Wedding Photographer Sued for Missing the Kiss

The devastated couple sued the photographer for $6,700 for damages for failing to capture the kiss, the ribbon cutting and certificate signing.

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Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London, following their wedding on April 29, 2011

Australia has made international headlines recently with an extreme wildfire engulfing 90 houses and a giant fast-food chain announcing a historic name change to celebrate the nation’s birthday. But this time the breaking news elicits neither sympathy nor a chuckle.

Although Jarrad and Sheree Mitchell were married a year and half ago, they are still agonized over what one can only hope is greatest disappointment in their lives: their wedding photos, which they find unacceptable and unbearable. The Mitchells hired photographer George Ferris of Studio Edge & Multimedia to shoot their wedding. They agreed to pay Ferris around $2,700, but were shocked and disappointed by the final products. According to the couple, Ferris had missed all the key moments of wedding photography, most significantly the newlyweds’ first kiss. They sued Ferris for $6,700 for failing to capture the kiss, the ribbon cutting and certificate signing, according to the Age.

“I was devastated,” said a teary-eyed Sheree Mitchell on A Current Affair, an Australian TV show. The couple said they could neither bear to look at the photos nor be in the same room as the photographer. They refused to pay Ferris in full ($2,300 out of $2,700), accusing him of failing to take “artistic” photos as advertised on his website.

(MORE: Best Man Loses Ring During Wedding Ceremony)

Ferris countersued the couple for $6,000, which includes the remaining $400 they still owed him, court fees and $63 for paying a meal out of his own pocket. He argued that the couple complained only after his wife mistakenly sent them raw images instead of edited ones. He blamed blurry and shadowed images on flowers along the archway and “bounce” from the flash, the Age reports.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal agreed with the photographer that a kiss is challenging to capture, but ordered him to pay the Mitchells $750 for failing to meet the value of the $2,700 package. The couple, in return, was ordered to cover the meal expense of $63.

Ferris’ company issued a statement when contacted by the TV show:

“A couple’s wedding day is a very special one, and we take pride in recording it for them … We believe we did so for Jarrad and Sheree and were equally disappointed that their wedding kiss was no more than a quick peck, making it impossible to catch as was recognized by the Tribunal.”

MORE: Woman Accused of Stabbing Fiancé to Death on Their Wedding Day