Contracts. They go with everything and often we sign them with minimal regard, but they are important, and in the wedding industry particularly, they keep small businesses alive.
In an industry where bookings are made months, if not years, in advance wedding contracts protect vendors from cancellations which could potentially impact their entire seasonal earnings. With each new client that books, a day is taken off the calendar of availability, and inevitably other business for that day is turned down. Sometimes these bookings are modest amounts, but sometimes they are enormous sums that can have huge financial consequences if canceled. Contracts also protect our clients. They assure that the couples who hire us will receive what they are told they will receive, when they are told they will receive it, for an agreed upon amount, in legal terms. All this we know. But, why are they so important to independent vendors and small businesses?
In light of all the cancellations, postponements and elopements taking place as a result of the COVID19 restrictions, this topic is perhaps more important than ever.
On the surface, retainers are just place-holders, and many couples think of them as nothing more. But when a wedding is canceled, in most cases, it is not reasonable to expect that these non-refundable payments be returned, despite the fact that it may feel as if nothing has been delivered. Here’s why.
The bottom line is, in these difficult times, its those non-refundable retainers that will keep wedding vendors in business. But its important to understand that its more than that, and that vendors are not just “getting money for nothing”. These businesses are not riding off into the sunset with with your cash. Most vendors have already earned that money in ways you may not see.
The retainer does more than hold your day. It pays for the behind the scenes work that you may never even think about. Florists, caterers, planners, lighting designers, etc. do a lot of work before your event takes place. Often many months before. We spend hours emailing, planning, organizing, reorganizing, setting up orders, researching ideas, sourcing goods, experimenting with mechanics, etc. Countless hours can be spent in creating a plan for the work that will take place on your big day.
Vendors also have to hire help and many in the industry work with freelancers. Just as retainers hold dates for couples months or years in advance, help must also be secured in advance. Many of us hire and schedule our freelancers for the entire season before the first wedding even occurs. So not only is your retainer paying for the work that your vendor and their immediate team are doing before your big day, it is also enabling us to reserve and ensure work for the helpers we need to perform on that day.
For us at Bad Rabbit, that work includes the aforementioned emailing and planning, but also seed selection and planting (and all that goes with growing flowers), purchase of hard goods like vases and other materials and pre-orders on flowers or greenery that often sell out or are harder to come by at the time of your wedding.
When you start to look at the fallout of cancelled and even postponed or downsized weddings, its incredibly far reaching. Your vendors (at least most of us) are not just out to score a quick buck. We would all prefer to do the contracted work, in full, to bring joy and beauty to a special day in someone’s life and to use our creative talents to do what we do best.