My biggest wedding regret was hiring GLDN Creatives weddings.
1. He began filming me while I was mid wardrobe malfunction in the bridal suite. (My dress was falling apart, he wasn't filming me before that but decided now was a great time to start.)
2. His assistant barged into the bridal suite without knocking and hit our second photographer with the door.
3. He captured 2.5 seconds of my 90+ second aisle walk through an open field. I received establishing shots of the groomsmen instead of any additional footage of my aisle walk. His reasoning for not capturing additional footage of my aisle walk (through an open field, aerial view attached) is that his view was obstructed when guests rose for the bride, as instructed by the officiant (this is normal at weddings). I didn't know that I would have to inform a professional videographer that guests rise for the bride and that he should plan accordingly. I guess that was my mistake.
4. In response to my feedback above he wrote: "I expressed my willingness to arrive 1.5 hours earlier at no additional charge to capture drone footage, getting ready, and details, as I anticipated the exceptional nature of your wedding. I am willing to delete the footage of the getting ready and details, considering that I was not compensated for that additional hour and did so out of genuine enthusiasm and care." We purchased the drone footage in advance for an additional $300. He would have to show up early to capture that drone footage that we purchased regardless. I was not made aware of his intention to come in early (he spoke directly with our planner, bypassing me). Our photographer did not come in early and was still able to capture those same details. Couples, when you hire this person, understand he can threaten to delete your footage.
5. Mistake I made: I should have read my contract thoroughly to understand that GLDN creatives owns my wedding videos and can post it for their own self promotion without my permission. Please keep this in mind if you do choose to hire GLDN Creatives.
6. We intentionally set up over 200 candles throughout the venue to create soft, glowy, warm lighting. During our interview with him beforehand, we specifically pointed out a video he had done before that matched our vibe (the reason we hired him). While he was there, he set up harsh, bright, cool lighting for our first look that completely washed out our intentional glowy lighting and created harsh shadows that would have impacted photography and our real life experience (had we not asked him to take them down). We discussed in advance that we wanted a dark, moody vibe and we were not listened to. Instead, we were talked down to "explaining" that bright lights result in higher quality videos. Personally, I prioritize in person experiences.
7. GLDN Creatives called me "rude" for declining to take a selfie with him at the end of the night, after the frustrations listed above occurred. Newlyweds, no one is entitled to make you do anything you don't want to do. "No thank you, I don't want to do that." is an okay thing to say.
8. During the editing process, we had to give many of our notes twice because they were not fixed in the first round of editing. This captures the essence of his choice not to listen. A lot of our notes seemed very common sense based - (please fade out a shot and the audio at the same time). From start to finish this process was not smooth.
9. During the planning process, he "double dropped" (invoiced me four additional times, he claims by mistake, after I had already paid). This continued to occur after I pointed it out. The invoice said "Overdue Balance" in red lettering, which caused stress during the already expensive process of wedding planning. I was kind in my responses at the time but realize I was naïve. I would hate for a future couple to get double billed and not catch it.
If you read my other reviews for my other vendors, you'll see 5 stars across the board. Other than GLDN Creatives, I loved my vendor team and had an amazing wedding day. read more