Vendor (photographer) doesn't respond or meet in person

I did not meet with mine beforehand but she was willing to after talking to her on the phone. The fact that they’re not willing to would be a red flag to me too.

I will met mine before hand, it’s a requirement for us to met her in person.

Red flag? Maybe, maybe not.
But it is super weird that they won’t meet before signing a contract. You want to make sure you click with your photographer. Unless maybe it’s one of those photography companies, do they let you pick your photographer? If you don’t get to pick I could see not meeting with one. 🤷‍♀️
If you could, I would keep looking

My opinion is don’t do it. I agree it’s a red flag.

I didn’t meet mine before hand but he gave me the option if I wanted to plus he’s been super responsible and answers really fast so it gave me some trust. I guess it depends on the situation

Red flag. It's really important that you like the photographer's personality. They're going to be with you all day, telling you how to pose, pulling you out for photos, telling people to get in and out of photos, etc. You want to be comfortable with them.

I didn't meet mine, but he came highly recommended by someone in the industry, so my experience is likely abnormal.

Generally, if you can't meet with a vendor, it feels fishy.

I won't meet mine photographer until the day of the wedding. He comes with my venue package and everything goes through the coordinator. I was able to see some of the photographer's work and I liked what I saw. I didn't meet my engagement photographer until the day we got pictures either. It didn't bother me and I haven't heard anyone say anything otherwise

Maybe they don't meet with potential clients because they don't want to waste their time with people who aren't going to hire them? They wait until after they know you're their client to start spending time with you. If they're a really busy company, maybe they don't have time to spend with non clients?

Did that make sense? I'm just making guesses

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Hi Renee,

Yes, I understand what you are saying. They are actually featured by WeddingWire, and have over 200 reviews of 5 stars. It just makes me nervous a little. The engagement session is included so they say they will meet me for that. Thanks!

I do think it's a red flag. All of the vendors we booked were more than happy to meet in person and I'm so glad they did. We got a taste of their personality/style and it definitely made us more comfortable with the booking process.

We didn't meet with ours before we signed, but he made sure we knew he was 100% willing to meet in person if we wanted. We felt the communication we had up until that point, plus his price and portfolio, were good enough.

I think the red flag is that they are refusing to meet with you. I would search for other photographers with a similar style and see if they would be willing to meet! I would definitely listen to your DOC, as they are the expert on this!

We met with ours in person. We FaceTimed with another one that we were interested in. I would never book a photographer that I could not actually speak with or see beforehand.

We met ours in person before signing a contract with her. But she's the sole owner of her photographer business, so it wasn't a big company. This may be a situation where you hire the company, and you don't really get to pick the particular photographer. I've seen this in DJ companies. You hire the company on its reputation, and they provide the person who will actually work your wedding.

I would just reach out to them with these concerns. Worst case scenario is you don't sign with them, and you find someone else.