How to Legally Prepare Your Business for the Fall Wedding Season
My hope is that this blog post is for naught (although, even if so, it serves the purpose of reminding us that we must always prepare for the unexpected). However, today I want to discuss best practices for preparing your creative business for COVID-19 during the fall wedding season.
Unfortunately, no one holds a crystal ball. We do not know when this pandemic will dissipate, or when it may have a resurgence. Therefore, we must prepare, regardless. Here are answers to our recent FAQs:
You must prepare your currently-booked clients for the remainder of 2020.
I cannot stress this enough. Being forewarned=forearmed, we must face the fact that our fall wedding season may be impacted by COVID-19 (and likely will be), whether that’s by an elimination of group gatherings and stay-at-home orders, limitations to 50 and below, etc. The landscape will likely be different.
As I have stated from the outset of this virus, I believe best practices are to operate conservatively; meaning, take the proactive approach. Anticipate that you may need to reschedule your 2020 couples. Determine what your “business rules” will be. For example, decide what your cutoff date will be: maybe you decided that if by August 1 the CDC has not lifted their “50-person gathering” guidelines, etc, you’ll begin the process of rescheduling your September brides. We don’t want anything to be last minute.
Who should you reach out to, and when? What should you say?
Reach out to clients in order of “priority”, ie, earlier dates first. All communication should be 1:1; absolutely no mass emails
Remain in consistent contact with your clients, so that they know you’re on top of the scenario. This demonstrates professionalism and will make your clients feel taken care of.
Many of my personal clients in my law firm have had success with discussing a “plan B” with their clients but handle this conversation delicately. When this began, we were just anticipating closures through May….now, it’s clear that this will be a factor for the remainder of 2020 (whether that be limitations on the numbers of gatherings, or prohibiting gatherings). Discuss what they may want to do if a rescheduling does have to occur, and keep that date in pencil on your calendar. If you receive an inquiry for that date, check with those previously booked clients.
Keep these communications conversational. Don’t create a potential breach of contract liability for yourself by accidentally entering into a new “contract” via email (contracts are, essentially, when an offer is accepted with consideration).
How should you handle clients who refuse to reschedule or states that are reopening, but you don’t feel safe with performing your services?
As we enter into the summer season of COVID-19, we’re now faced with a relatively new question: what do we do if some clients refuse to reschedule their weddings? Or worse yet, what if a state has allowed the reopening of an economy/events, but you do not feel safe attending or providing services at such an event?
This is an unfortunate scenario many professionals are currently finding themselves facing. The first answer to this question will always be: what does your contract say? Assuming it does not address this question directly, and actually regardless of whether it does or not, it’s time to shift the scope of the argument to what’s more important: it’s time to negotiate. No matter how amicable your client relationship is, it is always an ongoing negotiation. Everything is part of the negotiation.
Which, thankfully, means it doesn’t need to get litigious.
Terminating your contract should be your last resort. Instead, start very gently, working your way to more firm (but always kind) communications. Discuss the act that even though you entirely understand why they want to proceed, they are asking the people they love most to gather, potentially putting them all at risk. Is that what they really want? Do they really want their celebration to be marred by fear that their guests may feel?
Of course, what I’ve described above is a bit too idealistic. The unfortunate truth is that some clients are going to want to host their weddings, no matter what, and even if they modify due to size limitations of gatherings, you may not feel safe providing your services. Here’s what to do:
Look at what your contract says about amendments. Follow all specifications in the language, and add in the Safe Working Environment clause. Additionally, update your Force Majeure provision. Your client may not be happy about this addition, but again, this is the time to negotiate.
Note: force majeure provisions are incredibly state-specific, and laws are changing rapidly. Confer with an attorney in your state for questions, but ensure your provision mentions government “guidelines” (not just “authorities” or “mandates”) and epidemics. State what will happen with previously paid money in the event of a force majeure
What does your contract state about substitute vendors? We have seen clients in nearly every sector of the wedding industry find success with this. Some of your industry peers may feel more comfortable performing the work. If you do choose to do this, update your contract accordingly. Work out some sort of deal wherein, for example, another photographer is going to shoot the wedding, but you will edit to be in line with your portfolio.
Your client cannot force you to perform the work or do anything illegal. If you know that the wedding will be dangerous or counter to state or local mandates, have your cancellation options laid out in your contract.