Bride Wants To Sue Her Wedding Photographer Because She Had 'A Bad Attitude' & Only Took 10 Good Photos
Is she just another bridezilla? Or is this photographer way out of line?
Pablo Dunas / Shutterstock One of the hardest things about planning a wedding is that you don't truly know what you're going to get until the big day arrives. That fancy cake, delicious food, and fun-loving DJ might seem perfect when you're shopping around, but once the final product arrives, it can be a very different story.
Such is the case of one Redditor's wedding photographer. And her disappointment with the camerawoman's work has turned into a full-on war and threats of litigation.
The bride wants to sue her wedding photographer because of her 'bad attitude' and poor photography skills.
On one hand, this is probably something wedding photographers deal with all the time. What constitutes a good or bad photograph is totally subjective, of course. Between that, all the "bridezilla" tendencies out there, and the other drama inherent to weddings, disputes with photographers seem like they'd come with the territory.
But in this case, it really sounds like there's more than just a bridezilla at play. "Our photographer was the most expensive thing at our wedding," the bride wrote in her Reddit post, "but she had beautiful work online."
They had a great working relationship with the photographer during the planning stages, too. "No red flags." But boy, did that change when the big day actually arrived.
The bride said the photographer was 'miserable' and only took 10 usable photos out of thousands.
"The day of, she was miserable," the bride went on to say. She "sat down most of the evening, gave guests an attitude, and we ended up with maybe 10 nice photos out of thousands taken."
She admitted that the quality of a photo is entirely in the eye of the beholder, but it really sounds like these photos wouldn't pass most reasonable people's test.
"Whether a photo is good is subjective," she wrote, "however I have many with my eyes closed, mouth weird, unflattering angles, almost none of us together as a couple or of our children." Isn't that last bit kind of … the point of wedding photos?
But because of the wording of the photographer's contract, they don't have much recourse. "It states that her artistic preference is her own and that weather isn't her problem (and it did rain)," she explained. "So we can't prove that the photos are 'bad.'"
When the bride left a bad review, the photographer retaliated by deleting her photos, and now she wants to sue.
Because they were left with virtually no usable photos, the couple booked another photographer to reshoot "some nice photos of us." The bride then requested the original photographer give a partial reimbursement. "She refused," she said.
Evgenyrychko / Shutterstock
She then did what wedding experts say should be the last resort when you find yourself in a dispute with a wedding vendor: She left "an honest Google review" explaining what happened on her wedding day. Suffice it to say, the photographer did NOT appreciate it.
"She has retaliated by deleting my entire online gallery," the bride wrote. "In her contract, it states we have 365 days to have access and to download our gallery and we are definitely not at 365 days yet. Is this grounds to go after her for breach of contract?"
People on Reddit urged the bride to take legal action.
Several commenters suggested small claims court, which in some states covers not just monetary damages but would also compel the photographer to give back the photos (assuming she hasn't already deleted them).
Others felt that actual legal action would likely cost more than the refund she's seeking, and lawyers say these kinds of suits are often difficult to win for the customer. On the other hand, some felt that simply threatening legal action was likely to compel the photographer to pony up just to avoid any further drama and expense.
Either way, the bride has made sure other customers know who they're dealing with. She updated her review of the photographer so they know that "if they upset her, she will retaliate, and they could lose everything."
Buyer beware, as the saying goes.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice, and human interest topics.