Post # 1
Member
2999 posts
Sugar bee
Tell them you show up to the ceremony an hour early, hear that they have the reception venue for 5 hours, say you would like 3 hours to do photos between the ceremony and reception, then send a contract for 8 hours….
Ya.. That happened.
So I ask the guy why he told us one thing and put another in the contract and he says he never said that. Fiance and I both agree he did in fact tell us an hour prior to the ceremony. Then the guy proceeds to tell me he’s available for an extra $200 per hour. We’d need him for another 2-3 hours in the case of 8 being the base. That’s another $400-600 on top of the fact that he was basically maxing us out of our photography budget to begin with. So we look at a couple more photographers and quite like another. He says he’ll do 10 hours (which we’re sure will do) for $400 less than the first photographer and his hourly rate is cheaper in case he does need to stay a bit longer.
Hoping the first guy would rather book the date than do nothing, we send him an email back simply stating that we reviewed our budget and will not be able to spend the extra money. What’s he say?
“I am surprised the possible additional cost of $200 is the deciding factor but I respect your decision.”
Really dude? It is more than $200 is another $500ish. No counter offer? It isn’t like there aren’t a whole slew of other photographers around.
So we picked the other guy who didn’t send us a snooty response and actually lowered his price to come in below our budget.
It all works out right?
Post # 3
Member
1068 posts
Bumble bee
That is annoying. May I suggest that 3 hours of photos between your ceremony and reception is REALLY going to urk your guests.
I am doing as many photos as I can BEFORE the ceremony (any that don’t involve me and Fiance together) and then mostly just pictures of he and I for an hour between ceremony and reception. I also scheduled a cocktail hour to start 30 minutes before we get there. Waiting guests are cranky guests!
Post # 4
Member
2999 posts
Sugar bee
@Tangled: I don’t want to do 3 between but at the same time FI’s brother did 2 and they didn’t have enough time to take pictures. However, they hired an amateur/novice friend photographer (and it shows in the pictures) who didn’t really have things under control. We are planning to take pictures about 10 minutes down the road after the portraits. I want to get as many photos as possible done before the ceremony, too.
I’m not too worried about them being cranky since many many many of them live within 5 minutes of the church. Also between the ceremony and venue is a good sized mall with Starbucks and such.
Post # 5
Member
4192 posts
Honey bee
- Wedding: July 2012 - Baltimore Museum of Industry
OP, are you doing a first look? (I assume so, by “as many photos as possible done before ceremony”)- in that case, an hour between ceremony/reception should be sufficient- you can get all the family photos done. We did all our bridal party pics before the ceremony.
Post # 6
Member
2999 posts
Sugar bee
@rebwana: No. Fiance is completely against it. I’m going to hope to get most of the bridal party ‘formals’ done ahead. There really isn’t much I can do before the wedding now that I think about it. The upside is our immediate families aren’t large and we have an experienced photographer who can wrangle everyone.
Post # 7
Member
933 posts
Busy bee
@jpalm13: Don’t know if you need to respond to him. But all you need to say is, “I am disappointed with the quality of your communication.” Obviously it’s not about the money to you. (I know $200 is a lot, but it’s really a lot when compared to the expectations he set) The first one sounds awful (regardless of his skill as a photographer). Go for the 2nd one!
Post # 8
Member
2999 posts
Sugar bee
@LucyLaLa: FI doesn’t want me to respond to him. I’m just mostly upset about it because we specifically talked about how long the reception would be and all that jazz. I feel like he tried to sneak it past us. And we’re definitely going with #2 he has some great photos!
Post # 9
Member
6221 posts
Bee Keeper
- Wedding: August 2013 - The Liberty House
@jpalm13: That’s annoying, but at least you found out about his inflexibility now and not when it was already too late!
Post # 10
Member
933 posts
Busy bee
@jpalm13: Sneaky photographers are not welcome at your wedding!
@MeiFrancis: +1!
Post # 11
Member
2999 posts
Sugar bee
@MeiFrancis: Ya. I’m glad Fiance and I are both very careful when reviewing contracts and able to make decisions about this stuff kinda easily together.
@LucyLaLa: Nope none allowed =)
Post # 12
Member
1000 posts
Bumble bee
Sounds like a simple miscommunication to me, and that you are blowing it WAY out of proportion. I think it’s safe to assume he did not think you wanted him until the END of the reception just to “hear that the couple has the reception venue for 5 hours” I would never assume that. Most brides dont get coverage to the end of the reception; just a bunch of photos of the same drunk people dancing anyway.
Long story short, you honestly just sound miffed because you’d still rather have him over the guy that you’re stuck with now and are just mad he wouldn’t lower his prices for you. Oh well, you get what you pay for.
Post # 13
Member
492 posts
Helper bee
I’m sorry it turned out that way! Basically you feel like it was a bait and switch…and misunderstandings like this really erode trust in a potential vendor. It makes sense to go with a vendor who understands what you want and provides clear communication in return.
Post # 14
Member
2488 posts
Buzzing bee
My photographer pulled similar crap saying on. Thing contracting another
Post # 15
Member
1314 posts
Bumble bee
I read this three times and still don’t really understand what you’re talking about. We have a minimum time that we accept bookings for. Want us for more time and that’s your choice. We let people add time to their package at any point in time. We’d never send over a contract for a time figure they didn’t ask for. So I don’t really get it.
Post # 16
Member
642 posts
Busy bee
@continuumphotography: +1
Ya I found this very confusing as well…
One thing you should ALWAYS remember, nothing is set in stone until its in writing in a contract.
Hopefully this happened for a reason and the new photographer is great. I would hate for you to have burned a bridge… Our DJ is my Fiance cousin. He is way more than other DJs in town..we asked him before we knew that though. Were keeping him, because we dont want to burn that bridge and something happen with the other DJ and then end up with NO Dj
