Photography firm that owed greater than 50 brides marriage ceremony pictures shuts down, firm says :: WRAL.com

5 On Your Side has discovered {that a} pictures firm that owed greater than 4 dozen girls marriage ceremony pictures has shuttered operations.

According to a Facebook submit from Holly Christina Photography, the corporate is not capable of proceed offering pictures or videography companies, including that each one enterprise operations are within the strategy of being formally closed.

The firm didn’t clarify why it was stopping operations or what would occur to individuals who had ordered pictures companies by means of them. The firm did present an email address for shoppers to contact for present issues and extra questions.

“We appreciated your understanding during this difficult situation,” the corporate wrote of their submit.

More than 50 North Carolina brides reached out to five On Your Side days earlier than the pictures firm shut down, claiming they have been out of 1000’s of {dollars} for companies the corporate didn’t present. On Jan. 19, about 20 brides have been on a zoom name and mentioned they paid Holly Christina Photography 1000’s of {dollars}, typically upfront and in full, for companies they mentioned they by no means recieved.

“We believe the company has collected at least $160,000 from us collectively,” one bride instructed 5 On Your Side, referring to funds for companies not but rendered.

One girl, who mentioned her daughter is getting married in March, went on
to say that a number of of the victims shaped a gaggle chat and started
noticing comparable patterns amongst them.

“It seems to be a tactic of hers,” the mom mentioned. “When
you are first approached [by] her, she tells you that she’s having a
sale. Our sale was referred to as the Black Friday sale, however they have been referred to as
different issues and that we are the final ones to seize this spot if we pay
in full.”

The mom instructed 5 on Your Side that they reached out to Holly
Christina Photography in December 2024. By November the next yr,
they nonetheless had no schedule for bridal portraits.

The mom mentioned she paid $5,794 and a few change. According to the corporate’s web site, some {couples} will pay as much as $7,599 for his or her marriage ceremony. Some of the perks in that bundle embrace two photographers, a videographer and entry to over 700 professionally edited pictures.

In response to five On Your Side’s preliminary report, Holly Christina Photograpy launched a press release on Facebook saying Holly, who ran the enterprise, had been hospitalized twice and had been navigating a “serious and unexpected emergency.”

During the identical interval, in late October, Christopher Owen Ayscue, the corporate’s co-owner, was arrested in a cost of assault on a feminine and home violence.  

Holly Christina Photography mentioned it’s going to overview any questions they obtain “periodically,” however didn’t define a course of for shoppers to be made complete when the corporate closes.