The photos were supposed to bring back sweet memories of their big day but made Ms Jaclyn Ying and Mr Kelvin Tang unhappy soon after their wedding instead.
In a post that has become the talk of social media here, Ms Ying, 25, an education executive, recounted on Facebook on Sunday the couple’s shock at how badly their wedding photos had turned out.
The 21 wedding photos she put up with her post include those taken at odd angles and processed with odd colour filters. Her post has been shared more than 17,000 times.
Ms Ying said they had signed up for an all-in-one package with a “pretty reputable bridal shop” which included photography on the wedding day.
While she was told that she could not choose her photographer, she was promised that the “standard of the talent pool was consistent” and shown sample photos.
The couple, who had their wedding dinner at The Halia in the Singapore Botanic Gardens on March 26, were shocked after getting their wedding photos last Saturday.
“I was in disbelief. I cried too. A lot,” Ms Ying told The Straits Times.
For example, one photo showed the groom posing in a bush at the edge of the photo and featured a black-and-white filter, while the background is filtered green.
Ms Ying and Mr Tang, 32, a court stenographer, paid more than $3,000 for the package, which included outfits, hair and make-up sessions, as well as 10 hours of photography on their wedding day.
“I had expected that the photos would roughly fall within what we wanted – not blurred, well lit, reasonably well edited,” said Ms Ying.
While wedding photographers The Straits Times spoke to said photography is subjective, most agreed the photos were not well taken.
Mr Melvin Lau of Multifolds Photography said: “As much as the photographer attempted to be creative in his tilted shots and colour editing, it has not been done tastefully.”
Mr Benny Low of Colliding Luster added: “It is important to look at the actual work of the photographer to understand his eye for photography and his concept.”
Ms Ying said they met the photographer only on the morning of the wedding. She added: “He is a really nice guy and we really don’t have anything bad to say about his attitude or demeanour.”
While the photographer was not named, Mr Chung Siew Goh said yesterday on his Facebook page that he took the photos.
Calling Ms Ying’s post unfair, he said he edited more than 900 photos but the couple put up just 20 to express their dissatisfaction. Some netizens also asked if the couple had picked only the unflattering pictures.
In response, Ms Ying said: “We believe that all the photos released so far speak for themselves.”
Mr Chung later turned around and apologised to the couple on Facebook last night for the “terrible photos”.
Mr Chung, who said he received $350 for the full-day photo job, said he should have removed the 20-odd “bad” photos.
“I sincerely hope you find the remaining 800 plus photos good,” he wrote.
The couple are now talking to the bridal shop about compensation.
Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) executive director Seah Seng Choon said non-performance or unsatisfactory performance by a company could be a breach of contract and consumers can ask for compensation. From January to March, Case received 106 complaints of unsatisfactory services, with two against bridal shops.
Surprised by the outpouring of sympathy, Ms Ying said her post was not to “flame-and-shame” the shop or photographer, but to highlight the industry practice where couples on wedding packages cannot choose the photographer.
This article was first published on April 13, 2016.
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