You've been planning your wedding for months, maybe years now...you've gone through the time-consuming effort of finding the perfect vendors, venue, outfit, and most importantly, partner, for your wedding. And now, you're being forced between the decision of rescheduling or canceling altogether due to a world pandemic.
A sentence that I never imagined I would be writing.
If you're reading this that means that I'm the lucky human you've chosen and trusted to document one of the most precious and memorable days of your life. I want to take this time to reiterate how much I value the connection and relationship that we have already established and how vital sustaining that healthy relationship will be come the day of your wedding. That being said, due to how stressful of a time this is for everyone, I want to do everything within my power to maintain transparency and an open channel of vulnerability with each of my couples. I want you to feel safe sharing your needs with me moving forward. I want you to know that while I am your photographer, I am also someone who cares deeply about you, my couples, who inspire and support me as I chase this dream of documenting the power of love.
I realize that some of you are in the service industry and have been forced to file for unemployment, some of you have lost your jobs and your healthcare that follows, some of you have mortgages, parents you take care of, medicine that is becoming increasingly harder to afford, and family members that live abroad.
Every single one of you has a multitude of stress that are involved not just with the fears that come with a pandemic, but also the fears that arise with planning a wedding and having invested so much money into a day that you have awaited with excitement. Which is why I wanted to take a moment and put together a page that not only shares my Covid-19 rescheduling policy but also provides resources that will hopefully make this stressful time, less stressful.
Covid-19 Rescheduling Policies
1. Clients may reschedule to any date within 2022 in which I am available. Your retainer will be applied to your new date and all rescheduling fees will be waived. A rescheduling contract will be required to secure your new date.
2. Clients may reschedule to a peak Friday or Sunday in 2023 in which I am available for. To re-book a peak Saturday in 2023, a 50% of my deposit rate will be applied as a change fee. Change fee is waived for non-peak dates: Sunday or winter (November - January 2021).
3. Clients who choose to cancel their wedding altogether are subject to the terms agreed upon in our contract but have the option of transferring monies paid to an alternate service for future us, such a family or couple’s photo shoot.
4. If your wedding date in 2022 falls on a date in which we are not in a lockdown, I am legally allowed to photograph, and you choose to reschedule, 100% deposit for 2023 date will be required.
Now that my rescheduling policies have been shared I’m sure you have questions - many of which that I would probably have if I were an individual being affected by this virus. I believe open communication is important, and as a small business in a global pandemic I have no option but to be vulnerable with you, the wonderful humans who have made the choice to support my small business. Some of you are in the event and service industry and some of you are even in the wedding industry and understand first hand how delicate our booking seasons are. But to simplify answers and questions, I’m listing them below in a Q & A format to hopefully answer your questions without forcing you to read any further lengthy paragraphs that may not pertain to you.
Q: Can we reschedule to a date in 2022 without a fee?
A: Yes! You can move your wedding to any Sunday or weekday in 2022 at no additional cost so long as it’s within a 15 month window of your original date.
Q: Why is there an additional fee if we choose to move our wedding to a Friday or Saturday in 2023?
A: This is a wonderful question, and one that is going to require me sharing a bit about how my small business survives year in and year out. As a one woman show and a full time wedding photographer I have 38 Saturday’s per year to make my income for the year (this excludes Christmas, and the 12 Winter Saturday’s between November-January).
My small business depends on booking these 32 Saturday’s with new income so that it can sustain itself for the year and continue to grow as a small business. Consider, hypothetically, that about 20+ of my current 2022 couples request to move their date to a Saturday in 2023, that would leave me with 12 available Saturdays in 2023 to make new income for the year.
My business could not financially sustain that impact, which is currently a very real and dark reality for many small businesses, especially in the wedding industry. Which is why I am asking my couples to meet me half way and to consider the other 327 days in the year to get married at no additional cost to them.
For couples who would like to move forward in booking a prime Saturday in 2023 I am requiring that 50% of a new deposit fee at my current booking rate. Please keep in mind that many vendors are not providing this option to their clients, however, I am willing to take a 50% loss of profit per Saturday in 2023 for the couples who are already booked with me and feel that a Saturday in 2023 is their only option to move forward
Q: What if you’re not available for a date that the rest of our vendors are?
A: Unfortunately, when you move your wedding to a date in which I am unavailable for it is still considered a cancellation.
If you would like to retain your entire vendor team and not lose your retainers/fees paid it might be a good idea to consider Friday’s, Sunday’s, as well as weekdays.
Q: Our wedding is not until Fall (August-November) should we reschedule now?
A: I am strongly encouraging couples whose wedding date is not being directly affected by government mandates or whose date is not within a four to eight week window of when the mandate is expected to end to hold off on rescheduling. Right now, vendors and venues are working over time to provide available dates to their couples who are being directly affected by government orders.
I hope the questions above provide some insight as to why these policies are in place.
If after reading the questions above you find that your questions went unanswered, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
