George Street Photo & Video

I was married October 11, 2014. It’s now January 29, 2016 and I am still trying to finalize my albums and put my experience with George Street behind me.
I want to start by saying George Street offers some of the best customer service I have ever received. They answer the phone, get you to a person who can help answer your question and (for the most part) do a great job in resolving any issues. That’s what earned them the ‘two star’ rating. If I was evaluating solely based on quality of photos, videos and professionalism of the crew at my wedding, this would be a ‘one star’ review.
I also want to be fair in saying the main reason it has taken so long to get my albums produced is because I am dragging my feet. I really get sad/​sick every time I look at my photos and have been putting it off.
I did receive 5 – 10 really great photos. I have a few posed photos of me and my husband, and our families that I love. I also have a few candids of us smiling during toasts that are just beautiful BUT. THAT’S. IT. I didn’t expect all 700+ photos to be perfect, but did expect to have a good photo of me and my father dancing, my husband and his mother dancing, a picture of our cake that wasn’t nearly black and a nice selection of photos of our guests. I have none of those. I also don’t have any photos with my sister, sister-​in-​law or with any of my guests. Every single photo of me and my family are posed. I wanted them and a few look great BUT there are no candids to show the fun side — just the very formal side. These are all things I requested in the extensive online survey I completed prior to the wedding.
Our photographer was so kind and accommodating but she was not a wedding photographer. She didn’t know how to adjust her camera for different lighting — outside, in the church and at the reception. She didn’t know how to position us outside, so that we weren’t squinting in the sun or overcast by shadows. The sun washed out our color or the shadows killed the color. The church photos were the best of the lot but the one group shot of the family at the church is off center, pixelated and dark. My brother in law is also hidden behind my husband. Nonetheless it’s framed and on my mantle because it’s the only photo I have of both families.
The videographer was worse and unlike our photographer he wasn’t that kind or accommodating. He asked several times when and what he was eating (we served them the same meal as our guests, by the way). The final quality of the video was as if it was recorded on my iPhone. Dark and grainy. During speeches the camera was set on a tripod and never panned the crown to get our reaction, the crowd’s reactions or audience participation, which was a really fun and unique part of the speeches. The father/​daughter and mother/​son dances were also one dimensional, as if he didn’t take a step to capture any of the motion across the dance floor (my father and I danced to a very upbeat song and really used the space on the floor!). He also completely failed to capture our packed dance floor — we had two live bands and a DJ and none of the spirit of the reception was captured on that video. It’s sad.
Shame on me for waiting so long to share my thoughts — I just needed time to remove myself from the initial frustration and anger to write a balanced review. I hold amazing memories of my wedding and know my guests do, too. It’s a shame that George Street wasn’t able to deliver on their promise to capture it through photo and video.
I would not recommend this company if I were to do it all over again.

My husband and I got married this past October. We got married in MA however we live in Ohio. George Street was a fantastic option for us especially due to our logistically struggles. The online planning tool is fantastic! If there was ever something we struggled with the wedding coordinators always responded immediately. Our photographers were a delight to work with and the timeliness of when you receive your photos is quicker than anyone else. We are so pleased with our decision to go with George Street.

My wife and I struggled very, very hard planning our wedding… neither of us are «planners», and ALL THE DETAILS. When we chose a photographer, we were looking for a relaxed but competent and artsy photographer… one to make up for our lack of imagination for the small details.
George Street has a ton of photographers to choose from with a sweet consultant to help with that process, and we found one we loved with our consultant’s help.
Barbora, our photographer, spoke with us for a while before the wedding, and by the time we met her, she already felt like a friend. She has the biggest heart, the best eye, and an incredibly relatable personality. Also, our friends and family have mentioned how much they loved her and thought she was a friend of ours. She never seemed rushed or impersonal; exactly the opposite, in fact.
The final product… our pictures were incredible! The colors are awesome and she captured our personalities and all the big moments perfectly. We couldn’t be happier. The day will live on forever, with evidence of all the best parts, well into the night. We made a great choice!!!

I was skeptical about having a wedding photographer due to my dislike of having my picture taken but decided to look into anyway just so I wouldn’t regret not having one. From the beginning everything went well. The meetings, calls, picking a photographer as well as the packages they have to offer it was too good to pass up. I was able to pick the photographer who’s style fit my vision. One the wedding day the photographers was early, which was great. They were able to get a lot of the detail shots out of the way, they listened when I said I didn’t want to take too many formals and literally became a ninja during the ceremony taking tons of candid shots (which were my preference). I had a chance to see some of the photos and now I am 100% happy that I decided to have a George Street do my wedding photography!

It was a true pleasure to work with George Street and our Lead Photographer, Tiago, and the Assistant Photographer, Amy. I thoroughly enjoyed having our photographers entirely present in the day and not worried about the business end of the process.
It was so easy to coordinate and plan our destination wedding with all of the online resources. Whether using the online coordination tool or emailing or calling, I always heard back right away and everyone was helpful and friendly.
Our photos are beautiful, we are extremely pleased with the number and variety of photos and the quality is truly outstanding. I love owning all of our originals and the freedom that grants us for current and future usage. The George Street site is easy to use and really helps to personalize the day and the look of the photos. I would highly recommend using this service for wedding photography, especially for those couples having destination weddings, like us. It was a seamless and highly successful process.
Thank you so much!

I blame myself for not doing more research and finding these reviews before my wedding. I wish there was some way to hold George Street accountable for how many beautiful wedding days they have screwed up, but since we can’t I just hope I can prevent anyone else from making the mistake of spending any of your time, energy or money on them. Please do the research now and save yourself the heartache later.

I spent over a year and a half helping my sister plan her wedding, and you’d think as MOH i would be in a few pictures walking out of the ceremony, giving a MOH speech, dancing on the floor, etc. The photographers made it a point to get us smoking cigarettes in between shots but none of anything actually important to my sisters special day. One bridesmaid didn’t even look like she attended the wedding. No picture of the bride, groom, and brides family. Horrible product. I hope my sister gets her money back.

I would not recommend George Street Photo and Video. My daughter put a lot of time into filling out a form about the pictures she wanted for each part of the day. Colby was our photographer and he clearly did not even look at. We have a few very nice shots but most are not clear or close up; he did not take the pictures of special moments or important people we asked. I dont understand how 2 photographers, Colby and his assistant, could have done such a poor job at the cost. My husband and daughter took much better pictures. We have only received the first pictures and they are not even cropped.

½ Thank you to George Street for the good service at my daughter’s wedding!
I cannot give it a ³⁄₅ because two wedding telephone coordinators gave misinformation to each other, which led to SEVERAL emails trying to correct and resign contracts. Even at the reception the awesome lead photographer, Thomas, had us resign the contract because he somehow didn’t get the correct paperwork!
SO, PLEASE work with ONLY ONE coordinator!
²⁄₂ Second review today after speaking to George street again today.
Found another glitch :(Sarah, the wedding package salesperson did NOT include the two parent albums on her part. I went over each part of the products we purchased with them and indeed they were missing on their part. Extremely frustrating and wayyy too many glitches.
YOU MUST BE VIGILANT in dealing with them. Please know your contract and you really
(unfortunately) cannot trust them.
I hope the photos and video is worth it!

I planned my entire wedding from San Diego and got Married in Chicago. My wedding was last week, and the only thing that was not perfect about the entire event was the photography. I’m really sad about this because of course this is where you spend a ton of money and these are your everlasting memories. I thought the entire George street process was really confusing. The timeline was confusing, long and difficult to navigate, both the photographer and the videographer called me and made me go over the entire thing with them again because they said they are always confused by the way George Street sets this up. I uploaded a ton of pics and styles I wanted to my pinterest and linked it to the website. None of those pictures were taken the day of the wedding. I was very clear from the beginning that I wanted quirky, abstract, industrial pictures. Not the run of the mill posed pictures. Though I really enjoyed my photographer and he was a nice person, none of my ideas were used. By the day of the wedding you are so overwhelmed and busy, you don’t have time to ask for different picture ideas and remind the photographer, that should be their job, not mine. Unfortunately the day has come and gone, and I will just have to see when the pictures come if any of them are what I wanted.
And last, both my photographers told me they uploaded their pictures the next day and now I have to wait 6 – 8 weeks? That’s unheard of, my sister had her pictures in the next few days when she got married.
I would definetley not recommend George street photo. I really wish I had choosen an independent photographer.

AMAZING!!! We couldn’t have been any happier with our choice. Julio (lead), Donna (associate), and Bart (videographer) were great from start to finish. Not only do we recommend George Street but we recommend these specific individuals. Thank you for making our wedding so memorable!

My son and his fiancé (now wife) hired George Street after receiving a great sales presentation. They also wanted to «spare no expense» when it came to their photography.
We had the most gorgeous wedding site Spruce Meadows in Colorado. The old saying you get what you pay for is not true with this company. It appears they hire anyone with a camera and let them shoot your wedding. So many wedding shots were never taken, the quality of the photos was subpar. We had over 150 guests at the wedding — our «guests» folder has 7 photos in it. SEVEN. How do you have 150 guests, with 7 shots of guests during the wedding. We had two photographers who took the exact same pictures — but not from different angles. For example — one is usually on the groom — the other on the bride. They were both on the bride — but standing in different places. What is the point of that? They got absolutely no beauty shots of the bride. No photos of the bride alone in her dress — looking as beautiful as she did. The family shots are from the waist up. No wedding photographer takes photos of a bride from the waist up. These shots are missing the beauty of the bride in her gown. Then when the pictures came back — the quality was awful. We literally have cell phone photos that looks like a higher quality than the photos provided by our photographers. The angles are amateur — there was nothing professional about the product we received. I would literally bet a million dollars that our photographers were there photographing their very first wedding ever. That is how terrible our pictures are. Hire an independent photographer where you know what your getting. Unfortunately, this is a day that you can never do over. Don’t get suckered in like we did. We can never recreate those shots. George Street should be ashamed of themselves.

Do not waste your money with this company or run the risk of ruining your opportunity for quality wedding photos! This company was hired for my sisters wedding in St. Louis and the photographers were terrible to work with the day of and the pictures that she got not only took FOREVER but were terrible. They hardly took any candids, the photos in the church were all blurry and crooked, and the photographer was rude to the bride the whole day. The bride asked for family photos in the church and the photographer took one photo of each group… ONE. The bride even asked «is everyone looking and can you see everyone in the picture?» and the photographer responded nastily with «probably». Suffice it to say that you could not see everyone in the photo. As the photographer it is your job to tell someone to move if they are being blocked by the person in front of them. The photographer didn’t suggest any locations, any poses, etc. and stood there staring at the wedding party with a «what do I do next» look on her face the whole day. The 2^nd photographer instead of being somewhere else trying to capture photos from a different angle waited until the first photographer started to take pictures then would run up and stand next to her and take the exact same pictures. The photos sent to the bride were completely unedited (i.e. they didn’t cull through to take out pictures which were blurry and they sent pictures that were crooked). The photos looked like someone was snapping them with a point and shoot as a guest and not as though a company was paid thousands of dollars to capture them. Not only was the day of experience bad and the pictures turned out bad, but the response the bride received when following up with the Company was horrible customer service and they tried to make her feel like it was her fault and they thought the pictures were fine.
You also don’t meet the actual photographer until the day of your event, you are just assigned someone that they designate. My sister used them for her engagement photos and the photographer didn’t even show up! She ended up calling the emergency line and someone rushed out to take the photos. When the videographer called the week of her wedding to verify details he thought the wedding was on a Friday when it was on a Saturday — these people are not well put together.
Unfortunately you only have one chance to get your wedding pictures right so do not take the chance of using this company. I am sure that some of their photographers are decent quality, however save yourself some possible regret and a lot of money and use a different photographer.

Please DO NOT use George Street Photo & Video for your wedding. This company is just horrible from the beginning to end! I decided to use George Street Photo & Video back in 2013 for my wedding because it was affordable and the photos and videos that I saw online looked amazing. We even had the consultation where they show you a few photos and automatically pick a photographer for you which means this does not tell you what the photographer is like and how he/​she works (so good luck with that!). Also you won’t know who your photographer will be until a week before your wedding day! As for the videographer, you don’t even get to choose at all!
The worst part came after the wedding when I receive the photos and videos. According to the contract, George Street will pick out 100 photos and edit them which is suppose to be the best photos out of everything. Well a few of the «best» ones are either with my or my husband’s eyes half closed! These photos are not even picture ready and they picked those as part of the 100 photos?! Did the editing team even look at the pictures when they were editing!!!
Now, the video part, the so called «highlight reel» definitely look nothing like the quality of videos that I saw online. It was almost like I use my own camcorder, record and edit with my own music on a movie maker and I probably would even do a better job than them! According to contract, I am to receive all of the moments the videographer recorded and guess what, a lot of them were MISSING and they even couldn’t find the recording to the special surprise my husband gave me at the wedding (my husband specifically asked them to record this moment before the wedding and even made sure the videographer would record this)! I had to work with their coordinators back and forth to get the rest of the missing footages which they still have and this took them almost half a year to get back to me. Now that they found all the missing footages from almost 2 years ago, they have the nerve to ask me to pay the archiving fee of $ 300 for something I should’ve received in the very beginning!!!
PLEASE DO NOT USE GEORGE STREET unless you want to go thru all these painful experience! I shouldn’t have hire them to capture something so important, probably once in a lifetime event!

We did not like the styles of the photographers but we were interested in the videographers, mainly because we did not care so much about our video. We negotiated and obtained the desired price point, which the sales consultant and manager both denied as a «misunderstanding» of a price after the fact, even though we had documented exchanges over email.
We understand the prices can change but blaming that it was a misunderstanding (vs. admitting error or mistake) and saying that at that low price (still A LOT of money) they couldn’t possibly pay a videographer was extremely unprofessional.
After multiple phone calls, they agreed upon that price again. By that time we felt lied to and lost all trust. We decided that we do not want to give our business to George Street.

This review includes general advice on using a wedding photographer as much as it’s a review of George Street. And if you want to chat about how we made our decision, feel free to message me. No joke.
This will be the most photographed day of your life, so be sure you get it right.
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Review:
We almost didn’t use George Street for our wedding because of the negative reviews on Unilocal — I’m glad we met with them, because they perfectly captured our day.
1. The photos were absolutely stunning — they made my stoic dad tear up and say, «…It’s dusty in here.» I’ve seen that maybe twice in my life. Their work was that good.
2. The communication was great, and it was built the right way: A coordinator for infrastructure stuff and a photographer for the creative side. Every ad agency on the planet is built with a client-​creative split because it works. Artists can’t schedule and schedulers can’t take photographs, so that model just uses people’s strengths properly.
3. The price was right (other photographers were twice as much)
4. We were nice to them, so they were nice to us.
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Advice:
1. This was a deal-​breaker for us — make sure you use the same photographer for your engagement session and wedding session. You have to do both, and consistency almost matters more than quality here… it’s better to know what you’re getting. If that’s not in writing, no deal. Bethany was our photographer for both sessions, and she was amazing.
2. After you get the engagement photos back, look them over, meet with the photographer, and talk about what you like and want more of. There will be hundreds of shots, so it’s not as important what you don’t like… you can just throw them away or delete them. But make sure you get what you think is best. This meeting or call or whatever takes half an hour but makes a huge difference. For us, the shots with a crisp foreground of our faces but a blurry background of the cityscape or the room or flowers or whatever were the best, so we asked and got more of those on our wedding.
3. Weird analogy: If you ask Picasso to re-​paint the Mona Lisa, it would suck — that’s not how art works. Every photographer has their strengths and weaknesses, and you have to let them make their own. So give guidelines but not precise instructions… instead of saying, «Get this precise shot exactly like this other person did it on a different day with people who weren’t us,» which won’t work for anyone and will guarantee disappointment, give frameworks like, «We like that crisp foreground but blurry background, so more of those please» or «Go to each table & take a few serious photo of the guests, then ask them to make silly faces and just keep snapping until they get annoyed and want you to leave.» Those were some of my favorite pictures.

My fiancé and I were considering using George Street for our wedding. We met with a consultant (NOT a photographer) to discuss packages a couple weeks ago. The prices seem great, however, we could not get past their policy of not allowing meetings with the photographers. Who does that?! I have yet to find another photographer/​company who sends a consultant in place of a photographer. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want to know who will be taking your pictures on «one of the most important days» of your life. I refuse to sign a contract and fork over my hard earned money for someone I won’t meet until day of. That is ridiculous!

After some back-​and-​forth discussions, George Street made things up to us by scheduling a free portrait session with a new photographer. Our photographer, Gabriel, was absolutely amazing. He scouted out locations in downtown Oakland, put great personality into our photos, and made us feel more comfortable in front of the camera than we had been with any other photographer. If we had had Gabriel for our wedding, I think we would be giving George Street 5 stars.
However, we will not be recommending George Street to friends. The problem with George Street’s model seems to be that they have no clear standards for their photographers, and no quality control in their system to select and maintain only high-​level photographers. A client is just as likely to get an inspired photographer like Gabriel as they are to get a technically mediocre photographer like Benny.
Until they find a way as a company to guarantee the quality of their photographers, I would steer clear.

We had a great experience with George Street and with our wedding photographer, Colleen MacRamos. It was really helpful getting to know Colleen at our engagement session. I would highly recommend doing an engagement session especially if you’ve never met your photographer in person before.
Colleen was very professional and cool under pressure. For example, within the first 10 minutes of the reception a guest spilled red wine on my dress. She immediately had a Tide pen out and dabbing at the stain and it was gone within minutes.
We loved both our engagement and wedding photos and were so excited when they arrived ahead of schedule both times. Considering this was by far the cheapest wedding photography option that we looked at, we are impressed with everything we received from both George Street and Colleen.

I’d like to preface this review by saying that I haven’t had any personal contact with any of the staff from George Street to deal with the business aspect of things. My only experience with them is attending two weddings (one as a bridesmaid and one as a guest) and seeing their photography afterward.
When my friend decided to go with George Street, she did a series of «quizzes» on their website that were supposed to help determine what style of photography she liked the best and help match her up to specific photographers. The photographs that she received of her actual wedding did not look anything like the pictures on the website. Their photographers are not only untalented in actual shooting (composition, lighting, etc.), but they also don’t seem to know to know a single thing about post-​processing. Some of the pictures were edited to a green tone, which made everyone in the photos look sick; some were so heavily contrasted that half of the people’s faces would be completely dark. Also, these photographers do not know a single thing about posing. Everyone looked stiff and unnatural, and one picture of my friend looks like her husband is literally eating her face.