Honestly, my husband and I are jealous of those who had a perfect 5 star experience with Gustavo. We truly wish we could say the same. While we received BEAUTIFUL photos & videos f...rom our April wedding and love that it’s a family business, we were disappointed with the pre wedding and post wedding experience.
We had 2 photographers, 2 videographers, and the photobooth. Drone, highlight vid & documentary, plus paid for additional time.
The Pros: Lots of experience; gorgeous photos/videos; large team that’s a well-oiled machine on wedding day; many photo/video packages; photo booth; fast photo & vid delivery; great wedding day experience!
The Cons: During the consulting phase ten months before the wedding, he wasn’t as warm and as welcoming or enthusiastic as other photographers (& vendors) we had met who asked us about our story and wanted to get to know us. He was polite but got straight to business. He was that way via email as well, when others were more personable. We almost didn’t select him after the meeting due to that. But we gave him the benefit of the doubt and allowed the pros to outweigh the cons. However, the energy mismatch continued and communication issues arose.
After hiring, there were times he took many days to respond to emails or we had to reach out twice to get a response (and we tried not to reach out to him much). At times we felt he came across short with us in email and this led us to hesitate even emailing him—which wasn’t a great feeling.
Our final zoom meeting was much of the same energy as our consulting one. Then the week before the wedding he expressed he didn’t do certain photo styles even though we got them from his Insta & that he couldn’t avoid certain styles even though we had discussed those in detail with him via email before hiring him. We were left confused, concerned, and frustrated a week before the wedding. Thankfully, that was quickly resolved.
Ultimately, I know him and his team are busy with many weddings a year and that may play a part in his short, less engaging communication style. Maybe he’s better with others.
Given the large amount we were paying, we expected to at least have a better communication relationship and to not feel like we were hassles. We were new to the wedding process, and asking questions, if the photographer doesn’t volunteer the info, is the way we learn. We felt like he forgot that at times. We were very amenable, upgrading to certain services based on his advice, and we even created a shot list for everyone so the day would go smoothly. We also tipped him and his team a small amount after the wedding and didn’t even receive a thank you.
That said, on the wedding day, he showed up with a positive attitude & great energy & was down to get any shots we wanted. His experience showed & he made us feel very comfortable. We were very happy to see it (as the bride I was nervous that wouldn’t be the case). His brother Igor was fantastic as well & very fun! Both videographers (Fabio & Gustavo’s son) were polite and professional. And his wife Netty who ran the photo booth was lovely & enthusiastic!
Overall, disappointed with the pre and post wedding experience? Yeah. It was the only semi-negative experience we had with any of our many vendors or throughout the entire wedding process. It sucks to say. We wish it’d been different. But the wedding day experience was great, our photos and videos came out beautiful (love them!), and we still wish him the best.