Wedding Photographer Offers Services to Cousin For Free, But Then Charges $3,000
A bride has taken to Reddit for advice after accepting free photography at her wedding as a “gift” but has since been sent a bill.
To complicate matters further the wedding photographer is a relative; her cousin. According to the bride, the cousin said, “As my gift to you two, I would be happy to take the photos at your wedding.”
The couple say they told the photographer he wasn’t obligated but “repeatedly expressed how grateful we were and made sure to tag his business in all our posts.”
After the wedding was finished, the photos had been delivered, and thank you notes had been sent out, the cousin called the couple to say there had been a “miscommunication” and they owed him $3,000.
“Not to sound ungrateful but it was only him with a camera, no extra equipment or staff members,” the bride writes on Reddit. “For less than that price, we could have gone with our original choice of wedding photographer who’d offered more people present at the wedding and a more advanced photography setup.”
The cousin said that his gift had actually been making space for them in his “busy wedding photography schedule.” However, the couple says because they thought it was a gift, they didn’t set aside a photo budget and don’t have a spare $3,000.
“He’s basically said we’re greedy a**holes and don’t respect his work and this and that,” the bride writes. “I feel bad about the misunderstanding but I think it was an honest mistake on our part and that he bears some responsibility for the expectation being unclear.”
After her parents told her she should just pay the photographer, the bride turned to the AITAH subreddit to ask whether she was in the wrong.
Most Redditors came down on the side of the couple: “He robbed you of your chance to budget and choose a better option,” writes one person who got thousands of upvotes.
People also pointed out that since there was no contract between the two parties and he said it was a gift, then she’s not obligated to pay.
These types of posts on Reddit are always anonymous and there are always two sides to every story, but one thing is clear here: if you expect payment as a photographer then it is crucial to get a contract signed before the big day.
PetaPixel’s complete wedding photography guide is full of great tips for those starting out.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
