Cinderella Photography: (Thornhill, February 2012)

Thornhill

February 2012

Cinderella Photography

Memories of this date crack us up to this date. One of the most important lessons were learned during this appointment (actually, there were many learned, but this one is a relationship lesson): laugh together. And, when it's not appropriate to burst out laughing in people's faces, laugh with your eyes when looking at each other. Secret couple communication for the win!

Anyways, back to the magic. We first encountered Cinderella Photography at Canada's Bridal Show (January 2012, see previous blog). They were raffling out a chance to win a $3,000 videography package, so we signed up. We were signing up everywhere that day, as we were complete wedding noobs. A couple weeks later, I get a call from Cinderella photography, telling us we had won the $3,000 wedding package! I was so excited, and immediately booked an appointment to go redeem out prize. They gave us their address in Thornhill, and we drove over to meet them the following weekend.

We pulled up to a house in a residential area. It was decent looking, but kind of awkward. We knocked on the door, and were greeted by the owner's wife. We stepped into the hallway, where we were asked to take off our shoes. Feeling awkward in my bare feet, I looked up to see a giant, spinning chandelier hanging above us. Looking back down, I see my fiance's reaction. Commence laughing eyes sequence #1.

We were taken to a dining room area covered in canvases of past works. The lady and her husband flipped through some of the most old-fashioned and cheesiest pictures that we'd ever seen, while telling us the their work was "top quality, top of the line" in the thickest Slavic accent ever. We were then taken to their living room, which was taken over by cameras on tripods and all other types of equipment. Apparently this was "red line, top of the line" stuff.

Finally, they asked us to join them in their office to discuss the details. The lady was very nice and offered us espressos, which were served in nice china. It was a nice touch that we really appreciated. The husband then proceeded to tell us about the photography packages that they offer, but his style of photography really didn't suit our personality. It didn't really have that "special" feel to it, just some typical old-fashioned ideas that were repeated over and over again.

We asked about what we won, and we were told that what we "won" is only valid if we purchase a photography package from them. The "winning" package consisted of:
-10 hours of videography
-2 cameras (one of which we found out would simply be placed on a tripod for 10 hours).
-some editing.

We considered getting a photo package just to save some money on video, but the phabloto packages were pretty limited and ranged from $2,000-$5,000. I'm pretty sure the cost of the "winning" package was just embedded in it. After some silent visual communication between my fiance and I, we know that something smelled funny. We didn't sign up for anything, and he seemed rather disappointed. We told him that we wanted to think about it, and he told us that if we walked out, the "winning" offer couldn't be guaranteed.

Just as we were leaving, the doorbell rang. Another couple walked in and took off their shoes. The husband jogged towards them, yelling "Ahhhhhhhh, congratulations to the winners!!!". We couldn't wait for the door to close so we could get in our car and laugh hysterically at the trap we almost fell into. Needless to say, we had nothing to "think" about, and we just left it at a fun experience with the spinning chandelier, which was also probably "top of the line".

Funny enough, at a later visit at a DJ's office, we met a photographer who happened to be there for the day and asked us if we had already arranged for photo services. We told him that we hadn't, but that we had had "an interesting experience as the winners of a so-called video package", to which he instantly asked "from Cinderella Photography?" I guess these two are notorious for their generous offer to make everyone winners of the $3,000 video prize.

This company wouldn't be too bad if they were straight forward and customers were looking for the type of services that they offer, but the so called "winning" package lure didn't cut it with us.

VERDICT: **

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ABI