Wedding Photographer Cancellation - unreasonable?

[Bunny44]

AIBU to think this is greedy and unreasonable of the photographer?

My sister was due to get married this summer however 7 months before the wedding her fiancé unexpectedly broke up with her, which she was devastated about. She was also left to deal with cancelling the wedding vendors. To alleviate the burden on my sister, me and my family have been helping her with it all. I wanted some advice and thoughts specifically on the photographer.

She booked them a year ago and put down a £500 deposit. When they were informed of the cancellation (straight away 7 months out) they weren’t very nice about it and basically said she’d lose the deposit (somewhat expected) but that their policy was to insist on the full payment of £1800 for any dates less than 9 months out as they said wouldn’t be able to re-book the date and they had no exceptions.

We exchanged some curt emails in which we underlined several CMA policies including that they must re-advertise the date and try and get a booking and if failing that they could re-coupe for possible losses where reasonable. They said they would do that and we didn’t hear from them.

My sister’s friends took her away for her would-be wedding date to take her mind off it. The photographer emails her on the would-be wedding day with the invoice saying they’d not been able to book and needed payment, which she was obviously extremely upset about. Personally I cannot believe the lack of tact! Considering the industry they work in surely they understand how upsetting this sort of situation can be. It makes me think they really really don’t care about the couples they are dealing with. I did call him and told him to stop messaging my sister and really he didn't seem like a nice man at all.

I worked out that he must make at least £200k+ out of this business a year based on rough dates he said he was booked up for the year. Surely they have some leniency than to insist someone forks up such a large amount for him to do nothing with so much notice, he’d already be getting £500 out of her. Seems incredibly greedy.

As a side note, I should mention I’m a small business owner myself and have a rental property for short term lets. I have built into my business model cancellations with reasonable notice because it’s just part of doing business. I’m a bit shocked about the T&Cs in the wedding industry. I think a lot of couples just agree because they’re naive and caught up in the moment and they get taken advantage of.

Any advice on fighting this also welcome, if you think we should.

Not sure I agree.

If both parties agreed to those terms in the contract, sister should pay in full. It's not the photographer's fault the event was called off; they can't be expected to have their livelihood affected by people's personal choices beyond the photographer's control.

Of course it is unfortunate for the sister but two wrongs don't make a right. Do we expect surgeons and nurses to sacrifice income every time one of their patients dies, out of sympathy? They nevertheless have budgets to meet and bills to pay.

Don't pay. See them in court.

Surely full price included materials which he won't have used so I would be mentioning that too.

I'd just tell the fucker to take me to court.

Photography is digital now.

It's not about sympathy, it's about the fact that wedding was called off 7 months ahead which is ample time to find another booking, and the CMA guidance says that you can't demand money for cancelled events if you can rebook the slot.

And my point above also stands. If I was getting married today and the photographer called me this morning and said they couldn't make it because of a family emergency would they compensate me?

Answer: nope. But they expect it the other way round. That is unfair.

People book weddings 1-2 years in advance

7 months is not plenty of time unless you’re a budget supplier

Both weddings I’ve been to this year have been arranged in under six months - both Saturdays too. Older people if that’s a factor. So bookings do come up if hugely in demand photographer I’m sure

I tend to find the planned faster weddings use or just have smaller bugets we planned ours in 8 months and our photographer was under £400 as we picked a hobbiest as was no way was we spending over a grand on photos.

I wouldn’t pay, it’s unlikely they’ll take her to court 🙂

Wedding photographers wife here. I vote YANBU and YABU

here's why YANBU:

• Its unusual for a photographer to have a £500 deposit, especially for a package that is only £1800
• He should not be demanding full payment, only loss of deposit.
• He is rude and insensitive.
• He should have insurance etc
• You are right about the steps he should be undertaking.

Here's why YABU:

• Most people book their wedding dates years in advance, DH has weddings in his diary for 2027. This photographer may be rude but he is right when he says he's unlikely to fill the date.
• £200,000 a year? Are you kidding? My DH struggles to get bookings as there are so many photographers out there and couples always want the cheapest package. Yet whilst couples pay less, his costs go UP - paying any assistants, paying album suppliers, printing suppliers, advertising costs, cost of film / memory cards, replacement cameras or broken parts, drone costs (every couple wants a drone shot), sometimes churches charge photographers to photograph inside, then there's taxes and other bills. But you obviously think he just turns up, does a few clicks and gets paid a fortune for doing that.
• Did the bride take out any wedding insurance?
• Did the bride sign any contract with the photographer, she needs to dig it out and see what she agreed to do in a cancellation situation. If she agreed to pay the full amount, she may have to do that.

Was the £500 called a deposit or a booking fee? Photographers can't actually take a "deposit", it needs to be a booking fee. Plus 9 months is ridiculous term to take full payment, they could have 100% got a replacement wedding for that date if they are as popular as they seem to think they are.

He’s being unreasonable, his contract wouldn’t likely stand up in a court.

They are prepared to pay the deposit, that isn't the issue.

9 months is a very long time, you would think he'd get another booking by then, especially if peak wedding season.

Having said that your sister signed the terms, so...

Yes people book 1-2 years in advance. Others don't. I think we arranged ours about 9 months ahead.

There are also other family events like christenings, anniversary parties, big 0 birthdays. You might not get the same money for those, but you can still mitigate your losses.

I simply don't accept that a wedding photographer can't rebook 7 months ahead.

My first, in the late 1980s, was arranged in three months. Second in mid-1990s took six weeks.

Keeping the deposit is fair as you've said, he had 7 months cancellation notice which is more than enough time to rebook or to plan for it. He's being unpleasant because he knows he's a chancer

The fact that he says it is their "policy" suggests it is not a contractual term, so reckon he is winging it. In general people only use this expression when trying to get away with something dubious. Even if it was in the contract I suspect it would be unfair and I wouldn't pay, or maybe make a (very) small offer in full and final settlement.

He sounds like a twat but ultimately your sister signed a contract. I don’t think he’s unreasonable to push for it to be upheld. Of course your sister didn’t expect the relationship to end, no one does but the possibility was presented to her in the contract and she signed.

Whether or not the contract is legally binding or would stand up to appeal is a different thing entirely.

Also, in response to “how does she know he didn’t get another booking” she doesn’t. Just like the photographer doesn’t know whether the wedding was actually cancelled or they got a friend to take photos instead.

I would respond outlining the fact that the deposit is void because there is no reciprocal compensation in the contract, and also mentioning the sections of the Acts highlighted by @CandyLeBonBon.

I'd say that you're prepared to honour the deposit as a gesture of goodwill but you will reconsider your position if he continues with his unfair claim, or does not respond to this email accepting the terms of your offer.

Name and shame all over social media. Twats want to act like twats they can be treated like them too.

I can see both sides. It is awful & of course there is the emotion & heartache it’s happened to your sister. However the photographer also has a livelihood, unfortunately you don’t know how often this happens and sadly they may have had a run of these & suddenly income is massively down. This is the exact reason for a cancellation policy, so that everyone is treated the same and there is no doubt, it was agreed to when booking accepted, obviously no one foresees separations but trust me they are more common that you’d think.

Just because you have roughly calculated costs v bookings, it is likely you are way off, there is the time to edit, equipment etc / nothing is just pure profit.

as much as it IS rubbish, I think you will have to negotiate to get a settlement that both parties agree on.

I am sure some other things such a dress etc would need to be paid/collected and bands may not be able to fill a date or may not get a wedding booking therefore income
is reduced. There may be things that were paid that won’t be returnable etc.

it really does suck but I don’t think the photographer is wrong - possibly insensitive to send on the actual day wedding should have taken, I’d have expected it when they would be chasing final balance had it gone ahead.

remember the important word ‘reasonable’ as in the test in law would be ‘what would an ordinary, average person think was reasonable on this situation’

my thoughts are that 7 months is plenty of time to re-market the date. If I were the judge I would be asking how many people did they turn away for that specific date after it was booked? If the answer is none, well not having a booking would result in no material loss. If the answer is lots, then I would wonder why after you booked it why no one wanted the date.

cancelling 1 month before would be unreasonable. The chances of a last minute booking in the wedding industry is probably slim. 7 months is a reasonably long time but after about 6 months then perhaps it would get harder.

I would want to know what efforts they went to to get another booking.

ultimately I think if you took to court you would stand a reasonable chnace of getting your deposit back on top of not paying the balance.

i would tell them to sue you for it and see what happpens. Chances are they won’t as too much hassle and expense from their side.

Wedding insurance