The Contract Mistakes Wedding Pros Are Still Making

Most wedding professionals have a contract. That's the good news. The bad news is that most of those contracts have gaps that would make Judge Judy cringe, and you don’t want to find out about those gaps when you’re on live TV getting chewed out by a stern lady from New England.

I've reviewed hundreds of contracts for wedding pros over the years. The same mistakes show up over and over again. Here are the ones that actually cost people money.

Deposit vs. Retainer – Using the Correct Terminology

This one is everywhere, and it matters more than most people realize. A deposit is refundable by default. It's a security amount held until a transaction is complete, and if the transaction doesn't happen, the logic is that you give it back. Sure, we can call it a “non-refundable deposit,” but better safe than some. Some cases get lost on technicalities, so it’s best not to chance it.

A retainer, on the other hand, is earned the moment it's paid. It compensates you for taking that date off the market and turning down other clients. If your contract says "deposit" but you intend to keep that money if the client cancels, you may have a very unpleasant conversation, or a chargeback dispute, on your hands. The fix is simple: call it a non-refundable retainer, define it clearly, and explain exactly what it covers.

Of course if you want to be even more clear, you can call it something else, and clearly define what the money is for. In our Contract Club templates, we use the term “Non-Refundable Booking Fee.” And we state what that fee is for, blocking off the date on the calendar, holding an initial intake call with the client, etc. This way, if the client cancels and demands a refund, you can show that not only did they know it was non-refundable, but that the payment was specifically in consideration of services already rendered by the time they canceled. This can be an important legal consideration.

Scope of Work Issues

"Full day coverage" and "wedding coordination" sound clear enough until your client thinks full day means 24 hours and you thought it meant 14, or until they expect you to manage their rehearsal dinner because you're the coordinator. “Wedding management” may have industry meaning to them, but to your client, it means almost nothing.

Using package names or industry lingo is a no-no unless or until you are specifically and carefully outlining what it actually means in terms of your services in the contract.

Every service you provide should have a defined start, end, and boundary. What's included, what isn't, and what happens if they ask for more. 

Scope creep is one of the leading causes of payment disputes in the wedding industry, and it almost always traces back to a contract that left too much open to interpretation. In our contract, we clearly outline what is included. We sometimes specify what is not included. And then we can outline specific costs for additional services. Regardless, it’s good to have an additional services clause that says something like “if Client would like to request services outside the scope of this agreement, they may do so in writing. Company, may then quote, at their discretion, the rate for these additional services.”

Note also that your payment terms should address how and when these additional services are invoiced and due.

Covering All the Key Payment Terms

"Payment due upon receipt" is not a payment policy. You need specific due dates, the method of payment you accept, what happens when a payment is late, and whether you charge a late fee. If you offer a payment plan, spell out every installment, every due date, and what happens if a payment is missed. The contract should also make clear what you will and won't do if a client falls behind, will you pause services? Cancel? Show up anyway and pursue the balance after? Leaving this undefined puts you in an impossible position when someone goes quiet two weeks before their wedding.

Addressing Force Majeure and Emergencies

We learned from COVID how important a force majeure clause is, but we also learned what it isn’t.

A solid force majeure clause should address what happens when the wedding can't happen due to circumstances neither party can control — weather, venue closure, illness, government restrictions. Does the client get a refund? A credit? Can they reschedule and if so, under what terms? A clause that just says "neither party is liable in a force majeure event" without addressing what actually happens to the money and the services leaves you in the same mess as having nothing at all.

We also need clauses on what happens in a non-force majeure situation. Force majeure really exists to handle situations where having the wedding is an impossibility. The government preventing gatherings of 6 or more is a clear example, but a normal rainy day, not so much. What if the clients split up, have a family emergency, or just don’t want to have the wedding anymore? Your contract should address this as well. You can also have difference policies for different cancellation circumstances. 

If you read through that list and started mentally checking off gaps in your own contract, you're not alone. Most wedding pros piece together their contracts from templates they found online, something a friend shared, or a document a lawyer drafted years ago that hasn't been touched since. The result is usually a contract that handles some things well and leaves others wide open.

The Contract Club has attorney-drafted contracts built specifically for wedding professionals, like planners, photographers, venues, florists, DJs, and more, with all of these provisions built in and written in plain English you can actually understand. You customize it to your business, you send it with confidence, and you stop crossing your fingers every time a client signs.

Hop on in and join us.