Negative Wedding Vendor Reviews?

You should leave an honest review of your experience with her. It helps anyone else looking to hire her know what to expect.

I would leave an honest review. Life happens to everyone, but that’s no excuse to take it out on others especially if you’re running a business. For example I work with children and when I am having a bad day I do not take it out on them. If she needed to take the time off then she should have sent a replacement like stated in the contract.

Wow, that "I'd like to get out of here ASAP" would have had me livid. That is unacceptable. I completely understand where you're coming from because ultimately reviews will make or break a small business, but you should absolutely leave an honest review of her services just like you did here. You gave credit to her where credit is due (personality at first meeting, great work) and then you also shared the drawbacks. She may even reach out to you afterwards and try to rectify the situation if at all possible, then you could even update your review. Best of luck!

I would leave an honest review about her attitude. About the attire, I think what she wore is perfectly normal for a photographer. It’s similar to what mine wore and I had an extremely formal wedding and it’s what I’ve always seen and I attend an average of 5 weddings a year. For the number of pictures I think unless she gave you a minimum in your contract that she didn’t meet then it’s not fair to compare it to what your friends got from their photographers.

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Oh yes, I was pretty irritated by the comment, not gonna lie. She acted as if she didn't want to be there, which maybe she had reason to feel that way, but nonetheless keep that to yourself!

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I've been to about 5 weddings in the last two years and all of them wore business casual (slacks and button down for men, and slacks and a nice shirt for women). I was just going off of my experience and what i would do, but I hear you.

ANd you make a point, I'd have to revisit the contract to see the amount of pictures (if any) it states.

Thank you!

View Quoted Comment I would leave an honest review, but I would wait until your business is completely done with her as some vendors can be vindictive.
As far as her attire - I agree that all black is an appropriate outfit, but leggings and a t shirt would burn me up. My mother and grandmother were professional photographers when I was growing up and they would NEVER show up in anything less than black dress pants and an acceptable shirt. She could use the feedback that she looked disheveled.

I agree with the other girl on picture count though - she could have potentially taken a ton more but weeded our the ones that didn’t make sense to give you (people looking weird, blurry, etc)

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Thank you! I remember my girlfriend got married a few years ago at this BEAUTIFUL mansion (I mean, this place is known for being one of the most expensive in the area) and the photographer wore JEANS! I was appalled and it wasn't even my own wedding! I was raised that you dress for the occasion, and while I don't expect staff to dress in ballgowns or tuxedos, I do expect some sort of professional looking ensemble.

I want to be sure I have all of my pictures saved before I do that, for sure. I'm still a little uneasy about leaving a review; I really like her, and she was really great, but I had about 6 or 7 separate people inform me of how they felt about her, and none of it positive.

View Quoted Comment If you feel uneasy leaving a review, you could give her some direct feedback. If she takes it well, you could just leave it at that. Just another direction you could go! You could tell her that while you understand she gets business from good reviews, you don’t feel comfortable giving her one for X, Y, and Z. Sympathize saying that you understand she had some personal things going on and that’s why you’re giving her the feedback directly, but you won’t leave a review that you don’t fully believe in.

I totally get where you're coming from. You don't want to kick someone when they're down. However, she was being paid to do a job and be professional. If several people, especially the groom, had a negative experience with her then prospective clients need to be aware of that. How do you know that isn't always her attitude on jobs? And for her to make that comment about wanting to get out of there asap is not just rude, its completely unprofessional!!! Would you ever say that to a client regardless of how you felt? Again, she was being paid to be there and to perform a service. If she felt too distraught after her personal issue she should have found a replacement, not make you feel like it was imposition on her. You, your husband and guests should have felt like the most important people that day. I would leave an honest review that includes the good and bad.

1. I think this is more common than you think. Photographers are often running around (ours was in hiking boots because she knew it was going to rain) and need to be comfortable. Unless her shirt was oversized or ripped or stained, I wouldn't worry. No one really cares what the photographer looks like. Our photographer wore a jumpsuit type outfit and it was pretty casual.

2. Did your contract specify a certain number of pictures? Or that you would get all pictures, even unedited ones? If not, this isn't really something to be too mad about. We had one photographer for 8 hours, but her contract specified we would get 800+ edited photos & all unedited so we already had an expectation # wise.

3. This I 100% agree with you. She could have sent someone else in her place if she wasn't in an appropriate mind-set to be at your wedding. It's incredibly disrespectful to you and unprofessional.

I'd probably leave a review and not say anything brutal, but just say you would have been happier if you had received more photos and she acted more professionally.

Ooh, girl I feel ya. When my brother got married, they hired an amazing photographer who had great reviews and terrific photos. A lot of her photos on her portfolio included her family. Well, it turns out that about a month before the wedding, her husband left her and they were in the middle of a custody battle. So the "nice" photos on her portfolio started disappearing, only my brother and his fiance didn't notice! So day of the wedding rolls around and this woman clearly doesn't want to be there photographing so many happy people. Like... clearly. She rushed through, didn't want to spend the extra time even though they'd paid for it, etc. She took photos from bad angles (she spent a lot of time on the floor?) It was a weird experience altogether.

They were so unhappy with their photos that they kept them under lock and key. To this day, I have never seen a photo from the wedding except for the ones I took (and most of those are selfies)!

True, some people have bad days, but if it was in your contract that she would perform to the best of her ability and then clearly didn't, that's on her and it's a breach of the contract.

The outfit is whatever. She was working and maybe she needed to be comfy... was the on the floor at all? LOL!