NJ dad suing for $76,000 from wedding photographer

This was hardly a perfect wedding.

A New Jersey father was forced to replace the photographer for his daughter’s lavish wedding at the last minute – and wants his $76,000 payment back.

dr Amit Patel, 59, scrambled to his feet and found another professional to take photos as daughter Anisha, 28, married Arjun Mehta in a four-day celebration in Turkey that took a year to plan and 250 guests, 13 individual Outfits for the bride, and a feature in Vogue.

Celebrations included saxophonists playing music on the beach, a Turkish themed evening that mimicked a local bazaar and included traditional music, decorations and dancers, a variety of bespoke necklaces for the bride and fireworks.

It was the family’s first wedding “in a long time,” said Patel, a vascular surgeon who said the total cost of the affair was “a good six-figure number.”

But it was almost a disaster. Patel alleges in a lawsuit that the famous photographer he originally hired began making demands at the 11th hour.

advertising

advertising

According to the lawsuit, Patel fired celebrity photographer Clane Gessel just days before the affair in Bodrum, Turkey.

“It’s panic. You can imagine telling your daughter a few days before her wedding that the photographer she chose isn’t coming,” Patel said of the encounter with Gessel.

Gessel and his eponymous studio agreed in writing that the photographer would be the “lead photographer” at each of the gathering’s numerous events, and that he and his team would stay at the Doubletree by Hilton, rather than the luxurious five-star Mandarin Hotel, where the wedding took place, Patel claimed in his Manhattan federal court filing.

Gessel reportedly emailed Patel as the father was waiting to board a plane to Turkey for the wedding, to say he would “decide who would shoot what and when,” and demanded to be booked at the Mandarin to become, claims Patel.

Gessel declined to comment.