Covid-19
As you are well aware, we are all currently in a crazy situation as a result of the spread of the new Coronavirus. With us being in uncharted waters, I want to ensure the line of communication is open between myself and all of our clients. Before anything else, I completely understand the additional stress and complexity this situation adds to wedding planning. Having a plan and making info easily accessible will help alleviate some of the stress you may be feeling. For that reason, I wanted to answer some questions everyone might have below.
Before anything else, I completely understand the additional stress and complexity this situation adds to wedding planning. Having a plan and making info easily accessible will help alleviate some of the stress you may be feeling. Though some plans may need to be changed and some extra hurdles may need to be jumped, we will all get through it together with everything getting back to normal soon. The main thing at the moment is to keep everyone healthy and safe.
Absolutely, I still plan to photograph 100% of the weddings we have scheduled for this year as long as your event carries forward, and we are within any limitations set by the government. Barring any unforeseen quarantines, restrictions, or unsafe conditions, we will absolutely be there to work with you guys.
We have been taking all the recommended steps of isolation, social distancing, are washing our hands more than ever, and are staying as healthy as possible to ensure our health and the health of your families and friends.
If by any chance I or my team were to contract COVID-19 or were suspected to contract it, we would do our best to find replacement photographers for your wedding. We are in regular and close contact with a large network of amazing local photographers and, as it currently stands, are all doing our best to help each other through these uncertain times.
I do ask that if you, your future spouse, or any others involved in wedding day present symptoms of COVID-19, and you choose to go against quarantine recommendations and still have your wedding, that you let us know. As your photographer, we spend a lot of time with you and come in very close contact all day. The last thing we would ever want to do is catch something of this magnitude and/or pass it along to someone else. Similarly, if I or my team show symptoms, we will find a replacement shooter/second shooter to cover your wedding.
Reschedule & Cancelation Policy
Should the government recommendations of social distancing and quarantine lead you to cancel or postpone your wedding, whether as a result of the venue, planner, other vendors, or your own personal choice, I completely understand and respect your decision. I am aware that the situation is evolving rapidly and most of us are likely going to be playing this one by ear. I know the last thing you want to do is reschedule and won’t pressure anyone to make this call sooner than you have to, so please know we are on your team and ready to have that conversation when you are. After speaking with other wedding vendors, and taking everything into consideration, I want to be as accommodating as I possibly can while keeping my small business afloat. With that in mind, I want to ensure our cancellation/rescheduling policies are straightforward and easy to understand for everyone.
♦ We are currently considering reschedule dates for clients who have events through June 30th, 2020. As this situation evolves, we will be looking into other potentially affected dates as needed.
♦ As you know, we received a nonrefundable initial booking payment upon booking your wedding. Though our contracts state that these payments are nonrefundable and nontransferable, I think these unprecedented times call for adjustments to be made. For that reason, I would like to extend the transfer of deposits for affected weddings to any available Friday or Sunday through May 14th, 2021. This offer would apply exclusively to any wedding previously scheduled on or before June 30th, 2020 as a direct result of a government mandated ban on weddings and possible special circumstances approved at our discretion. This one time transfer will not apply to restrictions on guest counts or events not scheduled within an active government mandated ban on weddings.
♦ Should you cancel your wedding altogether or reschedule outside of the May 14th, 2021 window, your deposit unfortunately would not be refundable, and you will NOT be expected to pay the remaining balance specified in your contract.
♦ We completely understand that you may have envisioned hundreds of people at your reception and the government imposed guest restrictions may modify those plans. As of April 6th, 2020, wedding ceremonies are exempt from the “Stay at home order.” Barring a new government restriction, we can still document the getting ready process, first looks, ceremony, family photos, creative sessions, and intimate receptions (within government regulations.) As amazing as a big reception is, the thing to keep in mind is that party is to celebrate all the things that happened up to that point. With that in mind, we are happy to suggest creative solutions to accommodate event modifications for couples keeping their original date.
Payment Info
♦ Please note that there is no fee for rescheduling weddings originally scheduled on/before June 30th, 2020, for an available Friday or Sunday, up until May 14th, 2021. This policy only applies to cancelations/reschedules that are a direct result of the COVID-19 government mandated restrictions.
♦ If wedding day will be taking place as scheduled, or you are rescheduling your wedding within the above stated parameters, your final payments will still be due on their originally contracted dates. Our automated system sends out reminders as those dates come close.
♦ Some people are losing their jobs or are on limited hours due to the virus, and as such, payments may become a problem. If you have been affected in this way, please reach out and we will do our best to set up a payment plan or figure out a solution that will work best for all effected.
As much as I would love to, I am not able to offer every date as we are already booked for most Saturdays this year. I will absolutely do my best to accommodate reschedule dates in any way I can, but please understand that my small team can only be in one place on any given Saturday. I and my team are prepared to work 2 & 3 wedding weekends to ensure every effort to accommodate rescheduled weddings has been made.
Being a small business revolving around weddings/events, we work within the confines of 52 weekends each year. When you are booking with us, though photos are the end product, you are largely paying for a date of coverage representing the limited amount of days we have to create revenue. Our small business unfortunately cannot afford to lose many bookings for next wedding season, as those bookings keep us going year to year. May 14th, 2021 was chosen in hopes to strike a balance between keeping our business afloat during the tough times, and doing the right thing for our clients. That timeframe gives our couples around 1 year to reschedule and takes what would have been the beginning of our busy season and moves it to the tail end of our busy season. We ask for everyone’s understanding in these uncertain times as we will be offering every effort to help where we can.
We unfortunately are not able to reschedule for prime 2021 dates free of charge. These dates would be subject to a reschedule fee & possible additional charges. To be clear, we are not attempting to profit from this horrible situation in any way and highly encourage our clients to reschedule for the dates offered, free of charge. Being a small business, with a limited staff, we rely on our prime dates to generate predictable revenue, keep our doors open, and our families fed. For those reasons we are not able to sustain the loss of prime dates without charging a reschedule fee. That being said, we also understand that you may want to choose a prime date for your event, so we are doing our best to accommodate our couples while keeping our small business going. After your rescheduling fee is paid, your original deposit will be applied to your new date, with your final balance being due 30 days prior to the new date. Again, we in no way want to profit, or penalize our clients for rescheduling. We are 100% on your team and are doing our best to strike a balance between doing right by our clients and keeping our business alive. Your understanding is greatly appreciated.
We understand rescheduling your wedding date isn’t easy, and requires coordination between many vendors. Due to our high amount of reschedule requests, we are not able to tentatively hold dates. We are however happy to share a list of currently available dates for you to review. We highly suggest reaching back out to us to confirm the date is still available before solidifying your reschedule with your venue(s). At that time we can send over new paperwork to sign and officially transfer your wedding to the new date.
We’re a small business and rely solely on our work to keep our doors open and families taken care of. The income we have planned on receiving month to month is a vital part of our business structure, and ensures we are here for current and future clients. That being said, with the exception of cancelled weddings, any payments due will not be altered.
Because Eighty Eight Photo is comprised of a small team, we can’t say with certainty that we would have the extra in-house manpower to accommodate partial events on any given day. The continuity shown in our work and experience is largely due to avoiding subcontracting 3rd parties to cover events booked with us. Being built on personal service by our limited staff, coupled with need to book new events to sustain revenue, restricts us from offering this option. Should you keep your original wedding date and move the reception to another, your second day will need to be treated as a supplemental session and subject to our current pricing. As previously mentioned, we in no way want to profit from this or penalize our clients for rescheduling parts of their event. We are 100% on your team and are doing our best to strike a balance between doing right by our clients and keeping our business alive. Exceptions, though rare, for Fridays and Sundays within the aforementioned reschedule window and off season events will be considered and are subject to availability and discretion of Eighty Eight Photo.
We understand that things may have changed and wedding day may be a little different than originally planned. For that reason, we are happy to scale 2 photographer full event coverage packages down to 1 photographer full event coverage. This only applies to those weddings affected within the aforementioned timeframe. We are making this exception to our normal policies in hopes to help our affected clients adhere to possible guest count restrictions and scale back additional coverage that may no longer be needed. We cannot scale back 1 photographer full event coverage to our previously offered hourly coverage.