Alarm rises over 'nightmare' wedding vendors

Michael Shum

A growing number of netizens have cried out against irresponsible wedding vendors, many of whom fail to appear on the day of the ceremony.

A newlywed posted on social app Threads saying the photographer they hired called a day before their wedding to say he was "double-booked."

"The photographer told me the other [clients] are quite hard to deal with we will have to cancel our booking," the bride said.

The bride asked for HK$18,000 in compensation - approximately the full price of the package the couple booked - but the photographer refused, only agreeing to return their deposit and compensate half of what the couple asked for, as well as offering a free family photo session.

"You have emptied all our trust and you still dare ask us to take family photos with you?" the bride wrote.

Worse, the photographer posted on his own social media account that his session with the other newlyweds was "completed smoothly," on the day of the aggrieved bride's wedding.

"This was double jeopardy to me when I saw this posting," the bride said. "You may have a lot of jobs, but I only have one big day. I may be calm, but I certainly am not forgiving him."

While she ultimately found another photo outfit to fill the vacancy, the bride said her experience "was a nightmare."

The newlywed's experience prompted multiple netizens to expose the photographer and his company in the comments, having experienced the same irresponsible behavior.

"I was notified three hours before call time, which was 4.30am, that he was unavailable and I did not even have time to find another photographer to replace him," a netizen said. "He also did not follow up and did not say anything before I messaged him."

Another said she was told at 12pm the day before her wedding that he was hospitalized and can offer her HK$1,600 to find another photographer to replace him. Yet another netizen said: "I booked him for a full day on my big day and we agreed to start the photo shoot at 7.30am at the hotel, and he sent me a message at 4.30am saying that he cannot leave his bed due to fasciitis.

"He arranged for another photographer to come, but obviously the photos are far from satisfactory."

With the post being widely-circulated on social media, the photographer issued a statement saying he is "deeply sorry" for the "unnecessary stress and disappointment" prompted by his mistakes at work.

"I promise to step up internal management and ensure similar problems will not happen again, and I have also reviewed my own dereliction of duty," the photographer said.

This came after netizens created a list of irresponsible wedding vendors, which has been gaining popularity after a makeup artist did not show up and could not be contacted for a couple's wedding late last year. The bride could only resort to her bridesmaid's makeup artists, who were not equipped to apply a bride's makeup.

The makeup artist finally replied, saying he forgot to change his phone's time zone after returning from Thailand, and that he arrived the bride's hotel lobby more than an hour after call time.

She later found that the makeup artist was photographed drunk at the after-party of an online celebrity's wedding in Thailand the day before. The hotel also saw no sign of him on the grounds.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com