Simply Splendid

resents herself as a seasoned professional, our experience was defined by a profound lack of transparency, poor organization, and the total loss of non-repeatable media (our drone footage). We have been subsequently ghosted after requesting a promised explanation. Concealed Lost Media for 10 Weeks: On our wedding day, dedicated drone sessions were conducted to capture our venue, a large organized group shot of all our guests, and our sunset portrait photos. Marla admitted she knew on our wedding day that the media was lost, yet concealed this from us for two and a half months. She missed multiple self-imposed delivery deadlines after I followed up and offered no proactive communication while we waited. Our first look at any gallery photo was 8 weeks after our wedding. Refusal of Financial Accountability: When she finally disclosed the loss, she refused to offer a prorated refund under Section 14 of her own contract, attempting to minimize the loss by calculating it as "less than 1%" of total delivered photos rather than acknowledging the loss of entire non-repeatable event moments. She also refused to hand over the drone SD card so we could attempt professional data recovery at our own expense. She then attempted to substitute our lost footage with drone photos of a completely different couple's wedding and added those to our gallery without our consent. She also failed to mail back our personal wedding card suite that she photographed at a later date after asking for our current address. Poor Day-of Direction & Missed Key Moments: Despite claiming "documentary style" to excuse poor direction, basic event coordination was severely lacking. Key family combinations were missed, and key moments were poorly framed (including our “money shot” altar kiss photo where our officiant and a large microphone stand remain in frame). Basic details like ensuring attire and boutonnieres were photo-ready before formal portraits were ignored. When brought to her attention, she dismissed this as not being her responsibility, despite these items sitting directly next to her in the dressing room while taking detail shots. At the very least, as a professional courtesy, she should have asked if corsages and boutonnieres were wanted in photos. Lack of Planning & Communication: Pre-wedding communication was stressful, including an email glitch scheduling our final call. During the call, she gave a last-minute disclaimer about drone licensing and being unable to complete certification (even though we discussed wanting drone footage over a year prior). Marla then tried to avoid disclosing that her husband was assisting until I outright asked who it was. He ended up operating the drone equipment without prior clarity or transparency of his qualifications. Marla’s only defense for our lost media was that I casually mentioned in an email over one year prior that drone footage “wasn’t a deal breaker”. The footage became an expected deliverable when she brought the drone and the media was captured on our wedding day. We trusted Marla with our once-in-a-lifetime moments and to handle media with professional care and transparency. She breached her contract and avoided accountability when things went wrong. I strongly advise couples to look elsewhere.