A Reddit user shared that she tried to help a friend out on her wedding day by taking photos, even though she’s a dog groomer.
She admits that she is decent at taking photos, even though she only really takes pictures of the dogs she grooms to post on social media.
But when her friends, who were on a shoestring budget, asked her to be their wedding photographer, she agreed to do it for $250 (about R3 600) for the 10-hour event.
Everything seemed to be going fine when the day started.
“On the day of, I’m driving around following the bride as she goes from appointment to appointment before the ceremony, taking photos along the way. I shoot the ceremony itself, and during the reception, I’m shooting speeches and people mingling,” says the photographer, adding that she started around 11:00 and was due to finish around 19:30.
“Around 5 pm, food is being served, and I was told I cannot stop to eat because I need to be the photographer; in fact, they didn’t save me a spot at any table. I’m getting tired and at this point kinda regretting doing this for next to nothing,” says the photographer.
At this point, she told the groom she needed to take off for 20 minutes to get something to eat and drink as there was no open bar and she didn’t have any more water left in her water bottle.
Things started to go south because the groom then told her she needed to either be a photographer or leave without pay.
“With the heat, being hungry, being generally annoyed at the circumstances, I asked if he was sure, and he said yes, so I deleted all the photos I took in front of him and took off saying I’m not his photographer anymore,” says the photographer who is now wondering if she acted too harshly.
“If I was to be paid $250, honestly at that point, I would have paid $250 just for a glass of cold water and somewhere to sit for 5 min,” says the photographer.
The couple has gone on their honeymoon, and they’ve been off social media.
“A lot of people have been posting on their wall asking about photos with zero responses,” shares the photographer.
Another Reddit user asked what the initial arrangement was, seeing as the photographer and bridal couple were friends.
“I was originally just going as a guest, I had a table and food order. They took it away because I was no longer a guest but hired help,” explained the photographer.