It was the night before her wedding.
Sara Venezzio and her maid of honor had just finished dinner. Settled back in their hotel room, the nervous bride scrolled through Facebook, trying to relax before her big day.
Then she saw a post that shocked her.
Venezzio’s wedding photographer said she was about to close her business.
“I immediately began to panic, especially because I had already heard stories of her not showing up to brides’ weddings,” she said. “I reached out to her, freaking out, and she assured me she would be at my wedding.”
But she was a no-show.
An hour before the wedding, the photographer said she wasn’t coming, Venezzio said. Her car had been stolen the week before, and then, she couldn’t get an Uber, Venezzio said she was told.
Venezzio is among dozens of brides who allege the person they hired to chronicle their weddings — Christina Garcia, the owner of Wandering Stardust Collective, who also does business as Christina Hernandez and Christina Hernandez Artistry — took their money but didn’t keep her promises.
The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs said it has not received any complaints about the photographer. Its counterpart agency in Pennsylvania, where Garcia is based, said it has received four.
But according to a group of brides, there are many more dissatisfied customers across New Jersey. The brides provided the names of 30 people who collectively paid Garcia more than $100,000 for photography they said they didn’t receive. They shared similar stories about the reasons Garcia provided for her actions, including a litany of health problems for her and her husband — a possible brain tumor, sepsis, pneumonia, a concussion and a tooth abscess, among others — as well as a car accident, a stolen car and a cyberattack on her devices.
No one knows if any, or all, of the claims are true. They just want the lifelong memories they paid for.
Some allege they haven’t received anything. Others received links to download unedited photos but few have been successful in downloading them. And still others said they gave deposits for future weddings but they want their money back in light of the widespread complaints.
Garcia told the Bamboozled column in a Facebook message that she would not discuss the allegations “per legal advice.”
“There is a ton of lies against me being spread that escalated beyond (what) it should have ever been,” she wrote.
Garcia did not answer subsequent questions about how many brides were owed photos or if any refunds were given. She only said she’s asking brides to contact her if they are missing their photos.
But many of the brides say Garcia has blocked them on Facebook, making contact impossible.
“Shouldn’t she have a list of her own clients and be able to keep track of the contracts and deadlines she set and agreed to meet?” said Katie Burke, one of the affected brides.
Katie Burke and her new husband Josh, photographed in Asbury Park after they married. They said their photographer didn't deliver what was promised.Courtesy Katie Burke
THE PROMISES
Cat Levine married Anthony DePaolo in June 2024, and Garcia was there to capture the occasion.
But by December, Levine said, she was concerned.
She’d received a “sneak peak,” a common practice where photographers send a few photos as a teaser for clients, but she said she hasn’t received the rest of her $8,000 package.
When she questioned Garcia, the photographer told her to check her spam folder for links. But there was nothing there, Levine said.
“She then said she would resend them and never did. A few weeks later we reached out again. She claimed her husband was sick and she was spending most (of her) time in the hospital, that she will send them once she gets home,” Levine said. “They were never sent.”
Levine said she gave grace after Garcia repeatedly talked about her husband’s health.
“Now we realize we are just one of many who have not received our pictures,” Levine said, though she did receive what she called a “very sloppy edited” video from the wedding.
“She has threatened us to stay quiet or she will `trash everything,’” Levine said. “I’m mentally exhausted from her games.”
Ali and Alex Trenta paid Garcia $5,000 to shoot their Nov. 1 wedding.
The Montclair couple said they realized something was wrong two months earlier, when Garcia was a no-show for Ali’s bridal shower — an event that was part of the contract.
“I did not so much as hear from her via text, call, anything,” Ali Trenta said, noting that Garcia eventually offered a free canvas to make up for her absence.
Trenta said she felt better after a phone conversation with Garcia two weeks before the wedding.
“She seemed entirely calm and informed that she and her husband were completely fine, sitting there eating oysters, as we spoke,” she said. “I felt a little more at ease in hearing the casualness in her voice.”
But on the wedding day, Garcia was two hours late and left 30 minutes early, Trenta said.
To date, they’ve only received three “sneak peak” images, said Trenta, who filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
Carly, a Salem County bride who asked to withhold her last name for privacy reasons, got married the next day.
Garcia agreed to accept $1,750, or half her regular fee, to do Carly’s event, she said.
Carly said she started to worry when Garcia missed several phone call appointments.
“I was worried about being a Bridezilla so I didn’t complain,” she said. “I gave her the benefit of the doubt, especially because she gave me such a large discount.”
Garcia did make it to the wedding, but she was an hour late, Carly said.
In the weeks and months after the wedding, Garcia offered a long list of reasons why photos hadn’t been sent, Carly said.
She finally received a link to download more than 100 GB of unedited images on Feb. 17, she said, but her computer crashed each time she tried to access them. She bought an external hard drive hoping she could download the images, but it’s not working well, she said.
“It’s taking me hours of work over several days to get small handfuls of unedited photos,” she said. “This isn’t what I paid for.”
She said there are now 45 brides and one groom who are members of a private Facebook group formed so affected couples could share their stories.
Carly said she just wants what she was promised.
“I feel betrayed. I feel played. I feel angry and hurt,” she said. “Her holding (the photos) hostage is heartbreaking.”
Christopher Badovinac, who married his wife Tiffani on Dec. 14, paid $5,000 for Garcia’s services.
Badovinac, a sergeant in the New Jersey National Guard, said he received a text as he drove to his wedding in Freehold. Garcia said she had pneumonia and was rushing to the emergency room. She would send a replacement photographer, he said.
It took two months before the couple received anything — a huge dump of unedited photos.
Christopher and Tiffani Badovinac on their wedding day. They said their photographer hasn't delivered what was promised as part of their $5,000 contract.Courtesy Christopher and Tiffani Badovinac
“We have been converting the photo files to JPGs ever since,” he said, noting that they’re still waiting for their video.
“We were looking forward to these photos, edited and able to be shared with our family,” Badovinac said. “I’d like our money back.”
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
Two days after Bamboozled reached out to Garcia, she posted a new message to her Facebook page.
She said everyone will get their unedited photos, and eventually, they’ll get their edited versions.
Several brides said they received messages from Garcia saying she will provide their photos by Feb. 24. Eleven have received links to download the raw photos, the brides said. But others said they haven’t heard anything at all.
“There will be a public statement (with proof of medical / whatever the other claims are / etc etc) at a later time,” Garcia told Bamboozled in a Facebook message.
Garcia didn’t respond to direct questions about how many brides were waiting, how many asked for refunds and why she didn’t have a list of clients so she could assess what contracts hadn’t been satisfied.
“I am sorry for the delays,” she said, adding that she needed to make sure nothing would “corrupt the raw files where the photos would truly be gone forever.”
“I will always view that I make art with my couples and capture their love authentically, and there’s nothing more that I want than to deliver the final product,” she said.
The group of brides said it is Garcia’s responsibility to make right by her customers.
“She should be contacting every couple she has taken photos for from June 2024 to present to confirm if they got their full gallery,” one bride said. “We already feel scammed out of money. We don’t want to do free work for her either.”
Stories by Karin Price Mueller
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on X at @KPMueller.