Wedding planning is notoriously stressful and often incredibly expensive. From the moment your partner pops the question, it's easy to fall into the trap of overspending for the most perfect day.
One couple were shocked to find out their photographer was trying to charge them extra after they'd taken pictures on their wedding day.
The bride's sister took to Reddit to explain the situation and ask for advice on a wedding forum.
She wrote, 'So my sister got married a few days ago (we live in Queensland, so we can have small weddings). I was her maid of honour, so I was in charge of planning a lot of aspects of the wedding, including hiring the photographer. I decided to hire one of my mother’s friend’s sons who is looking to get into the industry.
'He is quite talented, and I thought it would be easier to handle someone I’ve known for a large portion of my life than somebody I’d never met. He gladly accepted as my sister is in marketing, and it would likely give him some exposure. I told him I would pay him (and split the costs with my sister and her fiancé) the industry standard for our state ($125/hr) as I knew he was quite low on cash and this would take quite a while out of his day. We agreed we would pay after the wedding as we weren’t sure how long we would need him for.'
She added, 'So the wedding goes ahead, he takes a lot of photos and it’s a great time. He took photos for around 5 hours. However, afterwards, I tried getting the photos off of him, and he asked for $15 per photo. I was taken aback, since this would bring his total from the original $650 I planned to almost $3000. He told me that his rate was final, as he wanted to charge a ‘realistic price’. I tried to get him to agree to the original payment, but he told me no.'
She ended her post by saying, 'I believe this is completely ridiculous, as even professional photographers don’t get anywhere near as close to what he’s asking for. I could have hired a professional for $600. I want him to be paid, as he did provide a service for us for 5 hours, but I refuse to pay 3 grand for the photos. Now his mother is pissed at me and my sister, and is demanding we pay him. We still don’t have access to the photos, and our family is very divided. However, I maintain that, as long as he is charging that much, I refuse to pay him. My sister has agreed with me that she’s willing to go longer without access to her wedding photos until we can organise a price, except he won’t budge on it.'
Shocked readers chimed in to share the couple's fury and said that the photographer was in the wrong for not setting out the payment terms before committing to the wedding.
Read more: Woman slammed for ‘hijacking’ her best friend’s wedding after big announcement
However, others wrote that the couple should have insisted on a contract before agreeing to hire the snapper for their big day.
One person wrote: 'The total rate is not unreasonable for an experienced photographer at all, but this stuff is always set out up front in a contract.'
Another suggested, 'A contract would have spared you all that frustration. If you can't find any alternatives, your only chance for the picture is to choose your absolute favorites and get those. Nobody looks at hundreds of pictures anyway.'
One reader wrote, 'Real wedding photographers have contracts and demand payment in full on the day of the wedding, before taking any photos. I was one of them for many years. This is not a 'tactic' used by professionals.'
So it seems that while the wedding photographer acted unreasonably, the couple should also have made sure they knew exactly what to expect from a photographer before they booked.
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