-
Welcome to our legal community! Click here or the create new topic button to ask a question and receive answers and comments from our friendly and helpful legal community.
Articles that answer frequent legal questions are in our Law Guide. Important legal news is reported in The Law JournalYou can find a lawyer near you in the Lawyer Directory. If you know that you need to hire an attorney, you can submit a case review from a lawyer.
daveznspace
New Member
As a photographer I will chip in a bit.
First of all this IS THE EXACT reason why we have contracts! This is one of the thousands of reasons why people hate doing weddings. Not only are they a pain but legal ramifications and social media issues just aren't worth it for a lot of photographers.
People don't have any idea how much work and how long it takes and how much stress is involved. And it may have only been 3 weeks but wedding bookings are a weird thing because most of your seasons bookings all happen around the same time at the beginning of wedding season and chances are you can't get that day back.
People don't realize that a good wedding photographer has bills and stuff as well, not to mention having to carry around about 20k in gear and insurance and possibly assistants or a 2nd shooter. The excuses we hear all year long about people trying to get out of contracts and one of the biggest is "because my friends going to do it now"... ohhh the horror stories!!
You need to ask yourself before letting your friend shoot it.... "am I ok or ready to loose this person as a friend?", more often than not you will loose that friend. NEVER EVER use a friend to shoot your wedding!
Next, you signed a contract and actually you got a bit lucky that you only had to pay $1000, weddings are such nightmares anymore that a lot of wedding photographers are asking for the entire amount up front anymore. What if he canceled on you and you couldn't find a replacement??
At the end of the day all the other things from the wedding are gone and forgotten and the really tangible thing that's left is the photos. Yet most people try and cheap out on photo's... it's weird and it makes being a wedding photographer a very hard job.
Not trying to be a jerk, just a different perspective
and IMO don't use your friend... i know you will.... and i'll tell you this now... "i told you so"
I'll leave you with some clips about this and good luck
Why do I need a contract?
A wedding contract is very important and your photographer should offer one. If not, this is something to be concerned about as a booked wedding date with a paid deposit and signed contract is like a promise. It is a commitment between you and your photographer and is a very serious matter. A contract is of course a photographer's means of protecting their work. But it is also important in providing peace of mind to the client that their date is held solely for them, their requests have been documented as well as clearly laying out and confirming their understanding of the agreed services and products offered, the terms and conditions applicable, the requirements and rights of both parties and the consequences should either party cancel or not uphold the agreement. A contract is vital to underlining the professionalism of a photographer, as well as establishing trust with their client that they will uphold their word to provide a service for the client on the date established. I encourage brides to read thoroughly their contract so that they understand the terms to which they are signing to - as contracts are signed to protect both the client and the photographer. A client should never sign a contract that they don't fully understand or agree to - as signing your name to an agreement is a serious matter.
Why do I need to pay a non-refundable deposit in order to book my date?
Most photographers ask for a non-refundable deposit. Even before you officially book your date, time goes into e-mails and communication about your wedding date, including photographing an engagement session, etc. Your photographer has already begun planning for your date even before you have signed for it. The deposit covers not only the time already spent in communicating, but also your engagement session and any other services provided in preparation for your wedding. Most importantly - your deposit secures your date, thereby making it unavailable to other clients. Because most photographers that shoot weddings work strictly in photography as their full-time income - they count on the service they are committing to. If you cancel, you are breaking a promise and an agreement. Granted, some situations are unavoidable in which case your photographer should try their best to accommodate you provided that they have enough lead time and dates available. For this reason, clients should be aware that if they change or cancel the established contract date - they potentially risk losing the services of the photographer they chose and also the deposit that they paid towards services as the photographer has held the date and excluded all other potential clients.
First of all this IS THE EXACT reason why we have contracts! This is one of the thousands of reasons why people hate doing weddings. Not only are they a pain but legal ramifications and social media issues just aren't worth it for a lot of photographers.
People don't have any idea how much work and how long it takes and how much stress is involved. And it may have only been 3 weeks but wedding bookings are a weird thing because most of your seasons bookings all happen around the same time at the beginning of wedding season and chances are you can't get that day back.
People don't realize that a good wedding photographer has bills and stuff as well, not to mention having to carry around about 20k in gear and insurance and possibly assistants or a 2nd shooter. The excuses we hear all year long about people trying to get out of contracts and one of the biggest is "because my friends going to do it now"... ohhh the horror stories!!
You need to ask yourself before letting your friend shoot it.... "am I ok or ready to loose this person as a friend?", more often than not you will loose that friend. NEVER EVER use a friend to shoot your wedding!
Next, you signed a contract and actually you got a bit lucky that you only had to pay $1000, weddings are such nightmares anymore that a lot of wedding photographers are asking for the entire amount up front anymore. What if he canceled on you and you couldn't find a replacement??
At the end of the day all the other things from the wedding are gone and forgotten and the really tangible thing that's left is the photos. Yet most people try and cheap out on photo's... it's weird and it makes being a wedding photographer a very hard job.
Not trying to be a jerk, just a different perspective
and IMO don't use your friend... i know you will.... and i'll tell you this now... "i told you so"
I'll leave you with some clips about this and good luck
Why do I need a contract?
A wedding contract is very important and your photographer should offer one. If not, this is something to be concerned about as a booked wedding date with a paid deposit and signed contract is like a promise. It is a commitment between you and your photographer and is a very serious matter. A contract is of course a photographer's means of protecting their work. But it is also important in providing peace of mind to the client that their date is held solely for them, their requests have been documented as well as clearly laying out and confirming their understanding of the agreed services and products offered, the terms and conditions applicable, the requirements and rights of both parties and the consequences should either party cancel or not uphold the agreement. A contract is vital to underlining the professionalism of a photographer, as well as establishing trust with their client that they will uphold their word to provide a service for the client on the date established. I encourage brides to read thoroughly their contract so that they understand the terms to which they are signing to - as contracts are signed to protect both the client and the photographer. A client should never sign a contract that they don't fully understand or agree to - as signing your name to an agreement is a serious matter.
Why do I need to pay a non-refundable deposit in order to book my date?
Most photographers ask for a non-refundable deposit. Even before you officially book your date, time goes into e-mails and communication about your wedding date, including photographing an engagement session, etc. Your photographer has already begun planning for your date even before you have signed for it. The deposit covers not only the time already spent in communicating, but also your engagement session and any other services provided in preparation for your wedding. Most importantly - your deposit secures your date, thereby making it unavailable to other clients. Because most photographers that shoot weddings work strictly in photography as their full-time income - they count on the service they are committing to. If you cancel, you are breaking a promise and an agreement. Granted, some situations are unavoidable in which case your photographer should try their best to accommodate you provided that they have enough lead time and dates available. For this reason, clients should be aware that if they change or cancel the established contract date - they potentially risk losing the services of the photographer they chose and also the deposit that they paid towards services as the photographer has held the date and excluded all other potential clients.
Share this page
