Salt and Light Photography

Salt and Light Photography shot our wedding and were truly phenomenal!! We wife and I were able to focus on the "big day", and at the other end, we got storybook memories preserved for us for ages to come!!! We could not have begged borrowed or stolen better service or photo quality!!! We have since used them for family photos and other photo shoots and they continue to amaze! I cannot recommend them highly enough if you wish to keep your special moments from fading into memory!!!

I will not say anything that isn’t true or tell other couples what to decide. I will simply share my experience in the hopes that other active duty military couples do not sign any contract with any vendor without discussing what will happen in the event of deployment. We learned this the hard way. Salt and Light did a great job at my sister’s wedding, which is why I chose them. I was very excited to work with them and they seemed amiable and flexible. I did not hesitate to sign the contract back in October. In January, my fiancé told me he would be deploying and we’d have to change our wedding date. This was pretty devastating, as I had already made many plans and was also set to move up to his duty station in Alaska after the wedding. When my fiancé called Austin to inform him of the deployment, Austin said he would try to find a photographer to sublet and would do everything to help us out since they had our new date booked already. The very next day, my fiancé and I received an email from Austin saying he called around for the past twelve hours but thought it would be in our best interest to start over with a new photographer. He said since it was past the cancellation date of nine months out to receive a 40% refund, he could not give us back anymore than $400. Yes, I did sign this contract. My fiancé informed them the first week in January; our wedding was originally set for the second week in August. I have talked to many of my family and friends, and they all find it hard to believe a photographer would have trouble booking another summer wedding with this much notice. My fiancé and I did not cancel “super close.” We contacted our vendors as soon as we knew of the deployment. It says in the “al a carte” section of Salt & Light’s book that an engagement shoot is valued at $450 (which we got and the photos are beautiful). The contract I signed was for $2,847.50. This means even with the $400 refund, we lost $1,997.50 for cancelling the August date at the beginning of January. My fiancé said he would call them and try to figure something else out, as our wedding budget is not big enough to take that hit. My fiancé found another much less expensive photographer and proposed to Austin that he sublet with this photographer. My fiancé gave a list of costs and told them they would still come out $1,000 ahead and still have our original wedding date free. Austin said no, this would be taking money from his business. If my fiancé were an enlisted soldier, this amount would equal about 10% of his yearly income. Austin would stick with the contract, no matter the circumstances. One would think that if another couple took the original time/date slot it would allow for more of a refund; it does not. Our other vendors were willing to rewrite our contracts after hearing of the deployment orders, and vendors I have signed with since then have been willing to add in a military clause. I do understand I had signed a contract with Salt & Light, which is why I took no further action to get a refund. It has been devastating enough to learn my soon-to-be husband will deploy to a combat zone, added to that is the difficulty in adjusting plans and cutting costs to plan for a new date. Once again, I am simply sharing my honest experience. Salt & Light takes beautiful photos, but military couples should be forewarned of this, and be cautious with all wedding-related businesses. I only wish I could have read a review such as this earlier.

Rachel and Austin are amazing! I can't even begin to express how much my husband and I love and adore them. From our first meeting with them I knew they were who I wanted to capture the best day of my life. Austin and Rachel are nothing but professional, loving, kind, energetic, and they truly care about their clients. On my wedding day there was an issue with my dress (we found pins that were sticking me from an alteration that was not completed and my dress was starting to fall apart) and a very pregnant Rachel and one of my bridesmaids sat and sewed my dress while Austin was on the phone with the dress salon trying to get the issue solved. I don't know any other photographers that would have done something like that for their client. They have gone out of their way many times to make sure we were happy. To this day they are still so supportive and caring, they truly do become your friends. I honestly will recommend Salt and Light photography to any and everyone for life, they have found life long clients in my family. Trust me, you won't regret choosing Salt and Light Photography. Every time you see your pictures you will smile non-stop and all of the amazing memories will come flooding back.

Austin is the salesperson (he even teaches classes!) and Rachel is the photographer. They did a great job on the day, our pictures are beautiful! However, we were disappointed with parts of their business practice. During our fist meeting they told us about the bridal appreciation party they have every year for all the couples. They rent out a venue and have a nice dinner. My husband and I were very much looking forward to this day and enjoyed looking at the pictures of previous celebrations on Salt and Light's Facebook page. We were very disheartened to find when we received the RSVP that this years party would not be at a venue but at their house and would have appetizers rather than a dinner. We were hurt to not receive the same treatment as the previous years' couples. If we could go back on picking a photographer knowing what we know now we have for sure went with someone else.