Dictionary.com defines portfolio as pieces of creative work collected to be shown to potential customers or employers…as in “the artist had put together a portfolio of his work”, “every actor has a portfolio of photographs”. Webster.com defines portfolio as a selection of a student’s work compiled over a period of time and used for assessing performance or progress. Both definitions suggest that the “work” is your own not someone else’s.
In my opinion, this practice is misleading to a prospective client and totally unethical. So here are my suggestions to both brides/grooms and wedding planners:
To brides/grooms: If you schedule a meeting with a wedding planner based on things you saw in his or her website portfolio, print out those photos and take them with you to the consultation. Make sure you ask to see their portfolio. A creditable planner will present it without you asking. If you don’t see ANY of the photos included in their website portfolio, there’s a good chance they weren’t theirs to begin with. If you do see some of the photos, ask questions such as which venue did the event take place, how many guests, how large was the bridal party, etc. They will know the answers if they actually worked on that wedding or event.
To wedding planners: Using stock photos as decorative pictures on your website is somewhat acceptable however, including them or photos of someone else’s work in your website portfolio is not. The potential client will assume it is your work. I understand that when you’re first starting out you may not have your own photos to include on your website gallery. So instead, do not include a page on your website for a gallery until you do or include the page but say “coming soon”.
This is just my two cents. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
I’m glad you started this discussion and pointed this out. Food for thought, for sure.
Completely agree!
Thanks ladies!
I totally agree – your pictures should show weddings that you worked on. Many times couples hire you b/c they want design help or ways to make it unique. How can you do that or show them you can do that if you are using others work and/or stock photos?
I totally agree with this. If some is going to post pictures that is not of their work they should at least state they are stock photos or give credit to the person who took the photos.