Bride Asks Photographer if He Will Commit Fraud to Lower Fee
An outrageous request from a bride asking if a wedding photographer would be willing to defraud her employer to lower the overall cost of his invoice has been shared on Reddit.
The Reddit user, who goes by Nerdy Photographer and shoots high-end weddings in Manhattan, posted an incredible email in which the bride proposes he shoots events for her company and overcharges them.
“Sure, sure. I’ll just commit fraud because you’ve gone over your budget,” the exasperated photographer titles the post.
The photographer redacted identifiable details on the post which received thousands of upvotes before it was removed by moderators. However, it was reshared on the “wedding shaming” sub-Reddit.
“Imagine putting that in writing, lmao,” writes one Redditor. “I’d be sending that right off to the company, who knows what else she’s scamming them into buying for her,” adds another.
Nerdy Photographer explains he is an experienced shooter who is quite used to clients attempting to bring down the cost.
“I’ve been at it for more than 20 years. 98% of the time, I weed those people out before a contract is even signed but there are MANY MANY MANY attempts at getting things for free or cheap,” he writes beneath the post.
“‘This wedding will be great for your portfolio!’ Really? I’ve got 800 in the bag already.”
People in the comments are desperate to know the end of the story and the photographer did reveal that his response to the email was straightforward.
“My response was that the only acceptable AND LEGAL option would be to pay me as agreed to in the contract she signed,” he replies to one person.
Of course, weddings — particularly ones in Manhattan — are eye-wateringly expensive affairs. The Knot reports the average cost of a wedding in New York is $63,000 — 80 percent higher than the national average.
“The wedding was at a high-end Manhattan venue (think over $300 a plate) with 250+ guests so probably lots of things other than my costs that were killing the budget,” adds Nerdy Photographer.
But defrauding companies is not the answer and as some point out, it is often the photography that couples will try and cheap out on.
“Is this person also telling the florist, the caterer, pretty much any other vendor this? Like stop expecting to bargain with creatives like photogs,” writes one person.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
