Ugh. Sorry, OP :/

This just makes me think OP's sister is one of those pretty, teenage/young adult girls who takes pictures, puts a filter on it and then assumes they're a professional photographer. Taking a black and white photo of a chair in a backyard, does not a photographer make. Of course, I'm not saying that's what OP's sister is, this is just what I'm thinking. Very sorry you got a dumbass to not-photograph your wedding, OP.

I would do the same thing to my siblings!

...It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. Right? And this bag was just dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. That's the day I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.

Maybe there was previous work. But maybe never a wedding. Lots of people can do nice portraits and even good event photos, but fail at a wedding. And sometimes they could even do a wedding but the stress screws it up... Especially when it comes to family.

*Always* check portfolois and references. Don't care if it's your Uncle Bob, who always carries a camera everywhere, you never know who's full of balogna. *Always* check.

What most people (including your sister) don't get is that "professional photographer" and "professional wedding photographer" are 2 TOTALLY different jobs. Both I and my father have been both in our lives and while there are many skills that transfer over, they're not at all the same. It's like saying you can race in NASCAR because you drive a truck. (The wedding shoot is NASCAR, in case you were wondering.) I'm gonna guess your sister didn't understand this and is as surprised as you are.

I would have wanted to see a portfolio, even if it's family. That way you know what you are getting....

I guess you won't be using her services again anytime soon

That's fair. The back story is that I said yes to her offer because her other work is actually quite good. Her other wedding photos for previous instances looked beautiful, and that's how I assumed mine would turn out. I take responsibility, my husband and I shouldn't have assumed anything. I found out after the wedding that she doesn't like him much to begin with, soooooo I guess putting two and two together I can reasonably say that her distaste has something to do with the shotty and neglectful work. To answer a previous question here, forgive me for not answering the asker directly, the shots we ened up with for the ceremony itself were one of the first kiss, one of our intro as a married couple, and several blurred shots of mostly the audience with a hint of ceremony at the background. She did get my brother walking me down, but not of the beidesmaids and groomsmen. And mind you, she and I DID discuss in advance what events and who in the party we wanted pictured, as well as my request to catch as much of the reception as possible. We had a lot of friends and family travel from far away, and I had asked for more pictures of everyone together, mingling, and enjoying themselves. And thank you to whomever suggested we retouch some of the pictures, we've actually been working on that project and it's going well so far. So all in all I'd like to say that while I was disappointed in the outcome and the sad realization that my sister and I don't have the best of relationships, My husband and I are happy regardless and, thanks to other guests, still ended up with some good pictures. Also, a friend filmed the ceremony itself from beginning to end, so we're going to try to get some stills from that. This is a good lesson in perspective, I guess. Yeah, the situation ended in an FML for one particular detail, albeit an important one, but hey, at least my husband didn't bail out at the altar, or I didn't throw up or something. :-P Okay, sorry for that novel. lol Carry on!