Hello,
I am posting this as an anonymous person but I am curious, as being newly engaged and looking at wedding vendors, many require non-refundable deposits to be made. Now this is understandable because if I need to cancel with short notice and they are unable to have their services re-booked for the weekend that I initially reserved them, then they risk losing money.
However, why shouldn't these same vendors have a mandatory fee that they must pay if they cancel within a certain time frame? (Im not talking about the couple paying for extra insurance to cover this) Lately I've seen a few people have services, such as photography, cancel within a month of their wedding date, leaving the poor couple stressed and finding a photographer at the last minute (very difficult to do) and most likely not within their budget (maybe the new photographer is cheaper, maybe they are significantly more expensive).
Would it not be fair to hold vendors accountable to have to pay a cancellation fee if they cancel on short notice to help cover costs of re-booking a new vendor? If couples need to cancel for any reason, they lose their deposit. However if a vendor cancels for any reason, they don't lose anything (minus some business - but they are in a better position to lose a weekend of work than the majority of couples that are probably struggling by to pay off their wedding).
Another reason I am asking is because we are looking for caterers with many already being booked well over a year before our wedding. We are on a budget, and last thing we would want would be to have our caterer cancel within short notice, leaving us stranded without a caterer and either a) not being able to book one since many are filled over a year ahead of time or b) finding a caterer who will likely charge much more per plate.
-Anonymous
