More complaints surface over wedding photographer and undelivered photos
More than a dozen complaints have been filed with the attorneys general from people who say the wedding photographer they hired has not given them what they each paid thousands of dollars for.
By Jenna DeAngelis
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NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — More than a dozen complaints have been filed with the attorneys general in New Jersey and Pennsylvania from people who say the wedding photographer they hired has not given them what they each paid thousands of dollars for.
We first heard from impacted brides nearly two months ago. Now, more couples are pushing to get their cherished memories.
The photographer’s attorney calls it an “unfortunate situation.”
“We paid $5,000. It took us so long to save that” Alessandra and Alexander Trenta started out as friends in middle school and now are happily married.
“We’ve been together a long time. We’ve evolved together,” Alexander said.
“So many chapters,” Alessandra said.
Every chapter of their love story has been captured through photos. That’s why choosing the perfect photographer for their wedding was incredibly important.
They believed they found that in Christina Garcia of Wandering Stardust Collective, also known as Christina Hernandez Artistry. They signed a contract for 200 photos and edited videos for their November, 2024 wedding.
“We paid $5,000. It took us so long to save that amount of money,” the couple said.
“Five thousand dollars included photos and videos, and you’ve just gotten three photos?” CBS News New York’s Jenna DeAngelis asked.
“That’s it. That’s all,” Alessandra said.
Her concerns began with her bridal shower, which she says Garcia was supposed to shoot.
Alessandra alleged that she “confirmed with [Garcia] three, four times that she would be at my bridal shower and not only did she not show up, she did not call or text me to say she wasn’t coming. She didn’t actually follow up even the day after. I had to call her,” adding, “she reassured us she would be at the wedding.”
On their wedding day, while Alessandra is getting ready, she received text messages from Garcia beginning “on my way.”
A short time later, Garcia texted her again.
“I’m running a bit behind, due to running over something or whatever and my tire deflated, I am filling it now and I will be there ASAP,” Garcia wrote, according to texts viewed by CBS News New York. She added another photographer is already at the venue. Garcia eventually arrived late.
Two weeks later, Alessandra texted her, saying “I can’t wait to see photos.”
It’s been five months, and the Trentas still don’t have their overdue photos from the big day, but they do have a thread of text messages with explanations ranging from an internet outage to health scares.
“I couldn’t think about anything else during this whole ordeal, I couldn’t. I was so distraught, disgusted, violated, vulnerable,” the Trentas told DeAngelis.
“It makes me feel taken advantage of” Apparently, they’re not alone. In February, CBS News New York sat down with two women who shared similar stories. Since then, the New Jersey attorney general’s office says its Division of Consumer Affairs has received six complaints against Wandering Stardust Collective. The Pennsylvania AG has a total of 11 complaints.
“I hope there is some kind of repercussion for her actions,” Pennsylvania newlywed Kerrie Sartor said.
Sartor and her husband plan to file a complaint too. They say they’re still waiting for all the photos they paid for.
“The replacement photographer told us about this group on Facebook who are all having the same issues,” Sartor said.
Rosa Cherry is a member of that group.
“It makes me feel taken advantage of, duped. I mean, I later found out she booked three different brides on the same day as my wedding. There was no way she could possibly show up to all of our weddings. Nevermind – she didn’t show up to any of them,” Cherry believes.
At the last minute, Cherry said a different photographer arrived in Garcia’s place. Cherry’s grateful her cousin took some photos, because so far she’s only received 30 of the 200 photos owed to her by Garcia, and still, no edited video.
“A little devastated. I’ll never get those 270 people in one room ever again at the same time,” Cherry said.
Garcia’s attorney responds
An attorney representing Garcia declined an interview but said in a statement, in part:
This is an unfortunate situation where the owner of a successful small business faced a perfect storm that included a health emergency regarding her husband, significant technological issues, and becoming so sought after that there were not enough hours in the day for her to finish her work as promptly as she would have liked. Mrs. Garcia has been making efforts from day one to do right by her clients and plans to continue doing so.
“If you have stuff going on, OK, nobody is going to say you don’t,” the Trentas told DeAngelis. “At the end of the day, we signed a contract. You showed up to my wedding. Where are my pictures?”
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