Screwed by Event Planner

Then everyone will take those cards and say "Hey, keep this. It is the free photographer."

Probably not the association I would want for my company. I'm not free, I am premium and luxurious. It looks very desperate.

It sounds like you need to diversify and charge more. I have yet to see any vendor that is just included with someone else's package that wasn't getting screwed AND charging way more than the market rates. If you are super cheap and they don't value photography, then they don't care if they stiff you and get someone cheaper or freer than you are. The clients aren't booking you for your talent. They are booking your on price. You have made yourself a commodity, and as soon as something cheaper comes around, they go with that. They don't care about quality, only price.

If you are getting paid a retainer, it isn't enough. A retainer should be enough that it compensates you for all the business you have lost because you turned away business for this wedding. Most people I know charge 33%-50% for their retainer. The guys that charge 200-500 get several cancelations a year because their clients largely don't value their work. And when some kid with a rebel comes along or their uncle Bob goes to Sam's and gets the 2-lens kit, they lose the business. And if 200-500 is 33-50% of your packages, you are probably losing money and running a poor business.

Sergio was internationally known at the age of 17. At 18 years old, JoeyL shot the Twilight movie posters and became internationally known. Just because someone is young doesn't mean they suck. Both those guys were better and more accomplished before they could buy alcohol than most of us will ever be.

the title made me think about the even planner I had to work with a few weeks ago... and then your story was not going anywhere my thoughts were... damn gutter...

Thomas Campbell wrote in post #15056093
Then everyone will take those cards and say "Hey, keep this. It is the free photographer."

Probably not the association I would want for my company. I'm not free, I am premium and luxurious. It looks very desperate.


It sounds like you need to diversify and charge more. I have yet to see any vendor that is just included with someone else's package that wasn't getting screwed AND charging way more than the market rates. If you are super cheap and they don't value photography, then they don't care if they stiff you and get someone cheaper or freer than you are. The clients aren't booking you for your talent. They are booking your on price. You have made yourself a commodity, and as soon as something cheaper comes around, they go with that. They don't care about quality, only price.

If you are getting paid a retainer, it isn't enough. A retainer should be enough that it compensates you for all the business you have lost because you turned away business for this wedding. Most people I know charge 33%-50% for their retainer. The guys that charge 200-500 get several cancelations a year because their clients largely don't value their work. And when some kid with a rebel comes along or their uncle Bob goes to Sam's and gets the 2-lens kit, they lose the business. And if 200-500 is 33-50% of your packages, you are probably losing money and running a poor business.


Sergio was internationally known at the age of 17. At 18 years old, JoeyL shot the Twilight movie posters and became internationally known. Just because someone is young doesn't mean they suck. Both those guys were better and more accomplished before they could buy alcohol than most of us will ever be.

Good examples, and execptions, would you really trust your wedding to a 16yo?

I'm not even talking about photographic skill, i'm talking about mental stability and raw experience.

Csae wrote in post #15056171
Good examples, and execptions, would you really trust your wedding to a 16yo?

I'm not even talking about photographic skill, i'm talking about mental stability and raw experience.

I'm just saying, don't belittle someone purely because of their age. If this planner is including photography at minimal cost, I'm not sure anyone involved is Annie Leibovitz.

SMP_Homer wrote in post #15056100
the title made me think about the even planner I had to work with a few weeks ago... and then your story was not going anywhere my thoughts were... damn gutter...

The manager is actually kinda hot. Small petite woman but she's had 3 kids so she is damaged goods.

Thomas Campbell wrote in post #15056184
I'm just saying, don't belittle someone purely because of their age. If this planner is including photography at minimal cost, I'm not sure anyone involved is Annie Leibovitz.

True enough, and i think thats what most people here have been saying, you need to step up outside of that sort of competition.

Besides, if the budget warrants it and the kid's earned himself a gig, Good for him !

Yeah but he's earned the gig by undercutting the competition... a week before the event. I could see if they picked him before asking me. Then that would be no harm no foul I suppose. But they canceled me a few days before the wedding and that's just wrong.

I had no defense for that so it's mostly my fault. But how unprofessional is that to hire someone else who will do it next to nothing within a week of the event? ...and then tell me for sure the night before the event...

CameraMan wrote in post #15056187
The manager is actually kinda hot. Small petite woman but she's had 3 kids so she is damaged goods.

Now I have to buy a new keyboard......hilariou​s.

CameraMan wrote in post #15056274
Yeah but he's earned the gig by undercutting the competition... a week before the event. I could see if they picked him before asking me. Then that would be no harm no foul I suppose. But they canceled me a few days before the wedding and that's just wrong.

I had no defense for that so it's mostly my fault. But how unprofessional is that to hire someone else who will do it next to nothing within a week of the event? ...and then tell me for sure the night before the event...

He is a kid. Not many kids know what they are doing and you don't know the circumstances of him getting the gig.

I talked to a wedding planner earlier in the year but never heard back from them. At the time my weddings started at $1000 and maybe that was to much for them, hmm.

Camera Man, how much were your wedding packages through this planner if you dont mind me asking?

CameraMan,

I am not a professional photographer but I am a retailer that has been around the block.

It's not professional how you were "dumped", but I do see where you should consider shrugging this off as a lesson learned and go forward in a more business like arrangement on your future ventures.

I would cease venting about this in your town and remember that its better to keep quiet than to air the dirty laundry.

I went to lunch with an old friend last week. I asked him how he was doing, his reply to me was "When I tell people my problems, half of them don't care and the other half think I deserve them". Food for thought.

Chances are the event planner will come knocking on your door for whatever reason, assuming you did quality work, were pleasant and did things in a timely fashion.

If so, just do what you did before but present them with your new contracts/forms to protect you in case of a no show at the last minute and other points as you see fit to be signed ahead of time. Be sure that you have it gone over by a lawyer to be sure it stands the test.

If you let it get to you - they win. Think positive, take the lemons and turn them into lemonade.

Again I'm just a business person that likes photography.

It doesn't rain forever!

Snapshot101

I have been pretty quiet about this locally. I am looking at getting a contract together for 2013 with them which will include a 50% retainer when I'm booked and the rest on the day of the wedding. This may actually scare them away and they wont call me for weddings in 2013. But I am working on filling the possible gaps now.

GerryDavid, what I make is too embarrassing to announce. I shouldn't even be doing these for what they're paying me. Lets just say a basic wedding package which includes use of the chapel, use of the reception hall which includes tables, dinnerware, etc., a priest, cake, caterer, a DJ and a photographer is around $2500. Putting that into perspective you know the vendors are not making much for their services. I can also tell you that the event planner is putting at least half of that in their pockets.

They usually have 2 weddings on Saturdays. They also do birthday parties, bridal showers, baby showers. It's a one stop party venue is what it is really.

As someone who works in the web world, my view is that the only people who benefit from SEO are those who sell it. It's a constant effort to game the search engines while the search engines work hard to disable gaming. Google has billions of dollars to invest in the effort. Figure it out.

It also helps if your web site has a long history and the web sites that point to yours also have long histories. The search engines diminish fly-by-night sites.

What it really comes down to is marketing. You'll always have competitors. If the area is tapped out with low-ball amateurs, then seek out a more affluent clientele that appreciates better quality or branch out to a new area. It takes years to develop a reputation.

CameraMan wrote in post #15056187
The manager is actually kinda hot. Small petite woman but she's had 3 kids so she is damaged goods.

...Alan: you really shouldn't insult people who pay you money on open public forums. This could well be why you are no longer working for her. What else have you said to other people that might have gotten back to her?

I'm a former event manager and it looks like you have the impression that "half of that in their pockets" is profit: it is not. Just like any other business she needs to charge enough to cover her cost of doing business otherwise her business will fail.

CameraMan wrote in post #15056187
The manager is actually kinda hot. Small petite woman but she's had 3 kids so she is damaged goods.

Voicing observations of this nature should not be in your business model. If they come to you unbidden, then maybe you're in the wrong business. This is the kind of thing you expect to hear in men's locker rooms and strip clubs.