We decided to get married and the first question is, Where? We live in the states, but started dating in London. France seemed like a wonderful place. First, we found the perfect venue - a 16th century chateau converted into a modern, clean hotel - overlooking the start of the Rhone Alpes. The photographer, videographer, and DJ followed. It was set - smooth sailing.
I will write about the rest in another post, because it truly was perfect and I can't recommend every other vendor involved enough! We were very lucky.
Our photographer, Abbie Fairfax of Love As Art - website www.LoveAsArt.com, (formerly Abbie Spencer at Beloved Love Photography) texted me on Tuesday, June 7th. I was on a train from Paris to our venue in the South of France so I asked if it was urgent. She replied, No. I called the next day, Wednesday, June 8th, and she said she was ill. We were having two weddings, one Friday, June 10th and one Saturday, June 11th. I told her we were so sorry and I hoped she felt better. She said she could contact replacements or wait a day to see how she felt. I decided it was best to find a replacement because waiting one more day would make it harder to find someone on such short notice. She recommended contacting our videographer to see if he knew of someone and suggested asking the hotel. Great, we will!
We emailed our videographer asking if he knew of anyone and stated we were also checking with our hotel and online outlets to see. Abbie was copied on this email and replied, "I'm also contacting people!" We went into town to meet with our decorator and told her our dilemma. She introduced us to the photography galleries next door that had loads of local contacts! They introduced us to a beautiful woman who was well traveled and her husband was also a photographer. They had even traveled to Pakistan - where my husband is from. Her photos were not what we imagined, but we loved her immediately.
I emailed Abbie letting her know and asked she return the deposit so that we could get cash out for our new photographer - and also signed it that I hoped she felt better and that our thoughts were with her! Nice, right? Well, that's when she flipped.
She called, emailed, texted, Whatsapp messaged, everything! Each one read, "Wait, I just want to confirm you are canceling! I never said I was canceling." What? Abbie, we have emails with you copied AND responses confirming you were trying to find a replacement and were, indeed, canceling. At this point, we could absolutely have canceled our replacement - but Abbie was also not saying she was coming either. I asked her, "Okay, then are you coming?" Evasive responses returned with her stating, 'This isn't how the contract reads.' Actually, the contract reads a full refund when the photographer cancels. She called us canceling, we have emails with her saying she is trying to find a replacement...
It was clear at this point she wanted to hire a 'cheaper' photographer and pocket the money. How much less? $1,000. She never said this, but she made it clear with her responses. We also asked what it would take to get her off the phone. She said, $1,000. We probably would have paid $500 to get her off the phone. She just kept arguing and saying she wasn't canceling, but when we asked if she was coming then, well, no... So, doesn't that mean you are canceling? It was ridiculous, to say the least.
We got so frustrated and wanted to get off the phone that we asked she contact our lawyer if she wasn't going to return the money. We were done talking to her. She got frantic then, but it was done. She emailed an hour later how terrible we were threatening a lawyer... ok, Abbie. We're terrible... sure. She returned all but $350. $350 and taking up a whole day of our time 2 days before our wedding.
I guess my point, don't use Abbie to photograph your wedding.