byDesign Photo + Film

July 2023 Wedding

The deception began with a Zoom call I had with a project manager, who provided a portfolio of Chicago-land area photographers. The portfolio had wedding pictures that aligned with the style I desired, however, after booking with BDF and getting our specific wedding photographer for our upcoming engagement shoot, it was completely different than offered. The pictures looked like they were unedited and taken on a cell phone with flash. I immediately contacted BDF for another photographer because not only would this person shoot our engagement, but our wedding day as well, which was completely unacceptable for us. We were told we were unable to change photographers and that was against their policy. I also could not cancel our contract because it was too close to our wedding day, and I would not receive a refund. I pointed out this quality of photography did not match the quality I was shown and expressed how unacceptable this would be for our wedding. Shortly after, I received a call they “changed their policy” but was never informed by BDF of this “change in policy” until this moment. After exchanging numerous emails, BDF acquiesced and provided us the portfolio of 4 photographers that were available on the day of our engagement shoot and allowed us to pick one to replace their original assignment. Our pictures were up to our expectation not because of BDF, but because we had to repeatedly voice our displeasure at their selection until they relented. We are glad that the replacement photographer Ervis was able to do our engagement shoot and our wedding day. He was a pleasure to work with and was highly professional. One of the requirements of our reception venue was a certificate of insurance for all vendors. Our wedding was in July, and I requested this from BDF in April. In May or June, I still hadn’t received the COI, so I emailed our project manager again, who replied saying it would be given two weeks before the wedding day. The week of the wedding arrives, still no COI received from BDF. Our coordinator from the reception venue was on PTO and drove herself to BDF’s insurance office to get a physical copy of their COI on the day of our wedding. Unbelievably poor communication and respect for us and our venue.