Mixed Experience
I was a bride who worked with Focus for a wedding in August 2018.
Quality of service
Pros: The photographers and videographers were clearly skilled in capturing all the important details of your wedding day and more. They were very meticulous, not being afraid to direct you to ensure that the shots turn out beautifully. I also appreciated the editing and naturalistic colour grading work of the photos.
Cons: Their ability to deliver a polished, final product for the videography was deterred by the disorganization and lack of communication within the Focus team. The people editing your videos are different from the videographers. This should not be a problem, but my instructions on how I wanted my video were not communicated to the rest of the team. For instance, they used the wrong song and ignored my request of excluding certain footage for the wedding video trailer. Moreover, I had notified them of an editing “mistake” (i.e. an abrupt split second clip inserted awkwardly, likely residual footage from editing) in the final wedding trailer in November 2018. They assured me that this would be fixed, but the final product I received in April 2019 still contained the mistake.
Responsiveness
Pros: None.
Cons: Over 90% of my communication with Focus was initiated by myself. They were the only wedding vendor I had to chase after. I was the one who had to reach out to them to schedule the engagement shoot, to ensure attendance of their staff on my wedding day, and to follow up on deadlines. They are quite unresponsive by phone, but do better with email and texting. Even so, it can take them more than three business days to get back to you, especially if you have a complaint. It really did feel like they were avoiding me at several points.
They were also extremely late with deadlines. To give you a sense, our wedding was in August 2018. We received all physical products (albums, photo prints, usb with files) in April 2019.
Professionalism
Pros: The staff were generally courteous and patient. The videographers and photographers made me feel very comfortable the day of my wedding and it felt like I was working with old friends. Interactions were always polite, no matter the mode of communication.
Cons: Even though each individual was professional, the organization as a whole was so fragmented, resulting in an unprofessional presentation. There was no consistent person you could touch base with. Your communication with them depends on who is in the office that day. As such, I would find myself explaining my situation multiple times to different people.
Value
Pros: Overall, Focus offered great value packages. I would consider their price in the moderate range and they are very willing to negotiate with you to customize your package.
Cons: None.
Flexibility
Pros: Focus is very flexible. They understand the changing nature of weddings and adapt well to any surprises on the day of the wedding. I was unhappy with a portion of my purchased package and they were willing to renegotiate my package. They do give off an earnest and genuine desire to do well by the client.
Cons: Focus is known for a particular style of editing. I think they would do well with couples who want what they see on the Focus website. They have perfected the standard wedding formula. I would not, however, recommend Focus for couples who wish for some final product they do not see on the company website. For instance, for my “Love Story Video”, I wanted an editing style that was more akin to what you see in trendy Q&A youtube videos lately. I had provided them with examples and instructions on how I wanted the video to turn out. The staff I worked with on this project were enthusiastic and lovely. However, the video itself turned out to be subpar and really behind schedule. It was not something we felt comfortable showing our loved ones.
Do I recommend?
There were some really great things about working with Focus and some really terrible things as well. Given that wedding photography and videography companies are quite prolific in the GTA, I would recommend brides to go with another company because there are just so many other options out there.