Wedding Photography – To Bella or Not To Bella

I’ve been hearing from many couples and photographers about Bella Pictures. In fact, as I spend time doing relevant keyword searches (as part of my ongoing, never-ending, tilting-at-windmills SEO quest) Bella Pictures comes up every stinking time! Damn! Who are these people and what kind of budget do they have for Click-throughs?!

Once again we have a site claiming “award-winning wedding photojournalism” – but…just who are the photographers?

I did some research and found some very good forum postings at a bridal website. Here are just a few of the comments starting with this posting:

“ I am completely exhausted!!! First our videographer, now our photographer.  We have booked our photography with Bella Pictures and it seems like some sort of huge scam.  Can anyone tell me anything about this company??? Please!!! Need help!!”

“Bella is not a scam. They basically contract with other photogs in your area, and sell you the same services. Usually, Bella charges more, and delivers less, and you do not get a chance to build a relationship with your photog, which is VERY important if you want the right intimate pix.”

 (this one is really good!)

RUN! seriously. find ANYONE else to do your pictures. My bella photographers were the talk of my wedding for all the wrong reasons: they had no regard for space and stood in front of my mom during our unity candle ceremony and would run up and down the aisle during the ceremony. We had a huge balcony above where our ceremony was and they didnt’ take a single picture from it- even when my bouquet toss was from it (yah they completely miss the bouquet toss..and garter toss…and the dance with my grandparents…and all but three pictures of the cake cutting) They also stood literally feet away from my husband and I during our first dance. They randomly refused to take more than two pictures with me and my brother, even though that was the first thing I told them. I care a lot about angles, lighting, naturally capturing the moment…and yet the took more pictures of the exit sign during formal portraits than they did of my dress…oh and they didn’t even get a formal pic with my grandparents.  And most of the pictures are of just a single person staring into the camera smiling. There is only a small handful of artistic shots. This isn’t a scam, they will work with you, but good luck talking to them after the wedding. I have called at least seven times to complain. The girl I spoke with (her name is shannon and she works in customer service) told me that from the complaints she gets, she gets the impression that most bella photographers just point and click and take as many pictures as they can, without regard to quality. and I can testify 1400 times to that. I wish I would have trusted my gut and backed out when I started worrying. I really do not want to scare you, but I don’t want another disappointed bride to go through what I have, and still am. you can send me a message if you want to talk. Hell, I will honestly even help you find another photographer if thats what you want. But it is not too late to get away from them. good luck!

I agree with the others–RUN!!!  My FH and I met with a rep from Bella Pictures.  The idea is great, but once we started talking about the details further, we knew something was wrong.  BBB has multiple complaints about Bella on file in CA, another thing that concerned me about them.  The main thing that we kept getting hung up on was that you can’t meet your photographer until the day of your wedding.  To us, that was completely unacceptable!

There you have it. And, if you’re wondering, you’ll pay Bella as much or more than you would pay me or any of my colleagues I would recommend. When I did further research, going with a company like Bella will actually cost you $500 to $1,000 more than booking LITfoto!

There you have it.