Fee for Changing Date?

Most of my vendors either gave me everything back or gave nothing back with the intention of working with me at a later date (we couldn't schedule a later date.) So we did lose money. I feel that your photographer is being just an awful human right now. She shouldn't be keeping your money during this type of event and especially not if you are trying to rebook at a later date. There is no reason why you should have to pay additional to rebook. Unfortunately this isn't the first time I have heard of this type of behavior in recent events.

No, most of our vendors have tried their best to accommodate new date if they had it available or provide a partial refund. Obviously, it wasn’t your decision to change your date it was unavoidable due to what’s happening and for your safety and others. I think the photographer is being a bit unreasonable. $800 for date change seems excessive.

Your wedding isn't until July. There is no NEED to reschedule at this time. Those of us that were getting married in the immediate future were forced to reschedule. At this point in time, July is a voluntary reschedule and your photographer probably views it as such.

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Thank you for this perspective, as we are trying to see the whole picture. Our situation is complicated by immediate family members coming from abroad, who have already reached out because of travel restrictions from their part of Europe extending into the summer. We could not imagine having this day without them.

None of my vendors charged me a fee for a date change. BUT there was a date change fee in several of our contracts. But since the governor mandated that all events with 50 people or more be cancelled, and the CDC says no groups over 10, they would be losing money if I didn't reschedule as I wouldn't pay them the rest. And they couldn't have rebooked my date and made any money.


But your wedding is so far away, your photographer could have booked someone else if she hadn't booked with you. If she has a rescheduling fee, she's entitled to charge it. Especially since, at this time, there are no serious health or safety reasons to reschedule.

Our reception hall was going to keep our $1000 deposit no matter what didn’t matter if we had to cancel or if we postponed. Because of the state/city wide shutdown they waived it thank goodness. But im not sure if we will be refunded if we cancel.

This is a time when we are going to see people's true colors. Profiting from turmoil is indecent. I completely understand keeping deposits, people have to survive, but up charging is reprehensible.

View Quoted Comment If the wedding in question were right now, I'd agree. But this is 3.5 months out. There's no health threat for July.
If she was March, April, yes, that would be awful. But July. July is buying into panic.

I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through. We have a community hub of all our COVID-19 information, including cancellation guides, monthly planning posts, and advice on how to get additional support. I hope it helps you navigate this difficult time!

Original bride posting here... thank you so much everyone, your insights and experiences have been so helpful! We agree that we may be a bit early in postponing, but it is the right choice for us, so now we are navigating how best to handle the hurdles that arise based on the decision we made. This is an unprecedented time for couples and vendors alike and we are all facing the financial strain. We very much want to make sure our vendors stay afloat and know there is a chance of losing money with a date change, but also want to make sure our experience isn't a total outlier before working through next steps. With that said thank you again, we are so appreciative of everyone who has shared their thoughts and experiences.