By Dreamcatcher1229 - 04/09/2013 07:23 - United States - Long Beach

Today, I got my wedding photos back from my sister, a "professional" photographer who offered to do our wedding as a gift. It turns out that not only did she not catch most of the ceremony or reception, but all of the outdoor photos feature a large garbage bag in the background. FML
I agree, your life sucks 37 636
You deserved it 5 110

Dreamcatcher1229 tells us more.

That's fair. The back story is that I said yes to her offer because her other work is actually quite good. Her other wedding photos for previous instances looked beautiful, and that's how I assumed mine would turn out. I take responsibility, my husband and I shouldn't have assumed anything. I found out after the wedding that she doesn't like him much to begin with, soooooo I guess putting two and two together I can reasonably say that her distaste has something to do with the shotty and neglectful work. To answer a previous question here, forgive me for not answering the asker directly, the shots we ened up with for the ceremony itself were one of the first kiss, one of our intro as a married couple, and several blurred shots of mostly the audience with a hint of ceremony at the background. She did get my brother walking me down, but not of the beidesmaids and groomsmen. And mind you, she and I DID discuss in advance what events and who in the party we wanted pictured, as well as my request to catch as much of the reception as possible. We had a lot of friends and family travel from far away, and I had asked for more pictures of everyone together, mingling, and enjoying themselves. And thank you to whomever suggested we retouch some of the pictures, we've actually been working on that project and it's going well so far. So all in all I'd like to say that while I was disappointed in the outcome and the sad realization that my sister and I don't have the best of relationships, My husband and I are happy regardless and, thanks to other guests, still ended up with some good pictures. Also, a friend filmed the ceremony itself from beginning to end, so we're going to try to get some stills from that. This is a good lesson in perspective, I guess. Yeah, the situation ended in an FML for one particular detail, albeit an important one, but hey, at least my husband didn't bail out at the altar, or I didn't throw up or something. :-P Okay, sorry for that novel. lol Carry on!

Top comments

Your sister is still a bitch for low balling you like that

She doesn't have to like your husband but that doesn't give her the right to screw you over on your wedding day. That was really childish of her to do that.

Comments

Don't blame her, it just sounds like a trashy wedding to me.

Well this pun isn't being well received. Can someone hand me a shovel?

What I want to know is what did she take pictures of then? If she missed the ceremony and reception, what was she taking pictures of?

It's not that she missed all of the ceremony and reception, it's jsut that she got far fewer photos than she and my husband and I had discussed initially. I hope that clarifies things. :)

Professionally screwing up your wedding photos is what it sounds like.

You can always photoshop and patchup the garbage bag as long as rest of you guys are looking good. This is professional stuff...

Little4Bear 10

If I was OP I'd still keep them... Not only a reminder for the special day but a reminder to never hire her sister again!

Comment moderated for rule-breaking.

Show it anyway

it was her sister doing it as a gift... it wasn't like she just hired any ol cheap photographer. I'm sure she expected better from her sister

If the photos were that important to her you'd think she would have asked her sister who she hired and to look them up. I perfer to pick out my own and if someone wishes to pay the fee as a gift then so be it. If not, well, then you know your photos won't be ******. Life lesson: never expect anything from family, especially if it's really important to you.

during the reception wouldn't op see that her sister was dancing and stuff and not taking pictures?

Just realized I misread it. I thought her sister hired someone! Lmao.

Oops I didnt see the sister part. Still, when you're getting paid 1500 dollars do something, you're probably gonna have a much higher incentive to do it right.

guess we all know what she thought of your wedding

You should have payed a real professional one. :

Weddings are expensive, if the sister offered must've been one less thing to worry about, and with that comes a degree of trust being a photographer and yunno, her freaking SISTER.

Well a $3000 service you are getting for free, what do you expect?

actually my photographer is $275. that doesnt include prints but it sure wont be $3000.

triplebeerox 27

I paid about $1500 for my photographer and I did so much research before hiring him; I was very pleased with his work. I saw cheaper photographers but their work was crap. You get what you pay for.

For $275, you're likely going to be very, very disappointed. If you're not paying AT LEAST $500, you're not hiring an actual professional. I'd say $1000+ for the most part is more fair, but anything under $500, you're not paying a true professional - the cost of business is too much for anything less to work.

RedPillSucks 31

Our photos were pretty good and we didn't pay anywhere close to $1000. I guess YMMV

Maybe you think they are "pretty good", but that doesn't mean they are professional quality.

We got wonderful shots of our wedding that we're very very pleased with. They were done by a friend for $400 even. Also, no one should expect to get screwed over by someone they trust. Yes, sometimes it happens, but no one should be expecting it to.

ummmm at least it was free? I'd say as long as my husband/wife pics are amazing, idc about the rest... I would still have my memories... just wondering, does SHE think the pics are good? or does she know she screwed up?

Agreed, great memories will always be there. :) To answer your question, she offhandedly mentioned that it wasn't her best work upon giving me the disk of photos. When I later told her I was upset about the outcome, she said I shouldn't be ungrateful for the gift and that all of her other friends and clients have been satisfied. So that's that, I guess. Since the issue is now being resolved elsewhere I'm just letting it go at this point. No need to start a family feud. :)

I'd be fuming! Thanks to people like her, professional photographers, especially for weddings, are getting shoddy reputations. She have no right to be shitty on YOUR day! Yes, the memories will be there, but photos are nice to show to your kids and elderly parents and when you're old yourself! "Not liking your husband". I don't like all my clients, I still make the work look good! No excuses.

Well, is your sister and all, but you should have checked her portfolio and professional experience in weddings. She may be a professional photographer but without experience in weddings, which require particular skills, correct equipment and, usually, more than just one photographer. And of course your sister shouldn't have offered if she was going to do such a crappy job. I say both FYL and YDI. Unless she did it on purpose.

TheCaramelKing 11

I'm pretty sure OP said she had beautiful photographs in her other wedding pictures so he assumed here would as well.

The OP hadn't replied yet when I wrote the comment. I know how to read, you know