Because of the COVID-19 situation, we need to make a change to our business, with respect to rescheduling.
As you may be aware, the current contract does not have a rescheduling fee for anything rescheduled further than 7 days out from the wedding. However, per the contract, any retainers paid are non-refundable upon cancellation or rescheduling of events.
The rescheduling section of the contract is updated as follows:
- No rescheduling fee will be applied if all of the following conditions are met:
a. You reschedule your wedding (event) within 6 months of the original wedding date.
b. You only reschedule your event date no more than once.
2. A non-refundable rescheduling fee of $500 will be applied and will be in addition to your original contract amount, and is due immediately upon confirmation of the newly rescheduled date for any of the conditions listed below:
a. You reschedule your event more than once (e.g. 2 or 3 times – the non-refundable fee will apply to each reschedule after the 1st reschedule).
b. You reschedule your event more than 6 months out from the original event date.
3. As stated in the original contract, the retainer of $500 is non-refundable, even if the reschedule date of the event is a date we cannot accommodate.I am providing the rationale for these changes, as well as options for all of our clients:Rationale
1. Events can take place, even if they change in size or scope.
Events may be changed, limited or lesser in scale than some couples may have originally envisioned, and Lee Media is ready and able to operate and document (photograph, video) your day, even if it turns into a small gathering or elopement.2. Every reschedule constitutes a loss in revenue.
While we may still technically get paid the balance of a contract eventually, we will not see that revenue on the originally expected date. Events and weddings are still taking place; and we do not want to refuse jobs to honor a date that was subsequently rescheduled. Moving your original date to another spot on the calendar effectively blocks that date so we can no longer sell our services on that date.But as we have stated above, you can reschedule once within 6 months of your original date without additional fees.
3. Inflation.
The reason we do not book more than a certain amount into the future because our prices might have to increase in order to keep up with current wages and expenses. Our typical booking is 6-12 months in advance for video, and 8-18 months in advance for photography. If we add an additional 6 months to that, it could constitute up to 18 months for video, and 24 months (two years) for photography.This much lead-time is not sustainable for us to effectively maintain our business or manage our schedules.
Prior to COVID-19, we had one wedding reschedule every two years, so it was not something taken well into account.We must account for rescheduling in our business model, but it must have logical limits.
Therefore, in order to maintain our high-quality product, we need to make this change to our rescheduling policy.
Options
1. We will accommodate changes to your timeline and schedule and alter your invoice (as required) to fit a new timeline for your day.
2. We are able to do a day-after shoot to go to a fun and/or unique location and do a shoot in your wedding attire. - We are able to add on livestreaming services (limited availability).
Ultimately, I personally covet your business and desire that everybody remains healthy and that, if necessary, your event can be rescheduled quickly.
If you have questions about these changes, please give me a call and I’ll be happy to discuss and try to meet your needs.
