Relevant

Tips to avoid getting scammed

Now that we have made it through the shopping, the baking and the parties, it is time to look forward to wedding season. The holidays are a wonderful time for people to get engaged.

If you got engaged over the holidays, then congratulations!

Now you are probably thinking ahead to your wedding, and the prospect of planning is slightly overwhelming. Well, I want to address something today that you may not have thought of in your planning... scams.

We have had people come to us in the past year that have paid a deposit to a photographer, only to never hear from them again! How do you keep this unfortunate and expensive situation from happening to you?

• Look for photographers that are members of an association. The professional photographers association and other photography associations hold their members to high standards of quality and customer service.
• Ask for references. Your potential photographer should not have a problem giving you previous customers to call and talk to. It is important to ask the previous client about professionalism, customer service, and final product.
• Search online: It is not uncommon when a photographer has a repeated pattern of poor customer service for it to show up online in reviews.
• How responsive are they to you? Do they respond in a timely fashion to your emails and phone calls before you've booked them?
• See if they will do an engagement session before you sign a contract. This allows you to see if they show up, and if they show up on time.
• Get a copy of the completed contract before paying a deposit.
• Pay your deposit with a credit card. If the photographer violates the contract or quits communicating with you, you can dispute the deposit payment.
• Trust your instinct: if something doesn't feel right then walk away.
• Wedding insurance may cover some of the costs of a wedding vendor if they don’t show up on your wedding day, but hopefully with the other tips I have mentioned, this shouldn’t be an issue.

This post is not intended to alarm you, wedding planning is already stressful without adding other potential problems, it is simply to make you aware. It is always important to feel good about your wedding vendors and feel confident that they will do what they have agreed, so taking a few precautionary steps with all of your wedding vendors can ensure peace of mind for your once in a lifetime day.