Love is fleeting...

ksmattfish · Mar 13, 2005

I just learned that a couple who's wedding I recently photographed are getting a divorce. The kicker is that they haven't even picked up the wedding photos from me yet. This is actually the second time this has happened (separating before they pick up the photos). It's a good reason to get paid up front, and not to get married too young.

terri · Mar 13, 2005

Crazy. We've been contacted by former brides who wanted us to do their second (or whatever) wedding. But it was well after they picked up (and paid for) their first batch. Geez! We always took a down payment at the initial meeting, and got the balance due the day of the wedding. That way we were paid up, and it was on the happy couple to come get 'em as soon as we said they were ready.

PS- We weren't surprised at all by the divorce of one couple, after about a year. They fought at the reception and he smashed wedding cake all over her face and pretty gown. :shock: We wouldn't have minded, except we wanted pleasant expressions for the cake-cutting ceremony, and that kinda blew the moment. :lol:

luckydog · Mar 13, 2005

That's crappy. I would still persue them for the cash though. They hired you after all. I'd be at least wanting money for my time and effort even if they don't want the pictures.
Maybe asking for a non refundable deposit might help you out.
As for your customer divorce strike rate, i wouldn't mention it to future couples interested in your services

Alison · Mar 13, 2005

Wow, that's pretty quick! I take a deposit and balance is due two weeks before the wedding date. I haven't done enough weddings to have any horror stories yet, but I am sure my time will come :lol:

sdbphoto · Mar 14, 2005

50% up front... balance due on the day... you never know what is going to happen...

steve817 · Mar 14, 2005

Alot of photographers I know will not even show up if the balance is not paid at least two weeks before the ceremony. It is stated in their contract though.

As a sidenote. I have another friend had one bride just place her album order.....10 years later!!!!!

ksmattfish · Mar 14, 2005

Oh I got paid!

I get paid in full 2 weeks before the wedding. I used to say that it was okay to get paid on the day of the wedding, but it's just a pain to chase down the check on the wedding day. It's just too busy. I make them pay at least 2 weeks in advance because I regularly get last minute calls ( "Can you do my wedding this weekend?" ). I've never had anyone cancel a wedding yet though.

In both cases it was the bride pushing to get married, spending a ton of money (probably the parents' money) on the wedding, and then it was the bride deciding to call it off.

ksmattfish · Mar 14, 2005

terri said:
We weren't surprised at all by the divorce of one couple

I guess I had a feeling about this most recent one. In all the photos everyone else is beaming, but the bride has a look of horror on her face.

terri · Mar 14, 2005

ksmattfish said:
I guess I had a feeling about this most recent one. In all the photos everyone else is beaming, but the bride has a look of horror on her face.

I love it!!

I think the best real emotion we ever caught (fergit the posed strained smiles or the drunken glee later) was a couple who quarreled a bit during the day. They were both soooo nervous and she got ticked off. We had them seated on a bench swing, so cute, but Brad paused to load film and she went right back to hissing at the groom while they waited. Brad swung the camera up quietly and caught her glaring at her groom, arms folded, while he looked at her so sweetly and pleading....I was against putting that image in the preview book, but Brad said "It's going in there, it's classic" - and they loved it. They laughed and laughed, and are still happily married with a baby now.

Christie Photo · Mar 16, 2005

Isn't funny how that works out? My policy is $400 deposit to book the wedding, balance of smallest package upon delivery of proofs. The ONE time in all my 20+ years of doing weddings I let this slide a bit, I got stung. And it was someone I was aquainted with... thus the bending of the rules.

ksmattfish · Mar 16, 2005

I got stiffed on one of my very first portrait jobs. I agreed to let the out of town mom pay after the job for her college age kids' portrait session and set of proof prints. I never got paid, and I still don't know if they just didn't like the photos or had planned on ripping me off all along. I was out $35 in film and processing, and a few hours. Fortunately I was smart enough to have them sign model releases though, and I ended up being able to sell some of the pics for commercial use. Normally I wouldn't sell my clients' pics for commercial use, but I figured they deserved it.

Anyway, it was a good lesson. Now the only gigs I do without up front payment are those I can afford not to get paid for.