Vendors

Hi everyone - I am also turning to plan "b", which is to postpone my wedding from June 2021 to July 2022. All of my vendors have been very accommodating except for my photographer. He is treating the postponement as a cancellation and rebooking. Apparently they are offering to waive the 25% rebooking fee (which there was no mention of the contract!) but they still want full payment before my original event date of June 2021. This is bizarre to me, as they are effectively asking us to pay in full for services that we will not receive until over one year later. And that assumes they have not gone out of business by then and are still in a position to provide the services! My venue and other vendors have recognized this risk and offered payment of the balance in instalments (e.g. pay 50% of the balance owing in June 2021 and pay the rest in July 2022). I thought this was a reasonable compromise and suggested it to my photographer but he will not budge. I am weary of paying 100% of the booking fee one year before the services are rendered, because if the photographer goes out of business between now and July 2022 I will be out alot of money with nothing to show for it! On the other hand, I already have a 50% deposit with him so if I walk away now then I am guaranteed to lose a good chunk of change. Any suggestions on how to proceed? Thanks in advance!

You can approach your vendors by letting them you are wanting to cancel the plans and see where your contract is based on the refund given back. Every vendor is different and noted on the contract itself for you to know as well. Your loss will be huge if you accept this path.

The other way to go around this is to reschedule your date to hold a Reception and carry on with your actual wedding if they will accommodate your request. I wish you all the best and good luck.

I lost 2 vendors with half the deposit gone and not as much as I thought. The others didn't cancel knowing it was just one of those arguments within couples.

I would also consider if any of the vendors would be ok with downsizing and using your deposits towards that. For example getting bouquet(s) and boutonniere(s) instead of all the ceremony and reception flowers you may have planned on, or seeing if you can get a small cake for your plan b wedding instead of say the cupcakes for 200 people that you were originally going to get, or can the videographer do a livestream video instead of a highlight montage you had planned.


A lot of these vendors have had an exceptionally difficult year with many wedding cancelations and postponements that will cut into their bookings for the next few years. So if it were me I would try to see what options there are for both scaling back and potentially getting some of your money back too.

First, check your contracts. What does it say about cancellations, especially ones due to Acts of God or pandemics?

If nothing is stated, start by telling them of your change of plans. No need to provide full details or try to justify your reasons with an essay - just simple tell them that you're ready to move on due to the circumstances. Many vendors have been reasonable throughout this craziness and you may be lucky. Hopefully you're not tied to the full contracted amount. Your next steps will depend on how they react to you. If they're firm but polite on your deposit being non-refundable, ask for alternatives to fulfill the cost. For example, if you contracted someone for an 8-hour day for photography, can the deposit just cover an engagement shoot or just the ceremony?

If they're unreasonable (ie "I don't care if the government says you're only allowed 50 people, I'm charging you for 200 because that's what we discussed), calmly escalate the situation to their boss. If you're dealing with an owner, reaffirm the situation and cite the government's regulations. If they refuse and are adamant to get your full payment via activities that are against the law, you should consider legal action, media attention or both.

Some vendors may let you off if you sell the contract but I would pursue this as a last resort as it's pretty difficult to do that and you may end up spending a ton of time without any yield.

Good luck!