Firing the photographer...?

"We've decided to go with another photographer." Simple enough. Also, I'm sure you have no expectations of receiving your deposit back.

Just let them know, "hello so and so, due to the previous shoot with you and pictures we've received, we feel that we are going to take our photography needs in another direction. Have a good day"

Do it, simple, "We have made a different decision) (they don't need to know why...) above but do it now. You need to find someone else, and you don't want the anticipation of a difficult conversation hanging over your head. You will feel massively relieved when you do this.

@Celia thank you... you're right, I will feel so relieved when I do it. I've already reached out to another photographer for information. I've been struggling with my feelings towards him since our engagement shoot... I can't feel uncomfortable on the day of my wedding :-/

Thanks all. I'll message him and keep it simple.

I agree with pp. does your contract state your still liable for a certain percentage? Just double check that so you can make an informed decision.

I had the same issue, and have been in your shoes! I'm too nice, yet HATED the pictures our photographer gave us.

To save face, which others may disagree with, I just told him we wanted to go in another direction with our pictures. I totally lied and said my sisters friend (a professional photographer) offered to do a shoot for us and we fell in love with the pictures she gave us and decided to book her instead for the wedding.

We also put a deposit down, it was only $300, but his pricing sheet said his engagement sessions were only $50... so I asked for a refund, and we ended up getting $200 back. It can never hurt to ask!

Do it now before its too late and you won't be able to find anyone. We didn't have a trial session with our photographer but we did meet with them in person and in just half an hour we KNEW without a shadow of a doubt that hey were the ones for the job.

You absolutely do not need to to give them the reason why but if you feel you do then be honest with them about it.

Im just curious as to why you would give them a down payment for the wedding when you weren't sure about them or didn't like the photos in the first place.

I didn't have to fire a photographer, but I was in the talks with one whose husband I had known when I was a child and I loved her work. But then she wouldn't respond and we had questions about her contract ect and it just became increasingly aware we couldn't hire her and it sucked. I hate the way I felt and didn't know how to do it.

I said something along the lines of "Hey (photographers name). I just wanted to let you know that we have decided to go in another direction with our photographer. We were left with some concerns after reading your contract and the lack of responsiveness left us uneasy and don't want to run into issues on the day of or any time leading up to the day."

@Ashley down payment was due before our engagement session since it was all part of the package. His portfolio looked good and I didn't get any weird vibes when we talked on the phone. Then after the engagement session I panicked because I knew it wasn't the right fit.

@Kristin Definitely! I've already reached out to other photographers and won't say anything to him until I've got someone else. Thankfully March isn't the most popular month for a New England wedding!!!

@Samantha thank you for the advise! I did reread our contract and the only thing it says is the deposit is nonrefundable, which I expected.

RUN!!!!! To me the photography is one of the most important things, because it is something you will always look back on! I would just say that you had to rearrange your budget, if you are worried about confrontation, but don't feel guilty! This is your big day!