I have been wanting to review Portraits By The Bay since the day I got married (June 2013) but to my dismay Wedding websites only publish positive reviews and I feel that other Brides (and anyone who hires this company in general) should fully understand what they are entering into.
This was the only photographer my now husband and I met with during the planning process because we were so impressed by the "initial presentation". After we signed a contract with Jason (owner) and gave him a check, we might as well have been forgotten news.
We signed our contract in September 2013 and did not take engagement pictures until May 2014 - approximately 1 month before our wedding. We were originally scheduled to take them in October and then Hurricane Sandy happened and Jason fell off the face of the planet. I FINALLY received a call back from him in March after months of sending emails, only because my husband called him and asked if this was a glimpse into our wedding day. We were then subjected to take our engagement pictures at a location of his choice, a location that was local to his home and had no meaning to us or our relationship. The pictures themselves were atrocious - it would have been better if I had taken them myself!
Outside of the engagement pictures, we also signed on to do our Wedding Video, have an additional photographer present on our wedding day, buy the rights to our photos, buy thank you cards and purchase an album. All in, we spent $13,235.00 with this company.
After our engagement picture debacle I was skeptical of how the wedding day would go. I will say they were there on time and ready for us the day of the wedding. I have 2 complaints regarding the "day of": first, Jason approached me before the wedding was even over and said they were heading out for the night. I just spent $13,000 with this company and they couldn't stay through the entire reception? Second, when I received my proofs there were MULTIPLE pictures of Jason enjoying cocktail hour with my guests. If that isn't unprofessional then I don't know what is!
Now onto the actual pictures. This man retouched 3 pictures total, posted them to his Facebook, and then when we were talking about Thank You Cards he coarse me into choosing the 3 pictures he already retouched and posted to Facebook. So there you have it, "unlimited retouching included" turned into 3 pictures total retouched.
Our wedding video was the WORST. I can't even elaborate on how terrible it was. I will just say that it had to be redone and it is still TERRIBLE.
If you want mediocre wedding pictures, choose Portraits By The Bay.
If you want to spend double what other brides spend, choose Portraits By The Bay.
If you want unprofessional-ism at it's best, choose Portraits By The Bay.
If you want to be up-sold on every "addition", choose Portraits By The Bay.
I will ONLY give this company 2 stars because it was my wedding day and the day itself was perfect but if I could go back, I would have done my research and chose differently!
All USA
I have been wanting to review Portraits By The Bay since the day I got married (June 2013) but to my dismay Wedding websites only publish positive reviews and I feel that other Brides (and anyone who hires this company in general) should fully understand what they are entering into. This was the only photographer my now husband and I met with during the planning process because we were so impressed by the "initial presentation". After we signed a contract with Jason (owner) and gave him a check, we might as well have been forgotten news. We signed our contract in September 2013 and did not take engagement pictures until May 2014 - approximately 1 month before our wedding. We were originally scheduled to take them in October and then Hurricane Sandy happened and Jason fell off the face of the planet. I FINALLY received a call back from him in March after months of sending emails, only because my husband called him and asked if this was a glimpse into our wedding day. We were then subjected to take our engagement pictures at a location of his choice, a location that was local to his home and had no meaning to us or our relationship. The pictures themselves were atrocious - it would have been better if I had taken them myself! Outside of the engagement pictures, we also signed on to do our Wedding Video, have an additional photographer present on our wedding day, buy the rights to our photos, buy thank you cards and purchase an album. All in, we spent $13,235.00 with this company. After our engagement picture debacle I was skeptical of how the wedding day would go. I will say they were there on time and ready for us the day of the wedding. I have 2 complaints regarding the "day of": first, Jason approached me before the wedding was even over and said they were heading out for the night. I just spent $13,000 with this company and they couldn't stay through the entire reception? Second, when I received my proofs there were MULTIPLE pictures of Jason enjoying cocktail hour with my guests. If that isn't unprofessional then I don't know what is! Now onto the actual pictures. This man retouched 3 pictures total, posted them to his Facebook, and then when we were talking about Thank You Cards he coarse me into choosing the 3 pictures he already retouched and posted to Facebook. So there you have it, "unlimited retouching included" turned into 3 pictures total retouched. Our wedding video was the WORST. I can't even elaborate on how terrible it was. I will just say that it had to be redone and it is still TERRIBLE. If you want mediocre wedding pictures, choose Portraits By The Bay. If you want to spend double what other brides spend, choose Portraits By The Bay. If you want unprofessional-ism at it's best, choose Portraits By The Bay. If you want to be up-sold on every "addition", choose Portraits By The Bay. I will ONLY give this company 2 stars because it was my wedding day and the day itself was perfect but if I could go back, I would have done my research and chose differently!