Do not hire her! Do not recommend at all! Nothing but problems.
My husband and I hired Lavana for our wedding. The lead up to the wedding we had good communication and Lavana seemed to understand what we wanted to achieve with our photographs at our wedding.
The day arrives and it all turns to rubbish.
⁃ Lavana first arrived at my house 20 mins later than the time she specified she would arrive from the grooms house. Due to this we missed out on photos of my bridal party getting ready and had very little shots taken at home.
⁃ Our reception venue was 6 mins away from my Mums house (where I got ready). She was approx 45 mins late to our wedding venue. She had apparently gone to the wrong venue, which does not share a similar name or location.
⁃ Due to Lavana’s late arrival I was seated in a convertible and hidden away in a nearby street. It was 38 degrees and my dress was quite heavy. So seated in a boiling hot car and not only the stress caused due to her being so late due to her own error.
⁃ After the ceremony she took off into the reception, whilst the celebrant was waiting on her to be ready for her to capture our guests congratulating us. This then delayed our event even further.
⁃ During the evening Lavana offered to stay back an hour as a way of compensation. In later conversations she reiterates the cost of how much that hour was and that she gave it to me for free. However, that hour she stayed back was basically the time we lost due to her going to the wrong venue.
⁃ She spent minimal time with us as a couple taking photos and spent more time getting portraits of guests, that did not include us.
Then we reach after the event and the hassle it was to get our photos.
⁃ after the event I asked how long it would take for us to receive our photos. She responded and said 2-4 weeks.
⁃ Week 4 I contacted her and asked how things were going and she said they would be ready Monday due to being delayed from Easter (week 5).
⁃ We reach Monday and Lavana has not made contact so I checked in with her only to find out that my photos were apparently in the USA getting edited and they wouldn’t be ready until Wednesday. (No communication of this until I contacted her)
⁃ I asked for a time on Wednesday and she didn’t provide one at this stage.
⁃ Tuesday arrives and I receive multiple messages off Lavana explaining how her business works and about the company she is using. Due to having family over from interstate I wanted to know a time so I could show them the photos as they had missed the wedding due to covid.
⁃ She says that she will edit some photos herself and send them through to me. Firstly our site states my husband name incorrectly. She does this and although the photos were low res you could see the poor quality in the photos. There were photos of blacked out lounge rooms, photos that held no meaning to our wedding, and shots that the lighting was either under or over exposed. Also there were major moments missing in these photos such as the bridal party and myself walking down the aisle. Group photos taken with our guests and special photos taken with our families as well. I was informed that these were photos she roughly out together and the ones I would receive would be different.
⁃ After sending this interim set she said I would have the proper set Wednesday or latest Thursday.
⁃ Thursday arrives and I’ve had no contact from her again. When I asked about my photos she said I would receive them Friday 6pm as she was sick. At this stage I questioned whether something was wrong with the photos as there were a lot of excuses and delays.
⁃ Friday 6pm arrives and no photos and no contact from Lavana again. I messaged her and she said she had only just received the photos back from the states and she could rush and fix them and send them that night or have it done properly for Sunday. Obviously I wanted the proper photos so I opted for Sunday.
⁃ Sunday arrives and she sends me photos of the ones The original set she sent was missing. I asked about the different photos as that was what she had informed me of on the Tuesday. She said no it would be the same ones just with the additions. I asked for the collection of all my photos unedited at this stage and was met with a video to explain why she doesn’t and then her service pricing. She proceeded to tell me she had more than met her agreed service (although majority of the photos provided were pointless to the wedding, useless due to the lighting and quality and we were missing key photos).
⁃ She wouldn’t speak to me on the phone. When she finally did she had a lot of excuses about why it was taking so long. Proceeded to tell me she would be giving me all 3000 of my photos edited. When she called me she said that all these had been edited and were being uploaded that evening to the site where I could download them.
⁃ Monday arrives and no photos or links have been sent. She messages asking me if my husband could drive to pick up a USB as it wouldn’t upload. We end up organising for her to meet me at my workplace the following afternoon. She also tells me that all the photos are unedited. Which goes back on her previous conversation where she told me she had edited all 3000 photos.
⁃ Tuesday comes and I receive my USB. Only to be told that I was also to blame for what had occurred. Never have I had such bad service from a provider.
⁃ Looking at the photos they included photos of a half naked man who was not my husband. Also several other couples photos which I would believe is a privacy breech.
⁃ We had maybe 2000 photos and about 100 of them are useable. The main photos of family have people either cut out, the lighting has made them half disappear or they are blurry.
I have never been so disappointed to have our wedding memories ruined like this. We are disappointed as there is barely any photos that we can use.
I have all these in writing and text messages evidence if you would like proof. You can see all the changes in the stories as you progress along.
But as someone whose husband was diagnosed with cancer two days before our wedding and to go through so much stress not only on the day but for so long afterwards to receive such rubbish photographs of our big day was horrible and very upsetting for us.
Again I do not recommend the use of her services at all!