Wow, what a time to be alive. I feel like there is nothing to say that hasn’t already been said about COVID-19. These are unprecedented times. It’s a scary time for health, the world economy and small businesses. As a small business owner who works in events, I have had to make hard business decisions I never dreamed I would have to make. I have had 11 weddings reschedule as of April 1st, 3 of which I have outsourced to an associate. I had 33 weddings scheduled for 2020 and many of these couples will continue to adjust plans as news breaks about the virus. Thus far, I have lost $14,000 in revenue in the past 2 months alone, a number I assume will only increase. If Stay at Home orders continue into the fall, I will completely lose not one but TWO year’s salary as my 2020 weddings will reschedule to the following year thus removing available dates for new business.

While it is a rough time indeed for small business owners, I know perspective is important now more than ever. My husband and I have our health and he still has his job. We are not supporting small children. We are extremely lucky that we will not go into debt or have to foreclose on a property. Others are not so lucky and do not have the ability to tele-work and a great number of people work paycheck to paycheck. I feel blessed everyday that we have built our lives to survive this. All that said, I wanted to outline my policies for my business given I have seen drastic change in my year and the uncertainty about the future.

Every vendor is different because we are all our own small businesses and choose how we want to run our finances. Because this is no fault of my clients, I am essentially waiving the contractual change fee for 2021 and non-peak rebookings. That said, the third scenario is the most difficult policy I have enacted which is pursuant with my contract under rescheduling: ” If, for any reason, the Client reschedules the wedding and the retainer may be applied to the new date. A new contract will be required to reflect the changes.” This new contract will reflect pricing for the new year in which the wedding takes place.

I never like charging clients more money and many times it can seem unfair given the circumstances but I want to lay out some reasoning here so that clients, vendors and other photographers can get an inside look into the numbers.

In an ideal world, I am able to capture all weddings on their original date. I raise my pricing every year (which is standard practice) for a multitude of reasons: my film and editing costs have gone up, my seconds charge more, I’m two years more experienced and I always increase annually for inflation. In 2020, I charged 6k and in 2021, I am charging 7k. If I were able to shoot BOTH dates, I would be making 13k for these weekends (before taxes and paying out all costs aforementioned). If a spring 2021 wedding moves to a peak 2022 date, thus barring any new business, I am essentially losing 7 thousand dollars. Now, this is a loss I am somewhat willing to swallow for a couple impacted by this pandemic, it’s a horrifying time, it is not their faults they’re having to move and I am trying to remain sensitive and compassionate…. but this isn’t only happening one time. If this pandemic continues into 2021 I will continue to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is a weight I cannot shoulder and my business would likely not survive it.

Asking my clients to pay a $1,000-$2,000 change fee depending on their package, however painful, is a small drop in the bucket of how much money I am going to hemorrhage this (and next) year. There are 52 Saturdays in a year and, eliminating the winter months when it’s less desirable to get married, I have around 35 opportunities to make wedding money per year. In writing this post, I am really hoping all event clients consider the other 330 days in 2022 as viable options or at least view my policies with a broader perspective.

I am beyond thankful for my sweet and patient clients in this trying time. Thus far, you have all been understanding, kind and thoughtful in this process and it has made my heavy heart lighter. For those that have made the choice to postpone and not cancel, I’m here for you and I appreciate you beyond words.