Wedding Photographer Mia?

It looks like your wedding isn't until April. I'm a little surprised you had to finish paying him already. Most of my vendors expect payment within 2 weeks or at the rehearsal/day of. I'd maybe give him another day or so. I just went back to work on Thursday but most of my coworkers were still out until today (I work for a large Auto company). Hopefully everything turns out okay!

Oh man. That's totally different. And I totally get just trying to pay for things. We are paying for everything ourselves and money is tight.

That being said, if you're friends in real life, can you reach out any other way? Are there other people who might be able to help you? This doesn't sound right at all.

Oh boy. I'm not really sure what to say to that. Do you know anyone who could give you legal counsel? Photos of my wedding were something I was willing to spend money on since you leave the wedding day with the memories, photographs, and your promise to each other. If you're already running into issues now, I may suggest looking for someone else and asking family/friends to help you financially. As hard as it would be (I realize it's easier for me to say than for you to do) this isn't something I'd mess around with.

If you were able to get the money back from him through some legal route, you could use that money to pay back a family member/friend. But him not showing up, you can't change that.

AND, maybe it would/will all work out just fine and he's busy. I cannot imagine how you're feeling. Hoping/praying for the best!

Does it show up in FB messenger that he saw your messages? I would send one more message and say if you do not receive a response within the next day, you are assuming he is no longer planning to be your photographer and breaching his contract. Honestly, if you know his wife’s number, I would call her and “make sure he is ok.” If so, you need to speak with him asap. You have given him a lot of money, and he should be responding to you.

I totally agree with Suzie!!

I would have never hired anyone whose contract read "I don't have to communicate with you until 10 days before the wedding" because that's just insane. You need way more lead time to communicate with your biggest vendors (photographer, music, officiant, caterer, venue, bartending service, rentals). Honestly the whole situation sounds really messed up. This is why you hear never to hire friends for your wedding!

I think its completely appropriate to follow up with him directly via any means you have (Facebook, website, email, phone). Also, what are you trying to follow up about? It is possible that whatever questions you haven't aren't time sensitive from his perspective, and he may not understand why you need an answer so quickly. Maybe suggest a communication timeline (check in once 3 months out, once 1 month out, and then frequently in the 10 days before) that you both feel comfortable with and can follow through on? Unfortunately if you signed a contract saying he isn't obligated to respond to your emails or communicate with you until 10 days before the wedding, then I think you are kind of stuck. But in your shoes, I'd definitely be very nervous about having a photographer lined up for the wedding and probably would want to start finding a replacement. If you do that, you'll most certainly be out of money one way or another though.

Sorry you have to do that but you'll feel much better having a photographer you trust and feel confident in.

One of my friends hired an acquaintance to photograph his wedding, and she showed up blackout drunk, barely made it up the steps to the room where the girls were getting ready, and then took a bunch of photos of them naked as they were getting dressed before passing out. He ended up stealing her camera and a single lens as collateral for getting his money back (he paid $2500 for wedding photography) and the girlfriend of the best man and I photographed the whole wedding. It was a minor disaster.