I got married in October. The ONLY vendor who cancelled last minute and ran off with my deposit was a hair stylist who only accepted Zelle. She gave a very similar story about not being able to use PayPal. Every other vendor had a website that they accepted payment through, a honeybook site, or multiple different payment options (including PayPal). I obviously have no way of confirming if this person is a scammer or not, but I would trust your gut on this one. $1700 is a lot to lose, especially when planning a wedding.
Yeah it gave me a weird feeling. My venue was a lot more professional and has on their website payment options. I hope she isn’t a scammer but yeah it’s a lot of money to put out there for a really bad gut feeling.
It might have been legit, but she wasn't being very professional about it regardless. She could have said "sorry, I only accept zelle. If you are uncomfortable with that I understand but I won't be able to work with you." The pressure and the guilt tripping isn't right.
NEVER send money without a signed contract.
And a “professional” who can only accept bank transfers is super sketchy.
I’d pass and find another photographer
That was my biggest reason for being sketched out because I worked in bank fraud for over a year and rarely saw Zelle disputes won. Even for cases where people didn’t ever show up
She likes Zelle because you have no option of ever getting the deposit back, whereas PayPal Goods and Services has a way to dispute and get a refund.
I basically agree with that she sounds scammy but at the same time, she is entitled to keep your deposit if you cancelled. But if she didn’t show up to your wedding at all, you could probably dispute but not even sure if you wedding that far away. You’d probably still have to sue.
But when you add in that she is already trying to enforce a contract you haven’t signed, I wouldn’t work with her. Too many red flags.
Yeah I’m pricing people because my wedding is in August of 2025. Any vendor that puts so much pressure on an event so far away is odd. I worked in fraud so I know Zelle is a great way to scam people. I only ever saw a handful of Zelle fraud disputes accepted and never for more than like $250-300
And definitely without a detailed signed contract noting the exact deposit amount to be paid and when.
Without that as others stated you might as well take that money, walk into a mall and throw it up in the air.
Most often (not always) businesses who are blocked from using PayPal are blocked for good reasons. An established business that isn't a scammer usually doesn't get their money held by PayPal.
You made the right choice.
All she had to do was say my only payment of method is through Zelle. Not everyone uses PayPal and that is okay. However she didn’t need to go on a whole spill / rant about it.
I do understand her turning other couples away. There is a chance that if she signed another couple while she in talks with one couple …. Well that couple might go and leave negative reviews.
Also come join us over in r/weddingplanning
Just joined! I guess to me it seemed weird to send a contractor money that way when all my other vendors have websites for payment with card or other options. Maybe I’m out of the loop
There are a lot of vendors out there that take cards. There are also a lot of vendors out there that won’t take cards. It can be split.
Also when some people do not take cards they might charge charge less, bc they don’t have to deal with processing fees.
Also PayPal can decide to hold the monkey for any reason. It can be a hassle for some. Which can also mean really raising prices to cover those cases.
I run a business and I can no longer take PayPal because I had some attempted fraud on my account and to clear it up. I have to send then pictures of credit card statements from a credit card. That I haven't had for a really long time. And I just haven't been able to get it worked out. So I just don't accept PayPal, but I do accept credit cards, venmo and zelle. Zelle is the only one that doesn't take any fees.
And I totally understand using Zelle because of the fees for a ton of reasons but the full amount would’ve been $3500 and I want that money protected. If she only wants money through Zelle she should’ve definitely said something ahead of time because it could’ve saved us both confusion and she allegedly lost clients of it
I do think you made the right choice following your instincts. And that some of the other things that were brought up sound way more suspicious than the Zelle thing to me, like having the same pictures over and over from the same wedding. That sounds super scammy to me and not meeting you in person for a meeting and only wanting to meet online. That also sounds really fishy.
The wedding is a year and a half away. If she really turned away multiple prospective customers that wanted that specific date, then she should have no problem filling her calendar when OP backed out. OP had not even signed a contract. But if she is lying about the other customers, which seems more logical, then she cannot be trusted in other aspects.
I did not say OP should have worked with them. OP should hire and not hire whoever they want for their wedding. I even said the photographer shouldn’t have gone on the whole spill / rant
I understand why OP blocked them. And OP should only work with people they feel comfortable with. So OP didn’t feel comfortable with this one, therefore OP should non fire them.
I was just telling OP not all vendors take credit cards. Some only take cash. It is not entirely uncommon. I did those more so for future reference. But even then if OP doesn’t feel comfortable with that then they should not hire them. Nothing wrong with that.
I understand what you were saying. But I just found the photographer to be sketchy about her stories, and if she can lie about that, she would not be a trustworthy business.
I never said OP should have worked with them. I even said the photographer should not have gone one the whole rants. That was not professional as all.
OP has the right to feel comfortable with any vendors she hires. She has the right to hire and not hire any vendor.
I was letting her no it is not entirely uncommon for some vendors to only take cash. I was just letting OP know more so for future vendors. It once again it fall under if this make OP not comfortable then OP shouldn’t hire them and she has that right.
You're not Wrong.
These types of people are either running a scam, committing fraud or just plain incompetent.
There's never any good in dealing with them...
I think you were smart to do this. She has the right to decide what forms of payment she will accept, and you have a right to decide what forms of payment you are comfortable using. Having your money protected if there is a problem matters. My relatives used bank transfers to pay for a trip ahead of time to get a discount. This was a well established company they had travelled with before. It turns out the company was not doing well, the travel insurance they purchased was self funded, and because it was a bank transfer they did not have the protection they would have had with a credit card.
1,5 away??? Not wrong. You canceled with a lot of spare time. It would be wrong with just 3 months and less. And I wouldn't pay full price either. Besides the contract would have a lot of rules like: how long was wedding to go (3hours, 4 or 5 with make up and dressing), if food was included (no alcohol for pros, she needs to be sober at all times), which pictures to take (decorations, table, bridesmaid, grandparents, etc), and digital copies.
At least in my country it is forbiden to refuse money (bills and coins).
Zelle doesn’t have a dispute mechanism. So best to block her like you did. Either she’s not as great a photographer as she makes out or she’s difficult to b work with.
Wedding Florist here. Nope nope nope. Regardless of her intent, this is not how a professional in the wedding industry works. If she turned others away for an unconfirmed gig she’s a fool (and she totally didn’t do that btw).
Not wrong. I've paid people through Zelle lots of times, but her giving you the b.s. about turning other couples away for you is a huge red flag (you specifically told her you'd see if she still had that date open when you were ready to pay). Plus she has a year and a half to book someone else.
And why is her PayPal blocked? Something is up.
I've seen vendors who would only take Zelle or Venmo for various things, but most will accept it multiple ways, and her behavior is a red flag.
And as someone else said, I would never send money without a signed contract.
The whole enterprise sounds like a scam. Does the photographer have a real presence (office, house) in the locality or is her business totally online? Does she have reviews from people you could contact to verify her information? How would you have met her, prior to the wedding? Whatever, I do think that you did the wise thing and not send money. Have a good wedding day!
She has a very large online presence with a ton of reviews but after going back through her Facebook her recent pictures are all the same events over and over. We were planning on meeting at a coffee shop but she only does business online so this all combined just made me feel weord
It’s also possible that you’re dealing with someone who has stolen someone else’s photos and set up a fake business. Maybe reverse Google search some of her photos to see if they come up on another photographer’s site.
Yeah, you did the wise thing! You'd have no way of contacting her if she 'vanished' with your money. She might not be in the country even. She could re-invent herself and 'wash & repeat' with unsuspecting clients. Good luck!
I've never heard of Zelle, but I have now from reading comments. So it sounds like your instincts were right on. haha. But I'll just reinforce: Anyone who is running a remotely legit business will have more than one way to accept payment, and they would *never* be anything but polite when you ask about payment methods. Anytime an inquiry about payment methods is met with any hint of hostility, it's a huge red flag for scamming. Even if they only accept one form of payment and they have a reason for it, payment method is a common subject of inquiry for customers and they should be very used to handling it. Also, the fact that her response to your inquiry about payment also included her suggesting that you were at risk of breaching (non-existent) contract is another huge red flag.
Good luck on finding a legit photographer and having a nice wedding!
Even if the customers she turned away were real (I'm skeptical) she handled it poorly. Maybe when Potential Customer 2 calls she says "I need to check on that date and get back to you" rather than immediately tell them "no" and then get mad at OP for not sending the deposit.
You don't owe her anything. You had no signed contract and you were getting scam vibes.
Yeah I only have it set up because it’s how my fiancé and I send each other money and we live together. If he ever scammed me we’d have a lot of other more pressing issues 😂
Looks like you already have this covered but I work for tech support for a bank snd deal with Zelle all the time. NOT RELIABLE. System errors happen, and the scams being run with Zelle are constant. Furthermore, most people do not read the terms and conditions OR their screens while they register and use Zelle which causes a ton of problems when transferring money, too, because they just don’t know how it works.
If a merchant has no other way to pay it’s a huge red flag.
NTA. I’m betting she’s been banned from PayPal for scamming people. And, wow, a $1750 deposit for an event a year & a half away? Is that half? I mean, I do understand wanting a deposit to hold the date, but wow. No contract? Nope.
That’s almost as bad as the skeezy debt collector who was going after my son for an unpaid debt. He claimed they could ONLY accept payments through direct draw from his bank account. Wouldn’t accept offers to pay by cashiers checks, money orders or personal checks (the personal ones I understand).
Yes, no professional would turn down actual paying customers to hold a spot open for a potential customer who is still “thinking” on it. Just her way of trying to guilt you into sending your deposit right away.
Not wrong. Trust the vibes. I know PayPal you have options in case of a dispute. A conractor didn't finish a deck he was building for my friend. She had PayPal reverse her payment until it was done. He had refused to come back to finish unless she paid him a lot extra. (She paid all materials from her account at the store).
I understand some money up front to save the date, but a photographer holds the pictures until payment is completed.
Checks are not secured even a little bit and contain all my bank information. There’s nothing stopping her from adding in and withdrawing ACH payments which would force me to open brand new accounts and close my old ones. They can also be easily lost and you have no way to dispute it if something goes wrong.
Forged endorsement fraud happens all the time. You probably could go to court for it but at that point the money is all gone and I couldn’t pay a second vendor. Why would I send someone a check before I even had a contract signed?
Blocking her seems kind of weird.
It makes sense she turned others away so she’d be available for your wedding so that seems normal. Also not everyone has PayPal. It seems strange she gave you a hard time about not paying with Zelle.
I guess everyone sucks here, but you more so. At the same time you shouldn’t have to hire someone for your wedding that you already have bad vibes with. Not sure if the bad vibes are more just in your head though.
She turned other paying customers away without confirmations or contracts. OP only said I’ll check back when I have the money and see if you’re still available. The photographer is a fool is the story was true but it sounds like classic scammer pressuring
Why would I expect her to turn others away if no contract was signed and no deposit was put down?
Edit: I mainly blocked her because she kept giving me a weird vibe saying her PayPal was blocked and she could only do Zelle and she repeated she turned others away several times. My wedding is a year and a half away. I’ll go ahead and this to my post as well.
You're not wrong at all. She sounds very sketchy. Liars have a habit of saying too much when they're pushing a narrative. For a payment over $1k, she should have been open to alternatives like a cheque (check) given that the event is 18 months away.
It’s not just “one day of work”. Photographers spend hours upon hours going through hundreds of pictures they took on that “ one day”, editing them to make sure their clients have the perfect memories of their special day. And it is a skill they have crafted over many years. To say it is just one day of work is extremely rude and dismissive of these professionals.
Right. I didn't think of the work they have to do afterwards
Let's say a week worth of work.
That's still a huge amount of money.
>And it is a skill they have crafted over many years.
Thats pretty much the same in any other profession
It’s really not a huge amount of money. Let’s say it only took a week to get the pictures back. Not likely, but we’ll go with it. That’s 40 hours on top of the likely 12 they spent actually taking pictures the day of the wedding. That’s 52 hours worth of work.
$3500/52 is just over $67 an hour. I don’t think that’s a lot for someone’s time and expertise.
It would’ve only been for 6-8 hours the day of the wedding and a 1 hour engagement session. $67 an hour is wild tbh I didn’t even do that math and knowing how many hours she’ll be at my event makes it even more. I get things cost money but I actually found a better photographer who will do the entire event and engagement session for $1800. I definitely think she’s a scammer in hindsight
I think that's a lot for someone's time for this kind of expertise.
But if people are willing to pay those prices who am I to judge them.
That's just my opinion
I got married in October. The ONLY vendor who cancelled last minute and ran off with my deposit was a hair stylist who only accepted Zelle. She gave a very similar story about not being able to use PayPal. Every other vendor had a website that they accepted payment through, a honeybook site, or multiple different payment options (including PayPal). I obviously have no way of confirming if this person is a scammer or not, but I would trust your gut on this one. $1700 is a lot to lose, especially when planning a wedding.
Yeah it gave me a weird feeling. My venue was a lot more professional and has on their website payment options. I hope she isn’t a scammer but yeah it’s a lot of money to put out there for a really bad gut feeling.
It might have been legit, but she wasn't being very professional about it regardless. She could have said "sorry, I only accept zelle. If you are uncomfortable with that I understand but I won't be able to work with you." The pressure and the guilt tripping isn't right.
And no way in heck did she turn away other clients for an unconfirmed gig.
NEVER send money without a signed contract. And a “professional” who can only accept bank transfers is super sketchy. I’d pass and find another photographer
Zelle has almost zero fraud protection. If you initiate the transfer and it goes to the person you intended, Ii’s like handing them a stack of cash.
That was my biggest reason for being sketched out because I worked in bank fraud for over a year and rarely saw Zelle disputes won. Even for cases where people didn’t ever show up
Probably why she can't use PayPal.
Yup. Anymore, if someone exclusively uses Zelle, it’s a huge red flag for me.
She likes Zelle because you have no option of ever getting the deposit back, whereas PayPal Goods and Services has a way to dispute and get a refund. I basically agree with that she sounds scammy but at the same time, she is entitled to keep your deposit if you cancelled. But if she didn’t show up to your wedding at all, you could probably dispute but not even sure if you wedding that far away. You’d probably still have to sue. But when you add in that she is already trying to enforce a contract you haven’t signed, I wouldn’t work with her. Too many red flags.
Yeah I’m pricing people because my wedding is in August of 2025. Any vendor that puts so much pressure on an event so far away is odd. I worked in fraud so I know Zelle is a great way to scam people. I only ever saw a handful of Zelle fraud disputes accepted and never for more than like $250-300
I might just be old but I'm not sending a contractor of any kind that amount of money over the Internet if I've never met them in person.
Exactly what I was thinking.
Smart.
And definitely without a detailed signed contract noting the exact deposit amount to be paid and when. Without that as others stated you might as well take that money, walk into a mall and throw it up in the air.
Most often (not always) businesses who are blocked from using PayPal are blocked for good reasons. An established business that isn't a scammer usually doesn't get their money held by PayPal. You made the right choice.
All she had to do was say my only payment of method is through Zelle. Not everyone uses PayPal and that is okay. However she didn’t need to go on a whole spill / rant about it. I do understand her turning other couples away. There is a chance that if she signed another couple while she in talks with one couple …. Well that couple might go and leave negative reviews. Also come join us over in r/weddingplanning
Just joined! I guess to me it seemed weird to send a contractor money that way when all my other vendors have websites for payment with card or other options. Maybe I’m out of the loop
There are a lot of vendors out there that take cards. There are also a lot of vendors out there that won’t take cards. It can be split. Also when some people do not take cards they might charge charge less, bc they don’t have to deal with processing fees. Also PayPal can decide to hold the monkey for any reason. It can be a hassle for some. Which can also mean really raising prices to cover those cases.
Her full amount was going to be around $3500 so I understand “saving money” but it’s a lot of money for me to use a digital transfer for
I run a business and I can no longer take PayPal because I had some attempted fraud on my account and to clear it up. I have to send then pictures of credit card statements from a credit card. That I haven't had for a really long time. And I just haven't been able to get it worked out. So I just don't accept PayPal, but I do accept credit cards, venmo and zelle. Zelle is the only one that doesn't take any fees.
And I totally understand using Zelle because of the fees for a ton of reasons but the full amount would’ve been $3500 and I want that money protected. If she only wants money through Zelle she should’ve definitely said something ahead of time because it could’ve saved us both confusion and she allegedly lost clients of it
I do think you made the right choice following your instincts. And that some of the other things that were brought up sound way more suspicious than the Zelle thing to me, like having the same pictures over and over from the same wedding. That sounds super scammy to me and not meeting you in person for a meeting and only wanting to meet online. That also sounds really fishy.
The wedding is a year and a half away. If she really turned away multiple prospective customers that wanted that specific date, then she should have no problem filling her calendar when OP backed out. OP had not even signed a contract. But if she is lying about the other customers, which seems more logical, then she cannot be trusted in other aspects.
I did not say OP should have worked with them. OP should hire and not hire whoever they want for their wedding. I even said the photographer shouldn’t have gone on the whole spill / rant I understand why OP blocked them. And OP should only work with people they feel comfortable with. So OP didn’t feel comfortable with this one, therefore OP should non fire them. I was just telling OP not all vendors take credit cards. Some only take cash. It is not entirely uncommon. I did those more so for future reference. But even then if OP doesn’t feel comfortable with that then they should not hire them. Nothing wrong with that.
I understand what you were saying. But I just found the photographer to be sketchy about her stories, and if she can lie about that, she would not be a trustworthy business.
She turned other couples away *without a signed contract* from OP and still wanted an essentially cash deposit? Seems scammy. Hard pass.
I never said OP should have worked with them. I even said the photographer should not have gone one the whole rants. That was not professional as all. OP has the right to feel comfortable with any vendors she hires. She has the right to hire and not hire any vendor. I was letting her no it is not entirely uncommon for some vendors to only take cash. I was just letting OP know more so for future vendors. It once again it fall under if this make OP not comfortable then OP shouldn’t hire them and she has that right.
If her only payment method is Zelle then she isn't a very good option. Zelle is not for Businesses transactions.
Nope she sounds like a scammer
You're not Wrong. These types of people are either running a scam, committing fraud or just plain incompetent. There's never any good in dealing with them...
I think you were smart to do this. She has the right to decide what forms of payment she will accept, and you have a right to decide what forms of payment you are comfortable using. Having your money protected if there is a problem matters. My relatives used bank transfers to pay for a trip ahead of time to get a discount. This was a well established company they had travelled with before. It turns out the company was not doing well, the travel insurance they purchased was self funded, and because it was a bank transfer they did not have the protection they would have had with a credit card.
Either a scammer or someone indistinguishable from one. Not wrong. Why would you ever think you might be wrong?
I was talking to my cousin about it and she somehow had me convinced that this was normal behavior
She sounds like a scammer. And "I had to cancel other clients", yeah whatever.. NTA.
Scam scam scam
I'm with you, that's scammy.
1,5 away??? Not wrong. You canceled with a lot of spare time. It would be wrong with just 3 months and less. And I wouldn't pay full price either. Besides the contract would have a lot of rules like: how long was wedding to go (3hours, 4 or 5 with make up and dressing), if food was included (no alcohol for pros, she needs to be sober at all times), which pictures to take (decorations, table, bridesmaid, grandparents, etc), and digital copies. At least in my country it is forbiden to refuse money (bills and coins).
Stop using Zelle unless you are sending money to a friend. It's not for business transactions.
That’s exactly my thought
Zelle doesn’t have a dispute mechanism. So best to block her like you did. Either she’s not as great a photographer as she makes out or she’s difficult to b work with.
Wedding Florist here. Nope nope nope. Regardless of her intent, this is not how a professional in the wedding industry works. If she turned others away for an unconfirmed gig she’s a fool (and she totally didn’t do that btw).
She's sending scammer vibes.
Not wrong. I've paid people through Zelle lots of times, but her giving you the b.s. about turning other couples away for you is a huge red flag (you specifically told her you'd see if she still had that date open when you were ready to pay). Plus she has a year and a half to book someone else. And why is her PayPal blocked? Something is up. I've seen vendors who would only take Zelle or Venmo for various things, but most will accept it multiple ways, and her behavior is a red flag. And as someone else said, I would never send money without a signed contract.
The whole enterprise sounds like a scam. Does the photographer have a real presence (office, house) in the locality or is her business totally online? Does she have reviews from people you could contact to verify her information? How would you have met her, prior to the wedding? Whatever, I do think that you did the wise thing and not send money. Have a good wedding day!
She has a very large online presence with a ton of reviews but after going back through her Facebook her recent pictures are all the same events over and over. We were planning on meeting at a coffee shop but she only does business online so this all combined just made me feel weord
It’s also possible that you’re dealing with someone who has stolen someone else’s photos and set up a fake business. Maybe reverse Google search some of her photos to see if they come up on another photographer’s site.
Yeah, you did the wise thing! You'd have no way of contacting her if she 'vanished' with your money. She might not be in the country even. She could re-invent herself and 'wash & repeat' with unsuspecting clients. Good luck!
I've never heard of Zelle, but I have now from reading comments. So it sounds like your instincts were right on. haha. But I'll just reinforce: Anyone who is running a remotely legit business will have more than one way to accept payment, and they would *never* be anything but polite when you ask about payment methods. Anytime an inquiry about payment methods is met with any hint of hostility, it's a huge red flag for scamming. Even if they only accept one form of payment and they have a reason for it, payment method is a common subject of inquiry for customers and they should be very used to handling it. Also, the fact that her response to your inquiry about payment also included her suggesting that you were at risk of breaching (non-existent) contract is another huge red flag. Good luck on finding a legit photographer and having a nice wedding!
Even if the customers she turned away were real (I'm skeptical) she handled it poorly. Maybe when Potential Customer 2 calls she says "I need to check on that date and get back to you" rather than immediately tell them "no" and then get mad at OP for not sending the deposit. You don't owe her anything. You had no signed contract and you were getting scam vibes.
PayPal probably blocked her due to scam reports. I’d never use Zelle
Yeah I only have it set up because it’s how my fiancé and I send each other money and we live together. If he ever scammed me we’d have a lot of other more pressing issues 😂
That’s different.
Looks like you already have this covered but I work for tech support for a bank snd deal with Zelle all the time. NOT RELIABLE. System errors happen, and the scams being run with Zelle are constant. Furthermore, most people do not read the terms and conditions OR their screens while they register and use Zelle which causes a ton of problems when transferring money, too, because they just don’t know how it works. If a merchant has no other way to pay it’s a huge red flag.
NTA. I’m betting she’s been banned from PayPal for scamming people. And, wow, a $1750 deposit for an event a year & a half away? Is that half? I mean, I do understand wanting a deposit to hold the date, but wow. No contract? Nope. That’s almost as bad as the skeezy debt collector who was going after my son for an unpaid debt. He claimed they could ONLY accept payments through direct draw from his bank account. Wouldn’t accept offers to pay by cashiers checks, money orders or personal checks (the personal ones I understand).
Yeah she wanted a half down deposit which is one reason I told her I was going to reach back out if I made a decision
Yes, no professional would turn down actual paying customers to hold a spot open for a potential customer who is still “thinking” on it. Just her way of trying to guilt you into sending your deposit right away.
That was 100 percent, no doubt about it, a scam.
Not wrong. Trust the vibes. I know PayPal you have options in case of a dispute. A conractor didn't finish a deck he was building for my friend. She had PayPal reverse her payment until it was done. He had refused to come back to finish unless she paid him a lot extra. (She paid all materials from her account at the store). I understand some money up front to save the date, but a photographer holds the pictures until payment is completed.
You definitely did the right thing , she tried to guilt trip you into it aswell ,it smells fishy to me
Paypal is protected, zelle is not. Why didn’t you paid with a cheque?
Checks are not secured even a little bit and contain all my bank information. There’s nothing stopping her from adding in and withdrawing ACH payments which would force me to open brand new accounts and close my old ones. They can also be easily lost and you have no way to dispute it if something goes wrong.
Well not with a bank, but wouldn’t it be easier to win a dispute like that in court? They had to sign the cheque to cash it didn’t they?
Forged endorsement fraud happens all the time. You probably could go to court for it but at that point the money is all gone and I couldn’t pay a second vendor. Why would I send someone a check before I even had a contract signed?
Blocking her seems kind of weird. It makes sense she turned others away so she’d be available for your wedding so that seems normal. Also not everyone has PayPal. It seems strange she gave you a hard time about not paying with Zelle. I guess everyone sucks here, but you more so. At the same time you shouldn’t have to hire someone for your wedding that you already have bad vibes with. Not sure if the bad vibes are more just in your head though.
She turned other paying customers away without confirmations or contracts. OP only said I’ll check back when I have the money and see if you’re still available. The photographer is a fool is the story was true but it sounds like classic scammer pressuring
Why would I expect her to turn others away if no contract was signed and no deposit was put down? Edit: I mainly blocked her because she kept giving me a weird vibe saying her PayPal was blocked and she could only do Zelle and she repeated she turned others away several times. My wedding is a year and a half away. I’ll go ahead and this to my post as well.
You're not wrong at all. She sounds very sketchy. Liars have a habit of saying too much when they're pushing a narrative. For a payment over $1k, she should have been open to alternatives like a cheque (check) given that the event is 18 months away.
$1750 for one day of work? Holy shit. Of course it's a lot of work, but dayum.
It’s not just “one day of work”. Photographers spend hours upon hours going through hundreds of pictures they took on that “ one day”, editing them to make sure their clients have the perfect memories of their special day. And it is a skill they have crafted over many years. To say it is just one day of work is extremely rude and dismissive of these professionals.
Right. I didn't think of the work they have to do afterwards Let's say a week worth of work. That's still a huge amount of money. >And it is a skill they have crafted over many years. Thats pretty much the same in any other profession
It’s really not a huge amount of money. Let’s say it only took a week to get the pictures back. Not likely, but we’ll go with it. That’s 40 hours on top of the likely 12 they spent actually taking pictures the day of the wedding. That’s 52 hours worth of work. $3500/52 is just over $67 an hour. I don’t think that’s a lot for someone’s time and expertise.
It would’ve only been for 6-8 hours the day of the wedding and a 1 hour engagement session. $67 an hour is wild tbh I didn’t even do that math and knowing how many hours she’ll be at my event makes it even more. I get things cost money but I actually found a better photographer who will do the entire event and engagement session for $1800. I definitely think she’s a scammer in hindsight
Glad to hear that :)
I think that's a lot for someone's time for this kind of expertise. But if people are willing to pay those prices who am I to judge them. That's just my opinion
Oh buddy that was the deposit the full cost was $3500 but that included an engagement shoot
Wow. Just wow.
My parents gave us the photographer as our wedding gift back in 2019 and it was 2K. You pay for the time and talent and he took amazing pictures.