{"id":28498,"date":"2026-05-14T02:50:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T02:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/28498\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T02:50:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T02:50:19","slug":"1-million-lost-state-orders-wedding-photographer-to-turn-over-pics-and-video-as-promised-wral-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/28498\/","title":{"rendered":"$1 million lost: State orders wedding photographer to turn over pics and video as promised :: WRAL.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson addressed the outrage surrounding a Raleigh-based photography company on Wednesday after months of media coverage<\/a> highlighted couples feeling robbed after their big day.<\/p>\n

Jackson described the visceral reaction the state got before filing a lawsuit in February against Holly Christina Photography<\/a>. Now, a judge is ordering the company to give clients the photos and videos they were promised.<\/p>\n

WRAL reported on allegations that the company defrauded more than 200 brides and grooms of an estimated $750,000 after hearing from upset customers after their wedding and engagement photo shoots.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Jackson updated that estimated total to about $1 million. Hundreds filed complaints with the state, he said, and evidence was plentiful to support their allegations. The state said that at least 150 customers requested refunds of their down payments, but the Holly Christina Photography never provided them. <\/p>\n

Jackson said that on two occasions, the company booked five weddings on one day. Others complained about photos being taken but never turned over to the couple.<\/p>\n

“As you can imagine, as a wedding photography company, you really have to screw up to get sued by your state’s attorney general,” Jackson said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAs a wedding photography company, you really have to screw up to get sued by your state’s attorney general.NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson<\/p>\n

“Since I’ve been attorney general, there are very few cases where basically an entire community has been screaming all at once. There was just no question that something really terrible had happened, and we needed to respond quickly to it. The level of energy around this almost unsurpassed with respect to any other issue we have had.”<\/p>\n

The case is not over, but the state asked for a preliminary injunction, which contains three objectives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHolly Christina Photography has to give any previously promised videos and photos to all of the affected couples within 30 days. Holly Christina Photography is not allowed to operate as a wedding photography company during the lawsuit.All Holly Christina Photography assets will be frozen so state can comb through their financial records.<\/p>\n

The judge agreed to fulfill the request.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s been a long time since my wedding,” said Caroline Roach. “I didn’t receive any photos or videos with my parents or speeches or dances.”<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s owners, Holly Christina Scott Ayscue and
\nChristopher Owen Ayscue, have until June 11 to turn over any
\nundelivered photos and videos to couples.<\/p>\n

Jackson said the state was going back to court to seek civil remedies, refunds for customers and to shut the company down. At this point, the case is still considered a civil case.<\/p>\n

Two couples and a mother of a bride who contracted with the company stood by Jackson during the news conference. Jackson said the company accepted deposits right until they shut down, with no refunds given.<\/p>\n

“These kinds of consumer protection cases will always be big cases to us, because either we can live in a state where you can mistreat people or we don’t,” Jackson said. “These couples will never get their wedding day back. But they deserve to know that the NCDOJ will make their fight our fight.”<\/p>\n

The North Carolina Department of Justice\u2019s investigation
\nfound that at least 24 couples had weddings scheduled less than 90 days after
\nthe company shut down on Jan. 25 “due to unforeseen circumstances.” Those clients got no help in finding a new photographer, nor were refunds provided, according to the state.<\/p>\n

The company continued to solicit and take deposits from
\ncustomers until early January, according to the attorney general’s office. Since January, the company’s website has contained a message stating it has ceased operations “due to unforeseen circumstances.” A link to a portfolio contained many wedding reception photos and engagement photos.<\/p>\n

In January,\u00a05
\nOn Your Side’s Keely Arthur contacted several brides who made arrangements<\/a>\u00a0with
\nthe company around the time of their closure. Most brides said they hadn\u2019t
\nheard anything, despite the business saying it would reach out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson addressed the outrage surrounding a Raleigh-based photography company on Wednesday after months…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[17380,434,5127,8,9,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-28498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-5-on-your-side","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-fraud","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116570660766307896","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}