A wedding studio’s bankruptcy has forced couples to find another photographer without a refund from the first, as the studio’s contracted photographers scramble to book new couples while weeks behind in payments.

South West Photo and Film (SWPF), located in the UK, declared bankruptcy on July 27, leaving couples without a wedding photographer, even after already paying in full. The studio was reportedly accepting bookings leading up to the week it filed for bankruptcy. Owner Lee Brewer apologized to couples in an automated email response. In the email, he explained that his company was unable to recover from the pandemic, where he refunded more than 200,000 euros over the course of two years. As a result, he said he was forced to declare bankruptcy. The owner did confirm that weddings that he photographed over the past three months would still be receiving edited photographs, but all of the company’s social accounts and website have been taken down.

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COVID-19 lockdowns that canceled weddings and events across the globe had left photographers worldwide scrambling. One couple told the BBC that they booked and paid in full during a “lockdown deal.” Two brides—sisters—said that they had booked with SouthWest Photo and Film and paid 3,000 euros for both weddings; the company declared bankruptcy three days before the first of the two weddings. One sister told BBC that a Facebook support group for affected couples had already gained more than 1,000 group members.

South West Photo and Film subcontracted a number of photographers and videographers, and many couples attempted to find those subcontracted photographers that were hired to cover their weddings but many of them remain unpaid. UK photographer and videographer Sam Richardson told the BBC that payments had slowed over the past six weeks until invoices in the thousands were overdue. He also told PetaPixel that he suspected funds from a couple paying in full for weddings a year out were being used to pay current expenses. Richardson says that he’s trying to get existing videos out to couples and offering “pay what you can” for weddings previously booked with South West.

The wedding studio’s bankruptcy comes a year after a similar scenario when U.S.-based Glasser Images closed, citing COVID-19-related financial struggles, leaving both couples and sub-contracted photographers scrambling. The closure resulted in a civil action suit where the owner was required to pay nearly $1 million in damages.