We would strongly recommend not hiring Jason Berry Photography. We hired this vendor for our…read morewedding, and we had a negative experience both in terms of the photography product we received and also in terms of the vendor's unprofessional conduct towards us as clients.
We were initially most excited for Jason Berry amongst all our vendors, but there were a number of issues, incidents and disappointments. In terms of product, we were displeased with our gallery. His skill is obvious and other albums gorgeous, so we were frustrated and upset to see less than five bridal portrait shots, and all taken in a messy area, in addition to other missing or poor photos. He circulated a survey to us before the wedding, and we identified exactly the kinds of photos we wanted, among other preferences.
We selected the "Wedding Collection 3" package for $3200, with 8 hours with two photographers, and we requested the advertised 10% off from the Wedding Wire discount. Part of the package included a "Wedding day timeline and engagement session consultation," yet the photographer was unresponsive and only available to consult while we were driving to Rehearsal Dinner two days beforehand.
We exchanged an engagement shoot typically required in the package, and included one extra hour the day-of where we hoped would accommodate for more time to take portrait shots, especially since we explicitly planned the reception to be a five-minute drive from the church. But many photos were un-usable in terms of blinking, looking away, etc. At the reception, he promised us sneak peaks in the next few days. We were excited. We reached out to him a few days after the wedding, but he told us he was unavailable to provide us with sneak peaks that week due to personal commitments. He made us feel like a nag, yet it's the vendor's responsibility to communicate a change in expectation. We later checked instagram and noticed he'd posted photos of us but didn't share or tag us (even though we shared this info in the survey).
This leads into our experience with his professional conduct and customer service, which was upsetting and insulting. Out of excitement, we agreed in advance to purchase an album for $850, but based on the issues above, we requested a refund over a phone call. We simply did not have enough of a variety of usable photos in the gallery to provide a selection to him to create an album. (He also initiated but never followed up on scheduling a meeting where we could go through the photos together when he initially shared the album with us.) Jason refused, and he complained it was due to my wife's church's "shitty lighting." Again, the premises were large, he had time to check out the lighting beforehand and come up with the game plan. We suggested beforehand to take portraits at the reception venue, which he said wouldn't be necessary.
So, he offered to have us choose "a few frames and canvases" instead of the album. Yet when we did from his website, earnestly spending a great deal of time picking out an equal value of frames and canvases, he chastised us for choosing too many. He provided no guidelines, so we assumed we could choose a selection equal to the price of the album (850). He became very aggressive and confrontational and still chose not to provide us with any direction (e.g. product dimensions) besides sending over 2 file names.
We would urge prospective clients to avoid Jason Berry Photography. We did not receive the services paid for or expected, nor were we treated with respect. A photographer could preserve life's most precious occasions. Regrettably, our experience made this occasion more stressful, painful and very frustrating. While it's difficult to write a poor review of a wedding vendor, we feel obligated to share our experience.
