Venture - I have 'won' 125 pound voucher...so what's the catch?

[unicorn]

I imagine they try and sell expensive photos... but can you getaway with just the freebie?

I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole ever again. MIL had a 'freebie' and forced us along to a Venture studio miles from home not long after I'd given birth (good at emotional blackmail!). I was exhausted, it was a pretty miserable experience, the photographer kept clicking her fingers at DS to try and get his attention which really wound me up & she made us all lie down on a concrete floor to take supposedly arty shots. The photos were pretty crap anyway - MIL got one minuscule one free and felt obliged to fork out a fortune for a second tiny one.

We did this. It was supposed to be the whole family but said fine for it to be the boys as a surprise for dh's birthday. The session was fab - it took an hour and they had an absolute ball. The photo viewing session was breathtakingly beautiful - just gorgeous pictures. I explained what I wanted and the man was great at helping me choose just one that would suit the size of frame that I wanted. He was very understanding that we would only pay lots when we could do something with all of us and when we knew our family was complete. I "upgrade" my freebie 7x5 by adding £40 and getting a 12 x 10 (I think). No probs collecting it - dh was delighted. Wouldn't hesitate to use our local Venture again.

Awful experience with them. Just about managed to choose one that was good enough as the freebie!! Now another company that we did the same with was fantastic, spent a fortune there. Just the luck of the draw.

I took my children a few weeks ago and am due to go for the viewing on tuesday - am getting worried now

Yes - you need to be strong to resist the urge to spend hundreds of pounds on a couple of pics!
Definitely refuse a party if they ask - it is a big con!

We actually went knowing that we were going to spend loads (didnt tell them that), we wanted to iyswim.

The only thing was that there was not as many too choose from as I imagined there would be. OK, there were about 200, but not all ones which we both liked (mainly me saying I had big arms or something). We took bits of some, had some in colour and some in b&w and eventually got something we were happy with.

Seven photos in a 2'x 2' frame for £700+.

If its not going to bankrupt you at the time then its well worth it imo. Already, I look back and Im so pleased we decided to go for it.

They werent in the slightest bit pushy.

I did some work for Venture and then decided to set up myself. Check out www.faceportraits.co.uk :-)