tejasherbie
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
I am a photographer , and had a verbal agreement to shoot a wedding for
$ 250 dollars , with $ 100 of the $ 250 paid the day of the wedding.
I asked the bride to send me an invitation , or an email to verify the time and date of the wedding. This did not happen. So a couple days before , the bride and I had a telephone conversation , and I asked then what time to be there. The bride responded , " the people will start to show up at 3 p.m.". So I said , " I need to be there an hour early so I can set up my equipment , so I will be there at 2 p.m. "
Well when I got there , the wedding actually STARTED at 3 p.m. and after a walk around with the Church lady , I was told two things, 1. Since I was not a member of thier religion , I could not walk up by the couple during the ceremony , with only getting far away shots from the side and back , as the "sanctuary" was not permitted to be used by non members. 2. I would need to get my gear packed up immediately afterward , as a religious mass would start , and I wasnt to be there after the wedding. As I was deliberating how I was going to get the shots from far away , I noticed a photographer with a professional looking camera rig , already shooting the groomsmen. As I left to go outside , another photographer , with the same kind of camera outfit , was shooting the bridesmaids , in the hall , and posing them professionally. I asked the church rep. about this and she stated " there will be more photographers today."
I have enough trouble with amatuer camera flashes competing with mine, with various relatives shooting the same time I do , but have never had two photographers with professional equipment to compete with. I would have to literally wait my turn from afar , while they got the close up shots , as evidently they were members of the church.
So I went to the parking lot and determined that since the walkaround with the church rep. took around 15 minutes , I actually had a little over a half hour to set up my gear , and also would not be able to get church shots with the bridesmaids and groomsmen as the church rep. told me I would have to clear out soon after the service, due to thier mass.
So I called the bride on my phone from the parking lot , so not to make a scene in the church , and asked about the additional photographers , and her misinformation on the start of the wedding. I told her I would not compete with the other photographers , and that they needed to be called off. She didnt see it my way , and I told her that evidently then , she had the photographers she needed , and that I was leaving , which I did.
My question is as such , on a verbal agreement , of course the Bride can sue me for over the $ 250 dollar fee , which was not paid to me , but can a judge find in a verbal agreement , if I had no gross happenings such as me showing up later than the wedding started , and since I had no verbal arguments or heated discussions , and showed up when I was told, generally speaking , would a judge find in thier favor FOR OVER THE $ 250 dollar verbal agreement ? That is to say , with nothing in writing , generally speaking , would a judge find me to pay them over the fee I charged , and didnt collect ? I would find it pretty ridiculous if the verbal agreement was for $ 250, which was not paid to me ; then why would a judge find for over that amount in favor of the bride ? I know this is a pretty general question , but what do you think ?
Thank you , MFlower
I am a photographer , and had a verbal agreement to shoot a wedding for
$ 250 dollars , with $ 100 of the $ 250 paid the day of the wedding.
I asked the bride to send me an invitation , or an email to verify the time and date of the wedding. This did not happen. So a couple days before , the bride and I had a telephone conversation , and I asked then what time to be there. The bride responded , " the people will start to show up at 3 p.m.". So I said , " I need to be there an hour early so I can set up my equipment , so I will be there at 2 p.m. "
Well when I got there , the wedding actually STARTED at 3 p.m. and after a walk around with the Church lady , I was told two things, 1. Since I was not a member of thier religion , I could not walk up by the couple during the ceremony , with only getting far away shots from the side and back , as the "sanctuary" was not permitted to be used by non members. 2. I would need to get my gear packed up immediately afterward , as a religious mass would start , and I wasnt to be there after the wedding. As I was deliberating how I was going to get the shots from far away , I noticed a photographer with a professional looking camera rig , already shooting the groomsmen. As I left to go outside , another photographer , with the same kind of camera outfit , was shooting the bridesmaids , in the hall , and posing them professionally. I asked the church rep. about this and she stated " there will be more photographers today."
I have enough trouble with amatuer camera flashes competing with mine, with various relatives shooting the same time I do , but have never had two photographers with professional equipment to compete with. I would have to literally wait my turn from afar , while they got the close up shots , as evidently they were members of the church.
So I went to the parking lot and determined that since the walkaround with the church rep. took around 15 minutes , I actually had a little over a half hour to set up my gear , and also would not be able to get church shots with the bridesmaids and groomsmen as the church rep. told me I would have to clear out soon after the service, due to thier mass.
So I called the bride on my phone from the parking lot , so not to make a scene in the church , and asked about the additional photographers , and her misinformation on the start of the wedding. I told her I would not compete with the other photographers , and that they needed to be called off. She didnt see it my way , and I told her that evidently then , she had the photographers she needed , and that I was leaving , which I did.
My question is as such , on a verbal agreement , of course the Bride can sue me for over the $ 250 dollar fee , which was not paid to me , but can a judge find in a verbal agreement , if I had no gross happenings such as me showing up later than the wedding started , and since I had no verbal arguments or heated discussions , and showed up when I was told, generally speaking , would a judge find in thier favor FOR OVER THE $ 250 dollar verbal agreement ? That is to say , with nothing in writing , generally speaking , would a judge find me to pay them over the fee I charged , and didnt collect ? I would find it pretty ridiculous if the verbal agreement was for $ 250, which was not paid to me ; then why would a judge find for over that amount in favor of the bride ? I know this is a pretty general question , but what do you think ?
Thank you , MFlower
