our photographer broke up with us today. :(
from the beginning, i always had this feeling inside that she was too good to be true. she was cheap, and we were going to get an engagment session and trash the dress along with the wedding day coverage, all for under $3K.
well, we met with her a few weeks ago and the feeling inside grew slightly worse. she's young and energetic, but somewhat unprofessional. david and i pretty much led the meeting as she just waited for us to ask questions instead of telling us about her services. she had to meet with another client after us, so when we were done she pulled out a scrappy piece of paper that had scribbles on it out of her back pocket and read the name outoud, then told us that she forgets the names of her clients sometimes. when i emailed her the next day to tell her we wanted to book her, she emailed back with a "i forgot to tell you i charge $100 for travel fees to burlingame" message. um, $100 for a 16-mile (20 minute) drive? ooookay. well, it would still be only $2700, so david and i agreed even though we didn't think that it was necessary. i was very tempted to tell her i'd pick her up myself.
i then noticed she increased her prices on her website by $200. so, i made sure that she would only charge us for the price she verbally quoted us during our meeting. luckily, she agreed. she said that she'd email us a contract by last friday. well, tuesday rolls around and still nothing. so, i emailed her to remind her and she then sends over a contract. i'm not a lawyer or anything, but the contract itself was pretty sparse, and there were all sorts of typos. the bad feeling starts to increase.
well, i get an email this morning saying that her cousin is having a wedding on the same day as we are and she "just found out." i'm trying to believe her and give her the benefit of the doubt, but given the feeling i get from her and my interactions with her, she seems a little sketchy.
i can't pretend i'm not disappointed and that i don't care, because i am and i do. but this is the way things go, and sometimes you can't help how things plan out. luckily for us, it's still somewhat early in the game and i can still have our pick of photographers. at least she didn't bail on us a few months before the wedding! unluckily for us, we're probably going to spend more for photography now. which means less money for other things.
she did offer us a free day-after shoot. however, given the circumstances should i even believe her? should i get my hopes up once again, only to be let down when the time comes? i don't know...is it worth it to still try and work with her?
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6 comments:
What the hell? That’s some messed up stuff dogg. Let me go up there and give her a piece of my mind. Imma tell her off by saying she never finna make it in the photography business. No joke, if she finna do this to all her clients. I say book her for that day-after shoot, and then never show up or give her the wrong address. No one treats my friends with disrespect like that. She dumb.
U and dav shouldn’t even trip. It may have been such a good price and all but you 2 deserve way more than what she supposedly had to offer. Yes, I know its another bump in the road as you both prepare to walk down that aisle, but take all bumps as opportunities and that’s the opportunity to continue to grow with one another. And I know you two will take that opportunity. 344 days and counting to solidify the good life!!!
aww that sucks! sorry d&d! i know you guys can find someone! good luck, &praying for you guys!
ps. it was really nice seeing you guys this past weekend =D
derrick: haha! you are just like david. thanks for your inspirational words...it's just like you to know what to say to make things better. i'm trying to take it all in stride...who knows there may be a better opportunity for a photographer. :)
kirs: yes, it was very nice seeing you guys! sorry we couldn't hang out that much. hopefully next time, or when you guys come up!
A friend of mine fwd your post on the NorCal board. I got quoted from Erica also (the same as you) but she charged me a $300 travel fee (I'm located in SJ). I'm not a professional photographer in any way but I shot at a few weddings and I kinda know how the system works. For someone to be starting out like her and then to raise her prices at least twice since we've found her seems a bit sketch to me. It might just be all about the money to her. Granted she may have every right to schedule accordingly on her own if you haven't signed over in hard writing but her responsiveness is just plain rude.
Good luck with your wedding planning and hope your new photog works well with you!
wow, lily! $300 for travel to san jose is just plain crazy!!! we're paying travel fees for our new photographer to come up from socal and it's $300 for airfare for TWO PEOPLE. ugh. crazy!
thanks for your comment and good luck to you, too! :)
dam, i hope i can trick someone into marrying me one day... goo luck with the new photo-G.
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