3 Contract Clauses Wedding Planners Need, According to a Lawyer
As a wedding planner, it’s important that you protect yourself and your business from unforeseen circumstances. As much as we hope that negative situations with clients and other vendors won’t arise, the truth of the matter is that they can and do. So, having a solid wedding planner contract is absolutely essential.
Last month, Kunbi Odubogun and Leah Weinberg of Oduberg Law joined me in my online membership and community, The Planner’s Vault. Together with Tatiana Podel, they led a Legal and Tax Webinar for members. Here are three contract clauses wedding planners need, according to Kunbi and Leah.
Wedding Planner Contract Clause 1: Budget Provision
If you are a wedding planner who offers full-service or partial planning, it’s important that you have a budget provision. This contract clause states you will help the client put together a budget based on a reasonable estimate of realistic expenses.
However, the provision also states that you are not guaranteeing that the event will stay under a particular amount. Additionally, it says that you will not be responsible for any overages in the budget.
Wedding Planner Contract Clause 2: Additional Work Clause
An additional work clause covers a situation where clients cause you to redo work or complete unplanned additional work. This differs from scope creep.
Examples of situations that would be covered in an additional work clause are:
Client changes their venue or other key vendor
Client changes the design plan after it was approved
Client increases or decreases their guest count significantly
You need to make sure that you’re compensated in situations like these, and an additional work clause will do just that.
Wedding Planner Contract Clause 3: Default Provision
A default provision sets forth a procedure for both sides to communicate any grievances. If the case that one party is not upholding their side of the contract, a default provision provides the procedure for giving notice and giving the opportunity to fix it.
This contract clause also outlines when one party has the right to terminate the contract. Additionally, it establishes what happens to the money in that situation. This ensures you aren’t caught off guard and that you get the opportunity to fix any wrongs.
On the other hand, this also protects you from your clients. If they’re not making timely decisions or if they haven’t paid you on schedule, then you’ll be able to follow the procedure outlined to get to a resolution.
And there you have it—three contract clauses wedding planners need, according to a lawyer! If you need a professional contract for your business (and you do if you don’t have one already!), you can purchase a contract from Leah and Kunbi in their online shop, Legally Set! Use the code PLANNERSVAULT for 20% off the contracts in the Legally Set shop!
*This blog post is for general information purposes only, and nothing in this post should be considered legal advice.
