mrs2be.ie

[TGR]

Hi girls,
Our photographer contacted us today asking for the remainder of the payment (we already paid her a 1/3 deposit to secure the booking) by November 30th. Our wedding is on December 30th. Is this normal? I assumed that we would pay most the the cost, i.e., 2/3 of the wedding and maybe the last 1/3 when we received and were satisfied with the photos. I've heard some horror stories on this website of full payment being made and photographers taking up to 5 or 6 months to produce the photographs. Just wondering what everyone else is doing?

[mrsjudgetobe]

i personally wouldnt pay the full amount before i am happy with the work

[Mrstobe2012]

our contract says that we have to pay the deposit to secure the date and then pay 80 % of the remainding cost a week before the wedding and the the 20% after the wedding when we get the albums. i wouldnt be happy paying the full amount you have no leverage then.hth

[alternativemrs2b]

Hiya, we paid a deposit of 200 euro, then have to pay a percentage on the day, then the remainder when we get the photos. We dont have to decide on what package we are getting until after the wedding which is pretty cool, so we are paying just for him to take the photos, and then whatever the remainder is for album etc when we decide on the package. Oh man, did that even make sense!! I am really tired tonight!!

[BluefishJD]

I would have thought that what the missies are saying above is correct as in an initial deposit to book the date - a further percentage closer to the date or on the actual day and then final payment once the photos are in your hand! Because like that once they have your money you are at their mercy so to speak - I am not saying this about all photographers!!! Some of my friends are photographers but you know what i mean they have your money so know you will wait for the end product, which could, like the "Horror" stories happen - A good thing for you might be to see if your photographer has done any work for someone you know and ask them how they dealt with him/her and also turnaround time on the finished shots/album. As a designer dealing with clients using our professional service this is how we would operate as in initial deposit (depending on job) and then they pay us the remainder once they get the final printed material in their hands and of course are happy with it. Website testimonials could be worth a look but then again if it is their own site they will only choose the favorable ones! so maybe be best to get someone who has previously dealt with your photographer. Best of luck with it.

[Happily Married]

We paid deposit, the bulk of it on the day and then the remainder when we got our pics. I wouldn't pay beforehand, not until I know I'm happy with the service and the end result!

[TGR]

So just looked at the contract we agreed to and the photographer is indeed right. We owe her the balance to be paid 4 weeks before the wedding day. I did read the contract before signing it, but I guess I misses/had forgotten that bit :S Oh well. Just talked it over with h2b and he said that he's not overly concerned with paying her the full amount before the wedding. We've always found her to be good with communication and emails and we were very satisfied with the pre-wedding shoot she did with us- plus we really like her just as a person. I suppose that it would have been nice to have a bit of leverage in case, but not gonna be possible.

[TanyaBranning]

Our photographer doesn't take any money until she hands you over the album

[cheeky2u]

Our Photographer told us before we booked him that we paid the balance 3 weeks before the wedding and explained his reasons why. So we were fully aware of it before we booked him.
Some photographers require it beforehand and others dont it really just depends on the photographer

[augustbride2012]

Our photographer has to be paid in full before the wedding but she has done my SIL's wedding and some family photo's for us so I'm quite happy to pay up front but if I didn't have a long term relationship with her I would have been a bit worried -

[sweetcheeks]

Hey I would just make sure that the photographer has insurance so that if anything goes wrong (god forbid) but just too cover yourself ... I work in photography myself and i know how important photographs are too people ... your photographer should have an insurance kind of like public liability and then they should have full copmrehensive insurance for the loss of pictures etc, also make sure that he/she has a back up for everything ie cameras, batteries ,memory .. at the end of the day all you have left from your wedding day is memories and pictures ....

[TGR]

Good tip Rusfur!- I checked the contract again and she does have a liability clause that among other things states that she has back-up equipment.

[sweetcheeks]

no problem at all .. if i can help with any other photography questions feel free too contact me .. id be happy too help

[TGR]

Cheers rusfur, I appreciate it

[feb2012]

I would not be paying anybody in full until the day of the wedding. What happens if yous have paid the full amount and they do not turn up. Did you sign a contract agreeing to this.
i have paid my deposit and will pay the remainder on the day