Ghosted by wedding photographer - can I seek any compensation?

[FreeBit]

Hello,

Thank you in advance for reading—I’d be very grateful for any thoughts.

I got married in October last year. We hired a band through a company and had a contract with that company.

A young lady, “Lucy” (not her real name), contacted us claiming to be the band’s assistant and said she’d attend our wedding with them. She also said, according to our contract, she and the six band members would need accommodation and food. The contract mentioned accommodation but not food. To be accommodating, I increased our catering by 7 at £35 per head.

Lucy offered to take our wedding photos professionally at a reasonable rate, as she would already be there. We agreed over phone and text; she clarified the fee, what photos she’d take, and that we were hiring her separately from the band. Payment was to be made upon receipt of the photos.

At the wedding, Lucy and the band performed as expected. Lucy took photos throughout the day. A side note: she unexpectedly ordered Domino’s pizzas for herself and the band, not touching the £245 worth of catering she'd had me order!

After the wedding, Lucy promised to send the photos. A month later, I sent a friendly text—no reply. Another month later, still no response. Calls went straight to voicemail. Eventually, my Mum contacted her, and Lucy promised she had emailed them and would resend—nothing arrived.

Eleven months after the wedding, I finally spoke to her by phone. She apologized, claiming she had been busy, and promised delivery the week of 18th September—still nothing. I sent a WhatsApp on 21st September—unread and ignored. Our first wedding anniversary has now passed, and we have no photos, only a few taken on mobile phones in which Lucy appears in almost all of them.

I find it bizarre that she hasn’t simply admitted she hasn’t got the photos. I haven’t paid her, and I don’t have a physical address—only her full name, phone, email, and business name (not registered on Companies House). Her social media shows ongoing wedding photography work.

I want the photos or, if none exist, compensation for the upset caused. I also want to prevent her from misleading other couples.

I could contact the band company, but I wanted advice here first:

• Do I have grounds to take Lucy to court?
• Can I do this without an address? If not, how might I find one?
• Any other suggestions for recourse or next steps?

Thank you immensely.

[atticus]

Before going any further you will need her address.

And yes, you have grounds to take her to court. Have you paid 'Lucy' anything?

In the meantime, have you obtained copies of photographs taken by guests. Some may be quite good, and they will certainly be better than having no wedding photographs at all.

[FreeBit]

Before going any further you will need her address.

And yes, you have grounds to take her to court. Have you paid 'Lucy' anything?

In the meantime, have you obtained copies of photographs taken by guests. Some may be quite good, and they will certainly be better than having no wedding photographs at all.

Thank you for your prompt and helpful reply. Your input has been of immense help to me on here in the past.

I haven't paid her anything.

I do have a handful of photo's from guests, taken on their mobile phones, for which I'm very grateful for, thank you.

No address for Lucy though, I am unsure of the best way to obtain it presently.

Many thanks

[atticus]

To find the address - can you get a friend to contact her via facebook/other social media, posing as a potential client?

[des8]

If you know her name you might find her on https://www.192.com/

[FreeBit]

Thank you, that's a great suggestion

[FreeBit]

To find the address - can you get a friend to contact her via facebook/other social media, posing as a potential client?

Great idea, thank you. It's somewhere to start.

You mentioned in an earlier message that there are grounds to take Lucy to court, what are they please?

Many thanks.

[atticus]

Breach of contract - failure to provide deliverables. I think that for something like wedding photography, you can also claim compensation for disappointment (but don't expect a huge amount).

Go through all communications with this person - letters, email, text, WhatsApp, whatever. Capture them and keep them safe. I would hope that these will show what she agreed to do for you and for what price.

[FreeBit]

Breach of contract - failure to provide deliverables. I think that for something like wedding photography, you can also claim compensation for disappointment (but don't expect a huge amount).

Go through all communications with this person - letters, email, text, WhatsApp, whatever. Capture them and keep them safe. I would hope that these will show what she agreed to do for you and for what price.

Thank you very much. I only have a text from her in which she outlines our agreement: that she will take photos and for x amount, additionally I have several photos of her camera in hand at our wedding, (from the friends and family phone photos that we have).

Unless you think it's not advisable, I'm going to first call the company from whom we hired the band, Lucy came along with the band and so I thought it might be worth while having a conversation with the agency first to see whether they have any thoughts on this bizarre situation, or any helpful information. I feel it's unlikely though, but I shall see.

I shall update when I make some progress.

Many thanks again.

[atticus]

That is sufficient evidence of your agreement.