C’est La Vie Photographie

Hi Brad and Tori, While I was expecting this type of review after refusing to cave in to tactics regarding the use of a refund in the form of a bribe to stave off a bad review, I have to say that I am a bit surprised by the lack of information/detail in your review. There are several key things left out that I would be happy to shed some light on. Here are the main points to touch on, as I am limited on space to reply: In June 2024, you signed a contract with C’est La Vie Photographie. As stated; the contract is between yourselves and the company as a whole; this is in the very first section of said contract. I never mentioned another company being the one to photograph as that is not the case. It is solely me responsible for editing and coordinating and my associate photographer would be the one photographing that day. The associate is part of CLV Photographie at the time of shooting, not their own entity. This is standard in the wedding industry, especially amongst photographers, videographers and DJ’s. When you and Brad had to reschedule the wedding, I was able to accommodate date changes as I have a wonderful team of photographers working for me. While I understand that you were upset about the ‘lack of transparency’ regarding the associate photographer, things like that are not set in stone typically until 30 days prior to the wedding, most umbrella companies even wait until 3-7 days prior. The engagement session: I do admit that I am human and made an error in not having my memory card’s that day. Looking back on the messages, I arrived at 10, right when we were scheduled to start. At 10:02, I messaged and let you guys know that I forgot the memory cards but would run over to a store to pick up a new one right away. I arrived back to the parking area at 10:33. I was not an hour late at any given period of time. I made every remedy to fix it immediately. Also to mention, this was a last minute squeeze in due to needing a reschedule on your end for the engagement session, as well. I happily accommodated. As far as not being contacted between December and June, this is another industry standard. Final consultations are done 7-14 days prior to wedding. Initially, you stated that you would “really like” to see galleries from my associate photographer. The next line stated that you both trusted me and asked about what options would be available, should you not like the galleries provided to you. When reservations popped up regarding the associate, I was perfectly happy to move things around to be present on your wedding day. Ultimately, the decision was made on your end to part ways. In your message, you reiterated that you were not disputing the contract and understood the terms given. However, in your response, it was evident that the money you requested was solely to keep a bad review from appearing on my websites. Your exact words were: “We would be happy for you to retain $XXX out of the original $XXXX… In exchange, we will offer a written agreement not to post any negative reviews or comments explaining our frustrations on any relevant websites or otherwise…” In this response, you made it very clear that a refund was solely to be used as a form of hush money to keep the events of the past couple of days quiet. Fortunately, I am not that type of person. I have never asked any of my clients, former or current, to leave me a review. People have feelings, and that is perfectly acceptable. I wish you both a happy future! Tonya

Hi Brad and Tori, While I was expecting this type of review after refusing to cave in to tactics regarding the use of a refund in the form of a bribe to stave off a bad review, I have to say that I am a bit surprised by the lack of information/detail in your review. There are several key things left out that I would be happy to shed some light on. Here are the main points to touch on, as I am limited on space to reply: In June 2024, you signed a contract with C’est La Vie Photographie. As stated; the contract is between yourselves and the company as a whole; this is in the very first section of said contract. I never mentioned another company being the one to photograph as that is not the case. It is solely me responsible for editing and coordinating and my associate photographer would be the one photographing that day. The associate is part of CLV Photographie at the time of shooting, not their own entity. This is standard in the wedding industry, especially amongst photographers, videographers and DJ’s. When you had to reschedule the wedding, I was able to accommodate date changes as I have a wonderful team of photographers working for me. While I understand that you were upset about the ‘lack of transparency’ regarding the associate photographer, things like that are not set in stone typically until 30 days prior to the wedding, most umbrella companies even wait until 3-7 days prior. The engagement session: I do admit that I am human and made an error in not having my memory card’s that day. Looking back on the messages, I arrived at 10, right when we were scheduled to start. At 10:02, I messaged and let you guys know that I forgot the memory cards but would run over to a store to pick up a new one right away. I arrived back to the parking area at 10:33. I was not an hour late at any given period of time. I made every remedy to fix it immediately. Also to mention, this was a last minute squeeze in due to needing a reschedule on your end for the engagement session, as well. I happily accommodated. As far as not being contacted between December and June, this is another industry standard. Final consultations are done 7-14 days prior to wedding. Initially, Tori stated that she would “really like” to see galleries from my associate photographer. The next line stated that you both trusted me and asked about what options would be available, should you not like the galleries provided to you. When reservations popped up regarding the associate, I was perfectly happy to move things around to be present on your wedding day. Ultimately, the decision was made on your end to part ways. In your message, Tori reiterated that you were not disputing the contract and understood the terms given. However, in that response, it was evident that the money you requested was solely to keep a bad review from appearing on my websites. Her exact words were: “We would be happy for you to retain $XXX out of the original $XXXX… In exchange, we will offer a written agreement not to post any negative reviews or comments explaining our frustrations on any relevant websites or otherwise…” This made it very clear that a refund was solely to be used as a form of hush money to keep the events of the past couple of days quiet. Fortunately, I am not that type of person. I have never asked any of my clients, former or current, to leave me a review. People have feelings, and that is perfectly acceptable. I wish you both a happy future! Tonya