NC Attorney General seeks nearly $1.7 million from wedding photography company

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is asking a judge to order a husband-and-wife photography team to pay nearly $1.7 million after the company allegedly failed to deliver wedding photos and video, and then failed to comply with a court order requiring it to do so.

The Attorney General’s Office sued Holly Christina Photography earlier this year after hundreds of couples reported paying thousands of dollars for wedding photography and videography services they never received. 5 On Your Side first reported on the issue in January; the company announced it would close in February.

Jackson's request comes just weeks after the co-owners of Holly Christina Photography spoke with reporters outside a Winston-Salem courthouse and said they were doing everything in their power to fulfill what they could. Holly Ayscue said an illness contributed to the failure of the business.

In May, a judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering the company to turn over all edited and unedited photos and videos within 30 days. The order also required the company to stop doing business and prohibited its owners from moving company assets while the case proceeded.

Jackson’s office says the company did not comply.

The attorney general is now seeking a final judgment that would require the delivery of every remaining photo and video, nearly $600,000 in restitution for affected consumers and more than $1.1 million in civil penalties. The requested judgment would also permanently prohibit the company and its owners from engaging in similar conduct.

Since January, the Attorney General’s Office says it has heard from 228 people about the company.

“These couples paid for memories from one of the most important days of their lives,” Jackson said. “The company failed to deliver them, and then failed to obey a judge who ordered them to do so.”

A judge has not yet ruled on the attorney general’s request.