Gina Schild Photography

country was crazy and very, very stressful. I cannot imagine having a wedding happening during this mess - how very stressful and sad to have planned it all and be in this crazy time. With that said - I DID reach out to the couple the DAY BEFORE their wedding to check-in and express my concerns about restrictions and any changes they may be made to take precautions. Nothing was changed and everything was on as planned. They did assure me the caterers had experience in dealing with things like this and were taking extra precautions. OK? When I woke up at 3 am (the next morning, their wedding day) I checked the news - and a new ban on groups of 10 or more from gathering had been issued. Their guest list was 175 and had family traveling from out of state. Additionally watching the news that morning of what travelers were experiencing and the travelers complaining about concerns of being clustered together in long lines - were frightening. So at 6 am I reached out and said I would not be able to shoot the FULL TIME they hired me for - that I would shoot the before time and ceremony and pictures of family & wedding party afterward. But I could not shoot the reception. But I would do as many shots after the ceremony of the family - we could go outside for pics, all around the venue. We could take the wedding party or couple to The Strand for special & fun shots - maybe go to the beach etc. Take as much time - go where ever they wanted but I just could not shoot the reception. They immediately said No they found someone else and did not need my services and if I did not refund their money by Monday they would have their attorney call me. No compromising at all - just threats and they wished I would have canceled sooner because their makeup artist had a friend that could have come. I again said I would come before during and after ceremony coverage & special pics outside - on the beach, strand - I knew where to go for awesome, one of a kind couple shots, wedding party shots, etc - I am very experienced with Galveston weddings and that I would REFUND any unused time. I also explained why shooting a reception was very different than a ceremony - with music, dancing, and drinking - people get very relaxed on things and do not pay attention to the precautions super necessary for the times. Their particular venue is beautiful - but has no windows you can open and the dance floor is on another level than the doors so there is no way to ventilate if needed. Their guest count puts this venue at max - so what would be fun with music, drinks, and dancing becomes a very different environment with the virus unfolding. But they had no interest in communicating with me anymore - and I understood. IMMEDIATELY - that day the day of their wedding - I REFUNDED the max amount I could to them on what they paid for my services. They paid in full at a much earlier date and after a set amount of days, you cannot refund the FULL to some credit cards because of the time that has transpired after the original transaction. So I did the max I could at that time. Monday and the next week my business completely fell apart - weddings started canceling and I immediately lost my income for the next 5 months. Canceling weddings, rebooking weddings etc. Venues closing, couples changing plans totally. etc I have been in constant communication - before this review was posted and the week following their wedding - with them over their remaining refund amount- which I even filed with my insurance company trying to get help covering my losses to get something back to this couple and others that decided not to get married. I gave them snapshots of communications with my insurance company - still trying to figure out how I can refund them. If I could - I would have. Thank you Heather for leaving out the whole story of your review. Mainly - the COVID 19 pandemic that was exploding the week before and leading to your wedding day. Thank you heather for not mentioning the partial refund issued to you immediately. Thank you for not mentioning our constant communications about your remaining refund. Via email, text and phone calls.

told them who would be coming and assured them she was an excellent photographer. This wedding was in Austin, and there was no way for me to make it following the emergency I had. I felt awful for it. But the photographer I sent - and know, is a high-end Austin photographer - very experienced and did an excellent job. I would not send just any photographer, ever. But I had worked with the couple on shooting their engagement pics and knew Alaina was pretty particular so I paid more for this particular photographer than I got paid PLUS an assistant in the hopes that it may make up for my last-minute emergency. Additionally, I delivered over 1200 images on a package that was supposed to be 500, hoping all the extra beautiful shots would help make up for my failure to be there. All that did was make her gallery seem unorganized and like it had duplicates - which it did not. As a professional, this is why we do not deliver so many images as in a wedding what appears to be a dupe is not, it has a slight change. Beautiful venue, couple, and images as well --- https://www.proofyourpics.com/Clients/WeddingsEngagement/Alaina-and-Austin-got-married/ To correct this issue moving forward - I no longer shoot in Austin and staff an additional photographer for backups. As this freaked me out and still haunts me to this day! I did not even see this negative review until today.