Last Day & Photography Woes
Last day at my current job, folks! I'll be taking Monday off to do DMV craziness and a few other odds and ends for Andrew's party...oh, and I have an interview for a p/t thing. So really it's not much of a day off! But then I'll start the new job on Tuesday. I hope it keeps me busy at least, and that the day goes by quickly.
Andrew and I saw Wall-E with FIL and his wife last night. It was so ridiculously awesome/cute that I can't stand it! It was so super good. All four of us just loved it. Oh, and the Musical Theatre reference had me DYING!
Andrew sent a rather uncomfortable, yet well constructed and thought-out email to our wedding photographer. I think he did an awesome job, and I really hope we get some of our money back. And just because I'm so proud of what he wrote, I'm going to share:
Paul,
I'm confused about your claim that we started one hour late. According to picture #104, the ceremony started about 5:12pm. This is only 12 minutes later than was planned, and most weddings start late. I can only think of one thing that would explain this misunderstanding. When we originally booked you as our photographer, we set the time as 4pm. However, my wife called you shortly thereafter to let you know that she wanted to shoot pre-ceremony pictures (contrary to our original plan). It was with this information that you suggested to her a 5pm start, so as to have as much time with the Bride & Groom before the ceremony. It is unfortunate that one of our main vendors-our photographer, who is supposed to "capture these precious moments as they go by" was unaware of his own advice and subsequent change of ceremony start time. This, in fact, was an item we went over during our pre-wedding day meeting to review the particulars of our wedding. At that time, if I recall, you had down a 4pm start time for the ceremony, and we corrected it to 5pm again.
It seems to me that the majority of your argument is based on the erroneous statement that we started an hour late. Since this is not the case, your argument does not hold water.
Picture #145 shows the wedding ending at about 5:27pm: because of excitement, the ceremony was faster than normal and made up the entire 12 minutes. The wedding ended on time.
Formal photos started with picture #148 at 5:35pm, and ended with Picture #156 at 5:46pm. The first dance, and official start of the reception, was not scheduled until 6pm, leaving 14 more minutes to take formal pictures.
I understand that you don't know our relatives, but in most weddings I've been to (and one that I've shot personally), the photographer gathers the family members of the bride and groom (by using titles, rather than names, i.e. "Mother of the Bride," etc.) simply by projecting his or her voice above the din and politely asking that people stay for pictures. Another method I am aware of is asking the wedding coordinator to gather the appropriate people if the photographer does not believe he or she can do it themselves. Once all the non-family members leave the ceremony area, the bride and groom are retrieved and pictures commence.
One of the responsibilities of an event vendor is to manage the department they have been hired to manage. In your case this is photography, which means you're responsible for making a concerted effort to take all requested pictures. You can claim it was our responsibility, but when going through such an emotional event, it is difficult to behave in a completely logical manner. This is why brides and grooms all over the planet hire competent vendors to manage these details for them on the day of, having given the vendors specific instructions ahead of time, which we did.
Two of our guests (including the Matron of Honor who was needed for photos at that time) reported that you told them to leave the ceremony area, thereby making it more difficult to gather the needed people for photos. The Matron of Honor, Sister of the Bride, actually asked you if there was supposed to be a picture of her son. You replied no, however he was supposed to be included in the "Nieces and Nephews" shot, which never took place.
You claim pictures were missed because people weren't there, and there were some people who were hard to locate because they were let go after the ceremony (one being the Matron of Honor as previously stated), but three of the pictures that we specifically requested and did not receive are the Bride & Matron of Honor shot, the Groom & Best Man shot, and the Wedding Party + Officiant shot. We were all there for the entire time that photos were taken. Therefore, there is no excuse for these shots being eliminated from the day.
We also received complaints from our several of our guests that you (1) "appeared to not know what you were doing" and (2) were extremely rude. As one of our vendors, it is assumed that you will act in both a professional and polite manner with our guests. My father reported that he requested a picture of himself and his wife; he said that it took you a couple minutes to get your camera working. "He had some sort of technical difficulty, it looked like."
I think I was extremely considerate and kind in my original email to you. I had a few concerns that I wanted to see addressed. My wife and I thought we were being respectful by only asking for 25% of our money in return for the disappointment and lack of professionalism that you have shown. Your website DOES claim a "100% Iron Clad Money Back Guarantee." It says:
"You will LOVE (not just be 'satisfied' with) how we represented you and your family at your wedding, and will also LOVE your photographs, or we will do whatever necessary to have you LOVE them, or we will return ALL YOUR MONEY. Period. We want you to LOVE everything we do for you!"
I am confused. Does this only count in instances where you also are unhappy with your results? If so, it does not state this on your site. Making this argument could allow someone to think you have advertised untruthfully on your website.
"I'll be at your wedding until you, your husband (how exciting - your "husband!"), your parents all say they have nothing else for me to do. I'll NEVER leave your wedding without checking with all of the above people"
Though you checked in with us you never did check in with any of our parents, all three sets included.
"Here's a really big "secret" that almost no brides think about when interviewing a potential photographer: What's their guarantee? What happens if you aren't happy with the photography, or the way you and your friends were treated…"
Perhaps we should have taken your advice and chosen more carefully ourselves. We could have avoided this string of relatively uncomfortable communication.
I sincerely hope that you will carefully consider my position in this matter, rather than just pointing blame. It is my hope that we will be able to come to an agreeable resolution.
Andrew Hoskins
Phew! Congrats if you got through that. I hope that's enough persuasion for him.
Well, that's it from my life for now! Thanks for reading.
Andrew and I saw Wall-E with FIL and his wife last night. It was so ridiculously awesome/cute that I can't stand it! It was so super good. All four of us just loved it. Oh, and the Musical Theatre reference had me DYING!
Andrew sent a rather uncomfortable, yet well constructed and thought-out email to our wedding photographer. I think he did an awesome job, and I really hope we get some of our money back. And just because I'm so proud of what he wrote, I'm going to share:
Paul,
I'm confused about your claim that we started one hour late. According to picture #104, the ceremony started about 5:12pm. This is only 12 minutes later than was planned, and most weddings start late. I can only think of one thing that would explain this misunderstanding. When we originally booked you as our photographer, we set the time as 4pm. However, my wife called you shortly thereafter to let you know that she wanted to shoot pre-ceremony pictures (contrary to our original plan). It was with this information that you suggested to her a 5pm start, so as to have as much time with the Bride & Groom before the ceremony. It is unfortunate that one of our main vendors-our photographer, who is supposed to "capture these precious moments as they go by" was unaware of his own advice and subsequent change of ceremony start time. This, in fact, was an item we went over during our pre-wedding day meeting to review the particulars of our wedding. At that time, if I recall, you had down a 4pm start time for the ceremony, and we corrected it to 5pm again.
It seems to me that the majority of your argument is based on the erroneous statement that we started an hour late. Since this is not the case, your argument does not hold water.
Picture #145 shows the wedding ending at about 5:27pm: because of excitement, the ceremony was faster than normal and made up the entire 12 minutes. The wedding ended on time.
Formal photos started with picture #148 at 5:35pm, and ended with Picture #156 at 5:46pm. The first dance, and official start of the reception, was not scheduled until 6pm, leaving 14 more minutes to take formal pictures.
I understand that you don't know our relatives, but in most weddings I've been to (and one that I've shot personally), the photographer gathers the family members of the bride and groom (by using titles, rather than names, i.e. "Mother of the Bride," etc.) simply by projecting his or her voice above the din and politely asking that people stay for pictures. Another method I am aware of is asking the wedding coordinator to gather the appropriate people if the photographer does not believe he or she can do it themselves. Once all the non-family members leave the ceremony area, the bride and groom are retrieved and pictures commence.
One of the responsibilities of an event vendor is to manage the department they have been hired to manage. In your case this is photography, which means you're responsible for making a concerted effort to take all requested pictures. You can claim it was our responsibility, but when going through such an emotional event, it is difficult to behave in a completely logical manner. This is why brides and grooms all over the planet hire competent vendors to manage these details for them on the day of, having given the vendors specific instructions ahead of time, which we did.
Two of our guests (including the Matron of Honor who was needed for photos at that time) reported that you told them to leave the ceremony area, thereby making it more difficult to gather the needed people for photos. The Matron of Honor, Sister of the Bride, actually asked you if there was supposed to be a picture of her son. You replied no, however he was supposed to be included in the "Nieces and Nephews" shot, which never took place.
You claim pictures were missed because people weren't there, and there were some people who were hard to locate because they were let go after the ceremony (one being the Matron of Honor as previously stated), but three of the pictures that we specifically requested and did not receive are the Bride & Matron of Honor shot, the Groom & Best Man shot, and the Wedding Party + Officiant shot. We were all there for the entire time that photos were taken. Therefore, there is no excuse for these shots being eliminated from the day.
We also received complaints from our several of our guests that you (1) "appeared to not know what you were doing" and (2) were extremely rude. As one of our vendors, it is assumed that you will act in both a professional and polite manner with our guests. My father reported that he requested a picture of himself and his wife; he said that it took you a couple minutes to get your camera working. "He had some sort of technical difficulty, it looked like."
I think I was extremely considerate and kind in my original email to you. I had a few concerns that I wanted to see addressed. My wife and I thought we were being respectful by only asking for 25% of our money in return for the disappointment and lack of professionalism that you have shown. Your website DOES claim a "100% Iron Clad Money Back Guarantee." It says:
"You will LOVE (not just be 'satisfied' with) how we represented you and your family at your wedding, and will also LOVE your photographs, or we will do whatever necessary to have you LOVE them, or we will return ALL YOUR MONEY. Period. We want you to LOVE everything we do for you!"
I am confused. Does this only count in instances where you also are unhappy with your results? If so, it does not state this on your site. Making this argument could allow someone to think you have advertised untruthfully on your website.
"I'll be at your wedding until you, your husband (how exciting - your "husband!"), your parents all say they have nothing else for me to do. I'll NEVER leave your wedding without checking with all of the above people"
Though you checked in with us you never did check in with any of our parents, all three sets included.
"Here's a really big "secret" that almost no brides think about when interviewing a potential photographer: What's their guarantee? What happens if you aren't happy with the photography, or the way you and your friends were treated…"
Perhaps we should have taken your advice and chosen more carefully ourselves. We could have avoided this string of relatively uncomfortable communication.
I sincerely hope that you will carefully consider my position in this matter, rather than just pointing blame. It is my hope that we will be able to come to an agreeable resolution.
Andrew Hoskins
Phew! Congrats if you got through that. I hope that's enough persuasion for him.
Well, that's it from my life for now! Thanks for reading.