Wedding photographers in Portugal
Payment protection
Your money, and when it moves
Every rule about paying your photographer through Lens & Vows, in one place. You pay the photographer’s own price — no fee on top, unless you choose our protection for the balance.
- deposit, when the photographer accepts
- 30%
- instalments at most for the balance through us
- 3
- payment protection — only on a balance paid through us
- 5%
- after delivery, the gallery is accepted automatically
- 14 days
The deposit: 30%, when the photographer says yes
You send a booking request for a package and a date. Once the photographer accepts, you pay 30% of their price by card through Lens & Vows — and the date is yours: it disappears from their calendar for everyone else.
The deposit is part of the photographer’s price, not an extra. Our commission comes out of it; the rest of it is paid to the photographer 7 days after you book — a window to put any mistake right.
Until the deposit is paid, you and the photographer talk through our messages. Once it is paid, you get each other’s contact details.
The balance: your choice
The other 70% is paid before the wedding, whichever way suits you.
| Straight to the photographer | Through Lens & Vows | |
|---|---|---|
| On top of the price | Nothing | 5% payment protection, shown before you pay |
| How you pay | Bank transfer or cash, on the photographer’s terms | By card, in up to 3 instalments |
| When it is due | As you agree with the photographer | The last instalment 14 days before the wedding |
| When the photographer receives it | When you pay them | After you accept your gallery |
| If the photographer cancels | Between you and the photographer | It all comes back to you |
An example
A wedding priced at $3,430, in the currency you have chosen.
- Deposit, when the photographer accepts (30%)
- $1,029
- The balance, straight to the photographer
- $2,401
- Or the balance through us, with 5%
- $2,521
- That is 3 instalments of about
- $840
An example only. Each photographer’s price is on their page, in your currency.
When the photographer is paid for the balance
What you pay through us for the balance waits with us until the photographs are delivered and you accept the gallery. If you say nothing, it is accepted automatically 14 days after delivery — time to look through it properly, without leaving the photographer waiting forever.
Something wrong with the gallery? Tell the photographer — and us — before you accept it.
If you cancel
The deposit stays in every case: it held your date, and the photographer turned other couples away for it. Of the balance you have already paid through us — one instalment or all of them — you get back:
| When you cancel | What comes back |
|---|---|
| More than 6 months before the wedding | All of it |
| 3 to 6 months before | Three quarters of what you paid |
| 30 to 90 days before | Half of what you paid |
| Less than 30 days before | Nothing |
- The 5% protection fee is not refunded: it paid the card fees.
- Changing the date instead? One change is free, if the photographer is free on the new day.
If the photographer cancels
You get back everything you paid through us — the deposit and the protection fee included — and we help you find another photographer who is free on your date.
A photographer who doesn’t turn up on the day is removed from Lens & Vows.
Paying in your own currency
Choose your currency at the top of any page. Every price is shown in it, and the number you see is the number on your card — no conversion surprise at the end.
The exchange rate is fixed for your booking when the deposit is asked for, and every later payment of that booking uses the same rate. Card payments are processed by Stripe; we never see or store your card number.
Paying the balance directly
Paying the photographer directly is simple, common and costs nothing extra. It is an arrangement between you and them: ask for a written contract and a receipt for each payment. We can only give back money that went through us.
Start with the place and the date.
The concierge shows who is free and fits. No account, no email to look.