Wedding Photographer Cancellation - unreasonable?

JVS on BBC 3 Counties - really recommend him for sorting out things like this

Caveat - I'm not a solicitor!

Contract law would suggest she should pay, but there might be a question about whether the contract terms are deemed unfair.

I've just checked my wedding videographer contract (can't find the photographer one) and his terms were full payment due if cancelled within 100 days of the wedding. There was a £200 booking fee (not deposit) which was non-refundable in any event.

If you can gather evidence from other wedding photographers that suggest their 9 month policy is excessive you might have better luck.

Could be worth gathering all your evidence and then using a free 30 minute consultation with a solicitor for advice?

Finally, did they have wedding insurance? Our venue insisted on us having it. Given we booked pre-Covid, it was very helpful to have as a backup if we needed it (which thankfully we didn't).

Hi OP my friend is a wedding photographer and says the situation is awful but unfortunately some people in the business can expect full payment even if 7 months before the wedding day. It isn’t common but not rare for some vendors to expect full payment a year before the big day. I know it’s wrong, but apparently it’s to protect them as most weddings are booked at least a year in advance so loss of earnings if vendor cannot get another wedding booked in on that date.

Not saying I agree with him, he seems awful but you might not have a leg to stand on x sorry

Running a business is exactly where emotions should be taken out of it.

As far as his concerned his for loss of earnings. It’s not his fault her fiancé is a knob. No it’s not nice for her to have this bill but it’s also not fair to agree to pay someone and not.

Options are pay up or let it go to court and see who wins. But if he can prove loss of earnings and that he tried to get it rebooked I’d expect her to have to pay at least some more of it.

Surely this is what wedding insurance is for?

Id presume he would sue for loss of earnings. For the price of this photographer I’d expect that he would likely be outside of most people’s last minute (under a year planning) budgets.

if the cost was £1,800 in total apart from the parts than are his insurance, any actual prints/dvds, depreciation on his equipment and fuel rest is his wages.

If he couldn’t secure a replacement wedding at the same price which it sounds like he couldn’t since he was available to send a reminder and take calls on the actual day.

It would be like your boss not suddenly paying you, but it’s fine because you got to just sit at home.

Emotions needs to be taken out of it.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to demand the full amount

he’s in the wedding business and these things get booked up well in advance

that’s just the nature of the business. I’m in a wedding band and it’s similar. We’re booked 2 years ahead

It’s very sad that the wedding has been cancelled and very annoying I’m sure she has to pay for a service you haven’t received in full, but if his T&Cs were clear he was clear

it’s the man’s livelihood we’re talking about

also the point saying he must be earning over £200 000 a year is naive. Just because dates aren’t available doesn’t mean he’s booked with weddings. He’s allowed days off and holidays. He may even have another income or for all we know be a divorced dad having his kids those weekends

It probably means that the majority of people don't understand contract law then.

So what's the point of having a clear contract? If they didn't like the terms of the contract then they had the opportunity then not to sign it and find another photographer.

I'm a ex wedding photographer and only had this once in ten years . I gave her the deposit back and she did not owe me a thing. That's very unfair of them and not conducive to good customer service and recommendations

I think if sister has signed a contract that clearly states full payment due if cancelled within 9 months then all she can do is go legal and claim the terms are unfair.

It seems like OP has been trying to reason with him and getting no where.

You have to go legal and tell someone professional about this who will prove the terms are unfair.

I don’t agree with the photographer btw, I think it’s absolutely disgusting to invoice on day of wedding when he knows the circumstances. Sounds like a horrid man tbh

You are entitled to your opinion but thankfully the law doesn't agree with you.

Not really because it would be an unfair term even if she had and in my view not enforceable.

You are right about the CMA guidance OP. And I don't accept at all that a photographer can't get another wedding booking 7 months out. They were just taking the mick. Even keeping the deposit is taking the mick if you get another booking in my view. It is enough to keep a small amount for admin purposes say £100.

I often say it on here, but some MNers are impossibly compliant when it comes to contracts and think because you've signed something you are bound. As a consumer, that is not the case if the terms are unfair and create an imbalance between the trader and the consumer.

I doubt they would succeed in a court claim. There is plenty of guidance on the CMA website that you've already found and I'd simply cite that in any defence.

Sorry if this has been answered but

Did your sister sign the contract stating full payment is due if cancelled within 9 months of wedding or not?

This is the most important question ^

I would consider getting legal advice.

I would hope that if it went to court the photographer would have to submit their costs for the services and products clients hasn’t received such as cost to produce the photos, including editing costs and any physical products such as any included album or prints.

7 months seems enough time to find alternative work to replace, could be worth investigating whether it specifically needs to be a wedding? They could arrange a day of family photoshoots for example to supplement the £500 deposit. (This is just my opinion may not stand up anywhere!)

Sorry to hear about your sister and the situation. Could the CAB offer any advice on the contract, terms and liability?

Did your sister have any wedding insurance? If so could she get the insurance company to deal with it?

Again....

They had no work (bar a couple of emails) for expenditure for this booking, so feel they should have 100% profit?

YABU. 7 months notice isn’t long to secure another wedding booking and the terms were clear in the contract.

Its not like the wedding was cancelled due to serious illness or death of the groom or bride, or something else unforeseeable and terrible in which case I’d hope for a bit more compassion and understanding around full payment, although I’d still expect deposit to be retained. Either or both parties deciding not to get married isn’t that unforeseeable or tragic, no matter how upset your friend in this case.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to send an email on the cancelled wedding day either. It was 7 months since the cancellation, she could have been in a few relationship by that point! It’s not like it was cancelled a week before the day! Presumably payment was due in advance of the wedding so it was already overdue, the fact they emailed on the day suggests they didn’t get another booking and getting on with their business admin.

If it's 'their policy' it doesn't mean you are legally bound by it.
They can have a 'policy' to always send an invoice and hope you pay it.
They can have a policy of always wearing a suit when they take photographs but it doesn't mean they have to.

It depends on whether the fact that full payment would be due if cancelled within 9 months was clearly stated in the contract that was signed.