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Athena Bludé Photography Reviews

Athena Bludé Photography

Athena Bludé Photography

Stratford, CT
2.9 out of 5 rating, 5 Reviews
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Reviews

2.9 out of 5 rating
5 Reviews
  • Quality of service
    3.4 out of 5 rating
  • Average response time
    2.5 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    2.6 out of 5 rating
  • Value
    2.7 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    3.3 out of 5 rating
40% Recommended by couples
  • J
    Joanna Sent on 11/11/2010
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
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    • Flexibility
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    If you want your memories to be pieces of artwork - Athena is your gal!
    We loved working with her and were thrilled with the final product.
    Joanna & Dave
  • L
    Lauren Sent on 08/13/2010
    5 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      5.0 out of 5 rating
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      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      5.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      5.0 out of 5 rating
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      5.0 out of 5 rating
    I was thrilled with the images Athena captured of my wedding!! They were exactly what I was hoping for. She captured our style and the uniqueness of our day.

    We had a very long day and she was extremely accomodating and flexible so that we were able to capture all the moments that were most important and special to us at a reasonable cost.

    She was wonderful in dealing with both ouf our large families and captured a great mix of artsy shots as well as the "must have" family shots. She made all of us feel at ease all day.

    She was very prompt in delivering my images to me after the wedding and we just couldn't be happier with the outcome. I would absolutely use AthenaBlude Photography for my next big occasion, portrait session or even to hire her as a present for someone else.
  • S
    Sandy Sent on 12/26/2012
    1.9 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      1.5 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      1.5 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      2.5 out of 5 rating
    Timelines were never met. Her responsiveness was poor at best! She is awfully sweet, which works to balance out her lack of professionalism. We paid over $4,000.. Which did not include ANY of our engagement photos (we had to pay separately for each picture we wanted in print.., ATLEAST $40/each), no wedding album (that's extra too!), there were no pics during the cocktail hour ( makes me wonder where the photographers were the whole time). We waited almost 5 months for our wedding photos! Please, take this to heart! A wedding photographer is expensive, yes, but I PROMISE you that you can find a great one that includes many of the essentials without having to pay extra!
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  • User1093706 Sent on 02/19/2013
    1.8 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      3.0 out of 5 rating
    If you are looking forward to viewing your wedding photos in the weeks, or even months, following your wedding, don't choose Athena Blude. Following our wedding, it took a full 4 months for us to see a SINGLE photo from our wedding day.

    The most frustrating part of the waiting was that Athena continuously extended, and the broke, her own deadlines, without explanation or apology. The contract stated that we would receive digital images in 6-8 weeks. At the 8 week mark, I emailed Athena, who gave us a new deadline of 8-10 weeks. At the 11 week mark, I contacted Athena again. I was told the photos would be available by "the end of the week." Well, the end of the week came and went, no photos posted, no images shared. It was another month before we received the link to view our photos, another several weeks before we received the thumb drive of images, as we had purchased the rights to our photos.

    Though we were happy with the majority of Athena's images (to be fair, she is talented), there were a number of images we were disappointed in, including the "family group" pictures. Athena only snapped 1-2 pictures of some family groups, and in many if these pictures, at least one family member has their eyes closed. You would expect that a professional would take the extra time to ensure that she was capturing quality images, given the "once in a lifetime" nature of the images.

    One visit to Athena's blog and you will see that weddings are blogged anywhere from 4 to 5 months after the wedding. This is completely out of line with the professional standards of other wedding photographers, most of whom post a sneak peak in the days following the wedding. Overall, I was disappointed, surprised, and angered by the lack of professionalism and communication from Athena in the weeks and months following our wedding. I would not recommend her.
  • User876166 Sent on 07/25/2012
    0.8 out of 5 rating
    • Quality of service
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Average response time
      0.5 out of 5 rating
    • Professionalism
      0.5 out of 5 rating
    • Value
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    • Flexibility
      1.0 out of 5 rating
    The part that was the most frustrating was that Athena missed deadlines and was not prompt in replying. In an email 3 weeks after our wedding, she said 8-10 weeks post wedding we would be able to view our photos in an online gallery. We patiently waited and 12 weeks after our wedding I contacted her inquiring about the delay. She replied a few days later apologizing that she had personal family matters that needed her attention and we would get them "next week." Three weeks went by and nothing. I contacted Athena again and ten days later her response was that the images were being worked on and she would release them "next week". This was 16 WEEKS after our wedding. I tried to be so polite for fear I would NEVER get my photos. We finally were able to view our photos 18 weeks after our wedding with no apology or explanation of why it took this long weeks to even see one photo on the online gallery. Then, on the online gallery she spelt my new last name wrong so I didn't even want to share the gallery with family and friends because she told me she couldn't fix the name error. In our opinion her photos were not up to the standards we had expected.
    There are a few very beautiful pictures, but overall, we were disappointed. Here are some examples: We did not get ANY photos of our guests enjoying the cocktail hour. We had assumed two shooters meant one would take photos of us, the other would take photos elsewhere. Guess not. Her contract specifically states that the photographer cannot be held accountable for not photographing desired people. I think not photographing an entire hour of the event speaks for itself. I have two photos of my dad and I dancing and they are of my back. One that is us looking away from the camera. Same with photos of me and my husband. Many "artistic" shots, with the tops of our heads cut off. Most pics have our feet cut off.
    Either our expectations were too high for the thousands of dollars spent on a photographer, or the photos are sub par. I understand that our perspective of photos and others may be completely different, so others may view my photos as beautiful and we may view them as disappointing. But in this scenario, that point is irrelevant when you factor in the other frustrations we went through surrounding our photos.