We Don’t Offer Discounts
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 to it. 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.
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. Story credit: Reddit / hooklinensinkr