Wedding Photography Advise

*** FREE CARIBBEAN HONEYMOON SCAM #1 *** "I was contacted by a travel company and told i had won a trip and sent them the deposit for the information (stupid action #1). The next day looked it up on the web and found a discussion board full of folks griping about the scam...but don't know if it really qualifies as a scam or just a nasty little hoodwink. Basically, the travel agency claims you win a "free" trip to the Bahamas and all you pay are taxes and what not ... comes out to be about $320 for you and your partner. Some folks did some investigating and found that doing the package on your own would cost $310 per couple and that was not including the discounts that travel agencies tend to get for such things... so in actuality the travel company is making money off the deal. I tried to get out of it with my credit card company but they said the only way to prove this is a scam was if the travel company didn't come through with the trip within the advertised specifications" - Aimee Webb *** FREE CARIBBEAN HONEYMOON SCAM #2 *** "I'm not sure how much of a scam you can count this, but my fiancée & I have settled on getting married on either a cruise, or in the Bahamas. When doing my research on the net of this, I saw an offer for "Free Weddings" so I inquired. As the rep was telling me all the details, he mentioned that there's a $225.00 government tax for the marriage documents. I told him that I found a site that states that it only cost $40.00 to get the documents in the Bahamas. After telling the rep about this, I then asked if the $225.00 was actually a fee charged by the Bahamian government, or was it really a fee charged by the resort? The rep became defensive and would never answer the question. All I got was that I had every right to get the marriage documents myself, but that I wouldn't be able to get married on their property without paying it. Right there I felt like I was the victim of false advertisement. I've yet to get a straight answer as to who gets the other $185.00 if the marriage certificate only cost $40.00 since they advertise that "Weddings are Free" at their properties. I'm sure past, present, and future engaged couples would like to be informed if this is a scam or not, so please let us know if you're able to uncover anything." Thanks!" Les Hatcher >>> MY COMMENTS All I can say is, be extra careful about signing up for honeymoon sweepstakes at Bridal Shows and in Bridal Shops unless you trust the company offering the prize. Of course some contests are "legit", but it seems that others are really lead generation systems for travel businesses where literally "every entrant wins". So if someone calls you and tells you that, "You've won a 4 day, 3 night vacation" and all you need to do is "pay the taxes"...don't get too excited! Just get on the internet and do your homework on the company before giving them any money. Likewise, be careful if they tell you that to pick up your prize, you simply need to go and see some "No-Obligation" sales pitch on products they're selling. This is more likely some "high pressure" sales pitch by very, very experienced pros. So the bottom line is: be very skeptical if anyone informs you that you've won something free, but then proceeds to tell you that you need to take some action to actually receive your prize (e.g. just pay the taxes or attend a sales pitch).