Couple without wedding video wins 200,000 TL in compensation

Feride and Şeref Derin (27), who live in the Bayraklı district, decided to unite their lives with a magnificent wedding. The young couple tied the knot on December 27, 2023, at a wedding hall in the Karabağlar district. The wedding, which followed the bride and groom's preparations, turned into a disappointment due to what happened afterward. When the couple asked the cameraman for the wedding footage, they were devastated to learn that there was no footage. With no professional camera footage of their wedding, the couple is now trying to find happiness in the clips they collected from their relatives' mobile phones.

The couple filed a non-pecuniary damages lawsuit at the İzmir Consumer Court, stating that they had been victimized. The court found the couple's grievance justified and ruled that a total of 200,000 TL in non-pecuniary damages be paid, with 100,000 TL for each person. Expressing that they wanted the excitement of the day and the moments they shared with their family to be recorded, Feride Deren said, "When we asked for the recordings at the end of the wedding, they told us that 'the camera was not recording.' We started the legal process with our lawyer. Our goal is for the grievance we experienced to be heard and for other couples not to experience this situation."

Şeref Derin said, "It is very sad for us from a moral standpoint that we have almost no footage of that day. A wedding happens once in a lifetime. It is not just the images that are lost, but our memories." Lawyer Ebru Bilgen, who made a statement on the subject, said, "There was a cameraman walking around the hall during the wedding. However, at the end of the wedding, the cameraman stated that this camera was not recording, and that only another fixed, security-type camera without sound was recording. At the time the wedding contract was made, the clients were told, 'You cannot bring an outside camera, and it is forbidden for you to film because we have our own cameraman.' The roaming cameraman is frequently seen in the recordings of this fixed camera. He acts as if he is filming the entire wedding, but he did not press a button, and the wedding was never recorded from start to finish. This is an unacceptable situation for the clients in a moral sense. There is no turning back from this, because it is a once-in-a-lifetime event."

"A precedent-setting decision"

Stating that they applied to the İzmir Consumer Courts and their compensation claims were accepted, Bilgen said, "The individuals will never have the opportunity to watch a moment they experienced once in their lives again, and this caused them to suffer moral damage. A decision that will set a precedent in this regard has been issued by the İzmir Consumer Courts. The court ruled for non-pecuniary damages. It was ruled that a total of 200,000 TL in non-pecuniary damages, 100,000 TL per person, be paid along with the legal interest to accrue from the date of the incident."

"They must definitely take it to the judiciary"

Underlining that similar issues must definitely be taken to the judiciary, Bilgen noted the following:

"The clients made some posts on social media. When we looked at the comments made under the posts, we realized that many people have experienced similar situations but did not apply to the judiciary. People should definitely take these matters to the judiciary when such a situation happens to them, while also paying attention to the statute of limitations."