BOSTON — Rachel Noel is still waiting for her wedding photos months after getting married. Now, the recent bride from Winchester says she’s taking her would-be photographer to court and warning others about signing up for deals that sound too good to be true.
“I hired Courtney Smith… [because] I was seeing quotes for up to $5,000,” Noel told Boston 25 News. “She was offering $1,200. How could I say no?”
Noel says she found Courtney Smith of Southern Silos Photography in North Carolina while looking for photographers online. The two connected on social media and quickly clicked. Noel says Smith told her the cost of her services included the cost to travel to Massachusetts to shoot her wedding.
But 48 hours before tying the knot, Noel says Smith dropped a bombshell.
In text messages shared with Boston 25 News, Noel says Smith told her she made a mistake booking her flight.
“The flight that she booked was for next year,” Noel said, referencing the text messages. “We drive everywhere, so I know nothing about flights. But my husband said you can’t book a flight a year in advance.”
It was an immediate red flag for Noel.
However, Noel said Smith secured another photographer in the area to shoot her wedding, a woman named Ashley, whom Smith hired for $700.
“Ashley… was incredible,” Noel said. “She was probably my shining light in this whole awful experience.”
But three months after the wedding, Ashley told Boston 25 News she’s still waiting to be paid by Smith. Photographers typically do not release the bulk of their photos until they are paid for their work.
As a result, Noel has received only a handful of photographs from her wedding day.
“I totally understand why she’s not releasing the photos,” Noel said. “I don’t hold anything against her. She’s just doing what she was contracted for.”
Ashley declined Boston 25 News’ request for a formal interview.
As Noel began to dig deeper, she says she uncovered an alarming pattern. After Noel shared her story on social media, she says more than a dozen brides and photographers from across the country reached out to say they had similar experiences with Courtney Smith and Southern Silos Photography.
One of those brides-to-be was Liliana Dollan of New Jersey. Reached by phone, Dollan told Boston 25 News Smith also canceled on her Philadelphia engagement shoot the night before, claiming to have the flu. A replacement photographer was sent, but Dollan said miscommunication led them to miss the shoot.
Others alerted Noel to the website Stop Stealing Photos, which includes a lengthy post about Smith, Southern Silos Photography, and various alias business names. The site accuses Smith of plagiarizing other photographers’ work and passing it off as her own. It also details past complaints by other clients.
Noel says when she confronted Smith about the site, her explanations didn’t add up.
“She claimed that she never knew about it, or she claimed she was working to take it down,” Noel told Boston 25 News. “I thought, your stories aren’t matching. Do you know about it or not?”
Boston 25 News contacted the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina, the county in which Smith was last known to live and where Southern Silos Photography lists its address. A detective within the Sheriff’s Office confirmed it is investigating two complaints against Smith, including a complaint filed by Noel.
Smith has not been charged with any crime.
Boston 25 News reached Smith by email. In a series of responses, Smith admitted to making mistakes but said her intent was genuine.
“I am not a horrible person,” Smith wrote to Boston 25 News. “I have made mistakes. I have definitely learned from them…. I definitely deserved the hate to some capacity.”
Asked about stealing other photographers’ photos, Smith said she never intended to plagiarize. Posts to her social media using the works of other photographers were intended to promote ideas she wanted to capture, Smith told Boston 25 News.
Smith also said she fulfilled her obligations under the contract Noel signed when she secured and paid for a fill-in photographer. Smith said she has since refunded Noel’s payment and offered screenshots from an unidentified payment platform showing Noel’s partial credit card number. The screenshots did not include the amount refunded.
Both Noel and Ashley, the fill-in photographer, tell Boston 25 News they have yet to receive their money. And crucially for Noel, until Ashley is paid, Noel’s wedding photos are in limbo.
“One thing I’ll own up to is biting off more than I can chew,” Smith said in emails. “I wanted to make this a side gig that was my travel and passion in one.”
In reflecting on her decision to hire Smith, Noel says she now realizes she should have done more due diligence.
“I would say if it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” Noel said. “Photos aren’t cheap for a reason. There’s a lot of work that goes into them. It’s a lot of hours.”
Fortunately, Noel has a good relationship with Ashley and the two are working together on a solution. In addition to the complaint filed in North Carolina, Noel and Ashley have filed a joint small claims case against Smith in Woburn District Court seeking $3,000, or the combined amount they say Smith still owes them.
“If I get some justification that she’s stopped, that’ll be enough,” Noel said. “I want my photos at the end of the day. I just want those memories because I don’t think they can be recreated.”
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