Need advice, please, on wedding photography issue!

[cassie]

Long-time lurker making her first post from her honeymoon in sunny Cancun, Mexico!

We just got married last week... pictures and details to follow!

I had a burning question, though, and thought maybe you could help me. And perhaps I''m building a mountain out of a molehill, but for some reason, this wedding incident is really aggravating me.

In short, we had an outstanding wedding photographer that we adored. A few days after the wedding (while on our honeymoon), we got an e-mail that while the guys were getting ready in the groom''s hotel room that the junior groomsman had been running around and ran into one of the photographers... causing the lens of her camera to come out of the camera and break. The cost of the repair to the camera and lens is in the $200-range. We are now expected to pay to repair the camera. We knew nothing of this situation the day of the wedding.

The photographer suggested we address this with the child''s family. The kid is my brother''s girlfriend''s son. Even though I''m a bit miffed that the kid was probably misbehaving, I am not going to hit up my brother for this money.

Is this my responsibility to pay for this?

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Ouch Cassie!! Um, i honsestly don''t know.. I mean, shouldn''t the photographer have insurance to pay for the damage done?

My daughter knocked my hairdressers GHD''s off the table on our wedding day and broke them, i felt terrible but she said that it was ok, she never asked for me to pay for them, although i haven''t seen her since (i am today!) maybe i should offer to pay for them too?

Honestly i think it is a little brash asking you for the money, and no, i probably wouldn''t ask your brother for it either (how old was the boy?) and i would probably just suck it up and pay it, if you feel like you should, but really they should have insurance to cover damage to their equipment.

 

[jcarlylew]

ouch.
Can you read over your contract, just in case that might be an actual part? If not, at most I would to agree to is to pay half. I feel as if she is a professional, she should have insurance to cover this. I would not go to the child''s parents though.

 

[Clairitek]

This isn''t exactly the same but in a similar vein. My friend got married a couple of years ago and the day before the wedding the photographers equipment was stolen out of her car while she was scouting locations to shoot portraits the next day. She never asked my friend to contribute to replacing the equipment. However my friend did offer to forego the album to help defray the cost of the new cameras. The photog took her up on it.

I think it''s a little forward of the photographer to ask for this money but I do sort of feel that it''s not their fault that this happened and that had the kid been behaving properly the lens never would have been broken. If I were inyiur shoes I would offer to pay half, if not all, of the cost to replace the lens.

Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon!!

 

[mrscushion]

Date: 5/7/2010 11:05:54 PM
Author: jcarlylew
ouch.
Can you read over your contract, just in case that might be an actual part? If not, at most I would to agree to is to pay half. I feel as if she is a professional, she should have insurance to cover this. I would not go to the child''s parents though.

Yes, where is her insurance in this? She should be covered.
That said, have you got your photos yet? Best not to get into too much conflict, lest your photos suffer.

 

[CharmyPoo]

I think it is the photographer''s responsibility to replace her lense. Not yours.

She only uses a $200 lense? That isn''t too expensive for a professional lense - my fianace''s lenses are more than that.

Anyways, only thing I worry about is what will happen to your photos if you don''t pay up!