Hi all! I am reaching out for some advice. My fiancé and I booked a photographer back in the fall for a May 2021 wedding. I was finishing up school in the city where we are getting married so I wanted to get things done before I moved out of the area and started a job that would severely limit my ability to travel over weekends. I initially reached out to our photography company in January to set dates for an engagement session sometime before May. Since my fiancé and I were doing long distance there were only going to be six times over the rest of the semester where we would be in the city where our photographer was before I moved in May. The company promised to forward the email to our specific photographer. A month and a half went by, still nothing. So I emailed the company again, saying we were ready to schedule our engagement session. This time when the company replied they CC'ed the photographer for our event. No reply. Another week goes by and I send a follow-up asking for her availability. Two days later she replies and after one set of back and forth emails over the span of another week we settle on a date for the engagement photos in early May.
Fast forward to April. I emailed the photographer almost two weeks ago wanting to touch base since I thought it was unlikely we would be able to take the pictures when scheduled based on our stay-at-home orders in my state. I still haven't heard anything and the shoot is now less than a week away. Most people I've asked say it is time to cut my losses and find another photographer, but that leaves me out close to $800 since the contract states the deposit is non-refundable. Am I being too harsh wanting to find another photographer? Her photographs are beautiful, but now there is a serious lack of trust due to the lack of communication. I also don't know given everything going on if I should cut her some slack for this latest lack of a reply. Please let me know your thoughts! Thank you!
