Vendors upping prices

No vendor is required to offer a postponement option. So it sounds like your photographer is essentially asking you to do a typical rebooking which would happen in non-pandemic circumstances - which is fine if that works for you. Whether they can ask for full payment on the original timeline is up to the contract. Read it and see what it says about rebooking and whether that changes the payment timeline. Or the original payment timeline might hinge on the "event date" (or some other similar term) and "event date" might be defined in the beginning of your contract.

I will say that a lot of small business owners aren't well versed in contract law and I've seen some absolutely ridiculous contracts. It's totally possible your photographer doesn't understand their contract very well and is asking you to do something that isn't part of the contract. But it's also possible they're fully in the right. You need to look at the contract to figure that out. Unfortunately if you decide to "cancel" and your photographer is willing to go ahead with your event you're most likely going to lose your deposit because that's typically what non-refundable deposits are for.

Although I don't agree you should have to pay everything up front it's also pretty unlikely your photographer will totally go out of business. Even if they need to pick up a second job they could still freelance and would probably start their business up again after the pandemic. If your'e really concerned you could ask to include a clause that they need to refund you all money paid in the event they can no longer provide services on your new wedding date.

When you postponed did you sign a new contract or amend your original contract? Any pricing information should be included in that. Your original contract should also cover what happens in the event of a cancellation or when the venue can't provide its services. If you aren't able to understand your contract and you aren't willing to go along with what the venue is suggesting you should consider speaking with a lawyer.

Hi, sorry to hear you are having problems with your vendors. I am also in the process of postponing 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, like Hank described. 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!

Unfortunately, they can technically change prices if you postpone. Unless circumstances render the contract impossible (ie they cannot fulfill their end of the bargain for legal reasons), you postponing effectively means cancellation and rebooking.

There was a court ruling in BC that favoured a vendor when a couple tried to get their deposit back because they postponed their wedding. Weddings weren't banned in the province at this time. Despite a lower gathering count, it didn't legally hinder the vendor's ability to provide their services and they were willing to downsize the package accordingly. Since the couple refused because they wanted to postpone in order to keep their original guest list, the court ruled in favour of the vendor for not needing to refund their deposit.