Photographer

Unfortunately, without a contract that makes it more difficult. I had a very detailed contract with our photographer. We had a telephone conference with her prior to signing anything. We would have met in person but she lives at least an hour from us. She went over everything we wanted and pricing. She had set packages, but we could also customize things to how we wanted. Pricing was very clear from the beginning and there were no hidden fees. I'm so sorry this is happening. I would definitely look into hiring someone else for your wedding and make sure you sign a contract.

I also would look for another photographer with a clear contract. Definitely don't purchase anything else from your current one! I'm sorry you're having to go through this

It's very unusual to not have been told that or have a contract. Unfortunately without contract you can't do much. I'd just look for another photographer and leave a review on this one.

Thank you all! I guess now I have to decide if I should spend the money on the $400 or $990 album to get our photos or just get the $250 - 50 save the dates and call it quits? Definitely have another videographer and photographer lined up with a very detailed contract. Just sad it came out to this. Wish I knew better 😕

I’ve never heard of anything like this. We had a contract though. But even in all the photographers we spoke with, I never heard of a concept like what you have mentioned. Our engagement session was included in our package and we have rights to all of our photos. If I were you, I would look for a new photographer. Since you do not have a contract, it will be easy to end your relationship with your current one.

While I find it odd that this didn’t come up when you hired them / scheduled the session, that pricing structure is pretty common with that type of photography. For example, there was a shooting fee for my bridal portraits and then if I wanted copies of any of the photos I had to order a print, piece of art or album with the photo(s) and then I got a complimentary digital copy of whatever photo(s) were in the art/album/print.

View Quoted Comment Thank you, Rachel! Is that pricing standard for an album of around 30?

You should absolutely look into a different vendor for the ceremony or insist on a contract that irons out these details before your big day. The price for your album seems pretty high. Are they giving you a digital copy for free? That’s pretty standard and then you could get an album made through another service for less money.

View Quoted Comment They will give me digital copy “free” only if I buy either the $380 or $990 photo album 😕 that’s why I guess I’m so confused if there’s no way I can just pay for the digital copies alone but I’m being told no.

View Quoted Comment There’s a lot of things that can influence pricing here... paper quality, dimensions of the book, if the cover is leather bound, the city you live in and how many other photographers are doing the kind of work.

That said, I don’t think the pricing is unusual. For perspective: I think even a premium Shutterfly album starts around $200 these days. At this point it comes down to how bad do you want however many photos? If you guys can truly land on one photo for save the dates and walk away from the rest, do the save the date package. If you love the photos and might want more, order an album and use the digital copies to create save the dates thought minted/Shutterfly/etc.

Wedding day photography tends to be a bit different. In that contract you’ll get “all” the photos (vs only what you choose to print through the photographer). This is portrait photography, so I don’t think there tends to be a contract (unless it’s part of your wedding day photography package) and there are often different price tiers for copies of photos.

View Quoted Comment That’s not right. Yes, it’s typical that you pay for services as part of the flat rate and any album would be an additional payment but to not get your digital copies for that price seems crazy to me. If you don’t get access to the photos for the price you agreed on then why did you pay all that money? I think they are taking advantage of you, but because you don’t have a contract it’s a difficult situation. Absolutely find someone different for the wedding and meet with them beforehand to discuss the details of your package and whether digital copies are included free of charge.