type of person i am, i can't help but feel bad that i made her feel the way she felt. however, as a consumer i have to be honest when i say that customer service and professionalism should be #1 in the business world. when dealing with vendors for our wedding, david refuses to work with anyone who he even gets a bad vibe from! and who can blame him? when you are shelling out so much money (not to mention, faith) for certain services, who wouldn't want only the best?

with that said, i am happy to say that we found another potential photographer to work with. she's actually from socal and she's flying up next week for a wedding. her flight comes in late in the evening and she still wanted to meet with us! we've been emailing back and forth and she's been very professional and straight up in our conversations. i'm really excited to meet with her, and once everything is settled i'll post more about her.

for now, here's a teaser! ;)



a million points for those that can name the celebrity in the first pic and the location of the second! welcome to the good life, indeed! i think it's a sign...