What a week we all had.  From postponements and rescheduling weddings, to cancellations, to those proceeding with smaller intimate ceremonies for immediate family only; the wedding industry took a hard hit last week.  We never could have imagined something like this would happen and here we are trying to figure out how to handle this day by day.

Our couples are scared and confused and many are looking to their planners for guidance and reassurance.  Although none of us know when things will be completely back to normal it’s up to us to offer guidance and suggestions since they look to us as the expert.  We are experts in planning weddings, but not experts in pandemics.

I know so many planners are wondering how other planners are handling rescheduled and cancelled weddings.

Here’s how I’m handling this for my planning business:

If a couple wants to reschedule their wedding how should I handle that?

For any couple that is rescheduling their wedding any monies paid to me will be transferred to their new date.  Thankfully most vendors are doing the same thing, but you will need to check with each vendor to find out how they are handling this.

The first thing I will do as their planner is contact their venue to find out their policy on rescheduling.  I will find out what dates the venue has available then I will contact all of their vendors to see if they are available on the dates the venue has open.

What if a couple wants to cancel their wedding?

I have not had any couple want to cancel their wedding due to COVID-19, but if they did any monies paid are non-refundable.  I’ll be glad to transfer the payment to a new date, but I can not issue a refund.  If I do have anyone who wants to cancel I will try to encourage them to reschedule.  That way they are not out a lot of money.  Anything they have paid up to this point to vendors will more than likely be considered a loss at this point unless they choose to reschedule the wedding.   You will need to refer to your contract to see what your cancellation clause states then go from there.

Do I need to issue a new contract if a client chooses to reschedule or cancel their wedding?  

I am not an attorney, but if you do have a client that reschedules their wedding you will need to issue a contract addendum, a rescheduling contract or a cancellation contract.  Check out The Legal Paige’s latest post to learn more about this:

A Step-by-Step Approach to Initiating Postponements and Cancellations Regarding COVID-19

xo, Terrica