What’s more precious: money or memories? A bad wedding videographer can leave you with with neither. Autumn writes that she and her husband hired a videographer for their wedding, assuming that when you pay $1,000 for a videographer, you receive a video of highlights of the wedding and reception in a timely manner. Instead, Autumn had to hound the company to actually get her video, finally receiving it in August 2010 after a July 2009 wedding. Oh, and the video is also missing most of the moments from the reception that people actually want to remember. Maybe the company assumed that after a year passed, the couple would forget that there had been a father-daughter dance. And speeches.

I was married on July 18, 2009 and hired [redacted] to be our videographer. All of the representatives were extremely friendly, and always called to check to see if I had any concerns, the time and locations of events, etc. My husband and I ended up paying $1,000.00 for the videographer service and thought that we would get a beautiful video that captured every moment from our wedding.

However, we never heard back from the company for months. I was finally able to get a hold of a representative in May of 2010, but did not receive my actual video until August of 2010. When my husband and I sat down to watch our video, we were appalled! The videographer set up the camera for the ceremony, but I am not sure what happened after that! The video instantly cuts to the dance floor and shows our guests dancing. However, all of the speeches are missing, our first dance, father daughter dance, et.c are no where to be found. At one point the camera was actually knocked over.

I have tried to call the company for months, but I can’t seem to get a hold of anyone. All I am asking for is the unedited version of our wedding. My husband’s grandfather passed away shortly after the wedding, and the video is one of the last memories that we have with him. I hope that we are able to hear something back soon, because we are out a lot of money and memories.

Is the company not answering Autumn’s calls, or just not answering the phone at all? First, try being nice: send a registered letter requesting that the company provide the couple with the raw footage from their wedding. Explain about the grandfather.

Then, she should check the original contract signed with the company, if she still has it. As long as “we can take as long as we want” and “large swaths of the things you hired us to tape may be missing” aren’t clauses in the contract, proceed to small claims court.

Any other ideas from the Hive Mind?

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