Weddings – Are They Serious Business?
Harry Hindsight.
Harry Hindsight pops up just after things go to hell in a handbasket. He likes telling us all of the things that we “should” have done to prevent whatever it was that happened that caused us stress.
“If only your business had……”
“You really should have……”
“If you had done X then you would not have to be dealing with Z….”
I can guarantee that you would have had a visit from Mr. Hindsight over the last 12 months, as you were battling being a wedding and event supplier.
“If only I had a contract that specifically dealt with postponements.”
“If only I had held my ground on giving that refund.”
“I really should have paid more attention to developing a good cancellation policy.”
Here is what I say to Harry Hindsight when he visits me (or my clients) these days:
“Harry, there is no way that any of us could have foreseen the storm that came our way when it came to COVID-19. There was no way that everyone would have had the most perfect terms and conditions that would have saved them the pain, the heartache, the stress, the anguish, and the loss of sleep at night because of this pandemic.”
Was the wedding industry prepared for COVID-19?
My summary of 2020 is this:
Court. Doctrine of frustration. Consumer Law. Force Majeure. Liquidated Damages. Government Directions. Snap Lockdowns. Privity of Contract. Lawyer letters. Civil tribunals. Legal fees. Horrible emails. Weddings turning into horror shows. Stress. Anxiety. Frustration.
Recently, I have started thinking about whether the wedding industry could have been better placed prior to COVID-19 in order to “survive it”. In other words, should wedding suppliers have had better terms and conditions which would have enabled them to navigate the nightmare that was COVID-19 a little easier?
Here is my conclusion….the wedding industry was not ready to “go legal”.
The Wedding Industry Pre-COVID
If I had stood before all of you, prior to March 2020 and banged on about how much you need solid, lawyer-drafted terms and conditions for your clients, you would have told me to pack my bags and go door-knocking somewhere else. To this day, I still get asked why it would be that wedding suppliers would need lawyers.
The Australian wedding industry is valued at $10 billion and has thousands of small to medium-sized businesses doing phenomenal, and unique work.
Wedding suppliers need lawyers because wedding suppliers are running serious businesses.
The wedding industry (as a collective group) may have been filled with serious creative business, but it was not serious “contract-driven” business.
In working with so many wedding suppliers over the course of the last twelve months, I came across statements such as:
“What we do is so different. The goodwill between my business and the couple is so strong. I want their day to be special. I want things to be relaxed. How do I simply throw them these contractual terms and not ruin the relationship before it gets off the ground? I am a small business, why so serious?”
Additionally, I spoke with wedding suppliers who did have contractual terms for their clients but did not have faith in them. More often than not, they were non-industry specific, haphazardly drafted, basic templates from a non-industry specific legal service, or taken from someone else’s business (even businesses from entirely different countries). It was like some businesses had dipped their toe into the realm of legalities, but saw it as a small aspect of the client onboarding process.
The Wedding Industry Now.
COVID-19 had the industry shook.
Over the last twelve months, I fielded queries from suppliers who were nearly at breaking point. Many suppliers told me that they were simply not prepared to take one more booking unless they felt comfortable that their contracts were solid. I was told that whilst they had only one or two clients that demanded refunds, they saw other suppliers struggle with litigation and felt they needed to “up the legal game”. Their view was – it could happen to them. And sadly, I had to agree with them. Litigation could, and still can, happen to them.
Therefore, I have to declare – the Australian wedding industry is now, legally serious business.
It should no longer be the case that wedding suppliers are afraid to hand to their clients well-drafted terms of business that outline the rights and responsibilities of parties. It surely would now come as no surprise to couples that their wedding suppliers hand them proper legal terms and conditions. In fact, a set of sophisticated terms and conditions will now be a sign for couples that they are working with a sophisticated business. Couples will now be demanding solid terms and conditions to put them at ease. Businesses should have terms and conditions so that the magic can happen with a structured legal relationship in the background.
Look at your terms and conditions. Are they suitable? Are you comfortable with them? Have you taken them as seriously as you should? Would you consider updating them, knowing that they are now a key business tool to save you heartache and pain down the track? Do you see it as a necessary business spend in the coming few months?
Great. This is where we come into it. Head across to www.eventlaw.online to learn about our terms and conditions packages which have been drafted specifically for each supplier group within the wedding industry in Australia.
