#11 With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?
I’m a commercial photographer and my best friend since childhood asked me to photograph his twin sister’s wedding because they didn’t have the budget for an expensive wedding photographer. So I figure out my costs and tell them I’ll do it for a break-even fee of $400—about 1/4 of what they’d pay otherwise. They agree.
On the wedding day, the bride starts panicking because she doesn’t have her checkbook. She promises to pay cash later instead. I follow them around from 9:30 AM to 1 AM, hearing from both the bride and groom that they got enough cash as gifts to pay me later on. They never did. A week later, I’m about 10 hours into what would become 30 hours of editing 250 final photos and still no money, bills from my expenses coming due.
I Text them, no reply. Turns out they took off on a month-long honeymoon in Europe. I had to call up her dad and get him to pay me instead. No one ever even bothered to thank me for doing them this favor. My buddy and I now have a strained relationship as a result of this whole ordeal. I don’t shoot weddings or offer friend discounts anymore, with no exceptions.
Credit: hooklinensinkr