Raleigh bride waits more than two years for wedding album

Penny Dupree Hall married Chris Hall on October 24, 2009. She finally saw the album last week – two years and four months later.

"They're excellent photographs," Penny Hall said. "It's just I had to beg for what I paid for."

Hall said she is satisfied with the album, just not the timeline.

"I didn't even realize he had taken this picture until I opened up the album, and I'm, like, ‘Oh goodness,’" she said.

She hired Joseph Mahoney of J Archer Photographer in Wilmington after seeing pictures he took at a friend's wedding. The Halls paid him $1,200.

Penny Hall said he was late the day of the wedding but stayed later than originally scheduled. So, she thought things were fine.

A few weeks later, he sent a disc of the proofs for the album. Penny Hall told 5 on Your Side she "sent him an email back saying change these photos out, replace them with these," but she said she didn't hear from him.

Months passed, she and her husband had a baby, Thomas, who is now 18 months old. Life got hectic. The album fell from the list of priorities until the end of 2010.

"I started emailing him again, and then it was, 'OK, I'll get it taken care of in six to eight weeks,'" Penny Hall said.

She says two to three months would pass, and she’d email again. She'd get apologies and excuses but no album.

When word came that her husband would soon deploy to Afghanistan, Penny Hall knew she wanted the album before he left. So, she gave Mahoney a must-have date for getting it to them. When it didn't arrive, she contacted 5 on Your Side.

When 5 on Your Side called Mahoney, he didn't dispute anything and blamed the delay on personal and business problems. He promised to ship the album.

"One phone call from you and he was emailing me, wanting to know, 'Do I need to ship it to this address?'" Penny Hall said.

The album arrived Feb. 23.

"I am pleasantly thrilled today that, you know, two and a half years later I have my album," Penny Hall said. "It's honestly better than I would have expected it to be. I just hate that it's two and a half years later."

Mahoney also gave Penny Hall the rights to print the proofs. He told 5 on Your Side he has since shut down his photography business.