14/06/2026
Would you go shopping and not pay for it all? 🤷♀️
This isn’t a post I ever wanted to make, but I feel it’s important to share because it highlights why so many small businesses require deposits and payment in advance.
This wedding involved a 14-hour day on my feet, travelling to and from the venue, photographing every special moment, and then over 40 hours of editing afterwards. It was also the last wedding I photographed before going on maternity leave, while pregnant, so it required a huge amount of physical and emotional investment.
The reason I’m sharing this is because, for the first and only time in my business, I agreed to accept payment after the wedding. I trusted that everything would be paid as agreed, and unfortunately, despite delivering the work, I still haven’t been fully paid.
What makes this particularly disappointing is that this is the only time I have ever agreed to payment after the event, and it is also the only time I have ever had an issue being paid.
I’m naturally a very trusting person, and while this experience has been upsetting, it has also taught me a valuable lesson. The policies that small businesses put in place..deposits, contracts, and advance payments aren’t there to make things difficult. They exist because behind every service is a person investing their time, energy, skill, and often many unseen hours of work.
I’m not sharing this to name or shame anyone. I simply hope it helps people understand why these policies are so important and why small businesses need to protect themselves.
Just to add, this person lied several times about the reasons in which payment couldn’t be made to make me feel sorry for her and took complete advantage of my good nature, until I found out the truth.
To all of my wonderful clients who respect and value the work that goes on behind the scenes, thank you. Your support means more than you know.
