Despite all of our best made plans and intentions, life has a way of throwing curveballs. More often than not, they were unplanned. And so it is with weddings. For any number of reasons, planned or unexpected, weddings too can be impacted. And when they are, it may require brides and grooms to reschedule their wedding and/or change their venue, or sadly sometimes, altogether cancel their wedding. These situations are extremely rare, but it’s good to plan ahead a bit. I have attempted to create a fair cancellation and rescheduling policy below that contemplates all of our collective investment and expectations into planning for your wedding and resolve to work with you as reasonably as possible. Having said that, please keep in mind that I have a business to run, have other professional obligations and expenses, as well as personal ones. So please keep in mind this old proverb: “Failure to properly plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part”.
To view the Cancellation and Rescheduling Policy Decision Chart, click here.
* Disclaimer: This policy is subject to change at any time and for any reason by Trans4mation Photography. This policy applies to all cancellations and rescheduling (re-bookings) of wedding photography and/or videography, unless prior arrangements have been made in writing with Trans4mation Photography. This policy also applies in principle to all photography and videography events, not just weddings. If there is any discrepancy or conflict between regulations or policy, Trans4mation Photography has the final say as to the application of its Cancellation and Rescheduling Policy. Accordingly, the contract along with this Policy remain in full effect with any changes being approved only at the discretion of Trans4mation Photography. In all scenarios, any rescheduling that falls beyond 18 months of the original Event Date will result in forfeiture of any monies paid with 50% of the contract total package cost being the minimum, and a new contract must be created and signed by all Parties.
Definitions:
Non-refundable Retainer: This is the payment Clients made around the time they signed an Agreement with Trans4mation Photography. This retainer is your commitment to me and promise to pay the balance. My commitment to you is blocking off your wedding date and no longer marketing it to other potential clients even when I am approached to sell more lucrative wedding packages, begin planning for your wedding, and arranging for an engagement session if purchased. Moreover, the retainer is often already used to pay off expenses related and unrelated to your wedding, upgrade equipment (which I may have elected not to do without that retainer), spend time planning your wedding, communicating with you, etc. That’s why it is non-refundable.
Rescheduling Fee: This is a fee I have normally charged for couples who wish to reschedule their date (assuming my availability) to offset my loss of income due to losing a future date I could have sold to other clients for thousands of dollars. Every time a wedding is rescheduled into the future, a Friday, Saturday (prime day), or Sunday for example is potentially no longer available for me to earn revenue. This fee will be 25% of your contract total package cost if the new rescheduled date is within 6 months of the original Event Date, 50% of your contract total package cost if the new rescheduled ate is within 12 to 18 months of the original Event Date, which is due immediately upon formally rescheduling the Event Date and is in addition to any other balances or unpaid amounts previously due.
Change Fee: Separate from the Rescheduling Fee, this is a fee I have normally charged for couples who reschedule their date (assuming my availability) to offset price increases from year to year. Every business must raise its prices from year to year to account for increases in expenses, contractor costs, album costs, inflation, etc. For example, if you purchased a package in 2018 for a 2020 wedding and find yourself needing to reschedule to 2021, my prices would have been higher for 2021 weddings. In fact, I would have already sold 2021 packages at higher prices, so it would not be fair to those 2021 couples to be charged more than 2018 couples who reschedule to 2021 without an adjustment to contemplate for inflation, increase in Consumer Price Index, and other increases in operation. This fee will be 5% of your contract total package cost if the new date falls within 6 months of the original Event Date, or 10% of your contract total package cost if the new date falls within 12-18 months of the original Event Date, which is due immediately upon formally rescheduling the Event Date and is in addition to any other balances or unpaid amounts previously due.
Contract Language (found in every Agreement):
“If Client desires to cancel Services, reschedule Services, or if it becomes impossible for Vendor to render Services due to the fault of the Client or parties related to Client, including but not limited to failure of the Event to take place or failure of one or more essential parties to show up on the Event Date in a timely manner, Client shall provide notice to Vendor as soon as possible via the Notice provisions detailed in this Agreement. In such a case, Vendor is under no obligation to perform any remaining Services, or reschedule or re-book Services or any other services related to this Agreement with the Client or any other party, and is under no obligation to refund any monies already paid by the Client. Vendor, at its sole discretion, may elect to reschedule the Services, given Vendor availability and other considerations, which may include an added fee for which amount will be at the Vendor’s discretion.” [emphasis added]
Scenario 1: Clients choose to cancel the contract, or Vendor and Client are unable to find a mutually agreeable new rescheduling date, or Event will no longer takes place on the Event Date in accordance with the Agreement due to no fault of the Vendor.
* The Clients forfeit any retainer monies deposited. If special arrangements were made to pay incrementally, as a minimum, the Clients are obligated to forfeit/pay any unpaid amount up to 50% of the contract value, and as a maximum, forfeit any balances paid over 50%. In addition to any monies due by the Client, the contract becomes null and void and all Parties walk away with no additional obligations or liabilities.
Scenario 2: Clients reschedule to a new date.
* The Clients will be required to pay the commensurate Rescheduling Fee and Change Fee immediately upon formally rescheduling their date, with any new balances due one month before the new event date. Clients must agree to all the Important Notes below. Otherwise, the Agreement is canceled as outlined in Scenario 1 above.
IMPORTANT NOTE #1: Regardless of which scenario your situation may fall under, it is essential that you notify me of postponement/cancellation VIA EMAIL and check with me first about my availability prior to signing or formally changing your date with a venue, a caterer, or other vendors or third parties. If I am not available, you run the risk of losing monies you have already paid. I don’t want to happen to you, so please keep me appraised via email. Any other form of communication other than email is not considered valid for the purposes of rescheduling or cancelling an Event.
IMPORTANT NOTE #2: If your wedding is rescheduled, any fees along with the full balance from your original contract (or revision to the contract or other agreement made in writing) would need to be paid at the time we reschedule or sign a new contract in order for me to guarantee my availability or the availability of one or more of my team members for your new date. The original balance being paid will be non-refundable (consider it like a new “retainer” in order for me to hold your new date, whereas the rescheduling and change fees may be refunded as warranted. Failure to find a new, mutually agreeable date will result in cancellation of the Agreement and forfeiture of the retainer.
IMPORTANT NOTE #3: If you reschedule, you agree that turnaround times for edited photos, videos, or finished products will be longer than previously discussed, and that there is a high probability I will be unable to do the “venue walk through” in person as planned (however, we should certainly plan to talk/video chat to review logistics, etc. prior to your wedding). Rescheduling your Event Date typically requires me to rework my personal and professional schedule and priorities to accommodate you, and therefore it is expected that the Client accept some concessions to make it all work. Failure to accept these concessions will result in the cancellation of the Agreement and forfeiture of the retainer.
IMPORTANT NOTE #4: If you end up having to reschedule your wedding and purchased a package that comes with video and/or a 2nd photographer, I will make every effort to have the videographer and 2nd photographer cover your wedding. They may not be the same people I had originally planned on, but I will make a reasonable effort to make them or a qualified substitute available. Have said that, there may be instances where I am reasonably unable to find a 2nd photographer and/or videographer due to unavailability or other unexpected considerations. Failure to accept this possible scenario will result in the cancellation of the Agreement per Scenario 1. Please be prepared to consider this possibility as you contemplate your options. Of course, if I am unable to find replacements, I will let you know.
IMPORTANT NOTE #5: If there are any unique situations, discrepancies, or disagreement, I encourage my clients to communicate with me in order to find a mutually fair resolution with the final decision being exclusively mine to make and at my discretion. Any abuse of this policy or unfair expectations will not enjoy the benefits of this policy. While I will make a reasonable effort to accommodate all my sweet couples, in the end, I have a business to run. Therefore, Trans4mation Photography retains the right to make the final and absolute decision on all cancelations, rescheduling, fees, availability of photographer(s),videographer(s), products and services, etc., if an unrealistic request is made to deviate from the original contract terms and conditions.
