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When talking with vendors, check what their policies are for postponing/cancelling. If you do decide to sign a contract, make sure they would allow you to postpone with no penalty if COVID is still a large threat or if there are major restrictions by the date of your wedding.

Some vendors will allow you to negotiate, but without a venue I wouldn't book any other vendors because you don't really have a set date without a venue secured. While I do understand your fiance's concern, there is no telling how long Covid is going to last so unless he wants to wait an unknown period of time eventually a decision will have to be made.

Having a day and having a venue are kind of more of a priority than other vendors in my opinion but I totally understand the uncertainty behind everything. I like what everyone else said about making sure you know the postpone and cancellation policies of everyone because that’s some thing that would really help you if that ever had to come down to it

Thanks everyone! Yes I spoke with the vendor that I prefer and they are fine with letting us change the date if needed but not refunded. My fiancé doesn’t like this but I explained that will be 99 percent of places. I was thinking of trying to negotiate the payment terms - perhaps 3 months versus 6 months for the second payment but I’m
Not sure if this is something venues are doing

I'm woth your fiancé on this. I, personally do not feel comfortable putting down hundreds of dollars for deposits to book something with all this uncertainty going on.

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Completely agree. Also, December 2021 is too far to know. The worst part about this covid wedding stuff for me, is ending up planning a wedding for over 3.5 years once my day arrives. And there is still no guarantee it can happen. That to me is nuts lol. We can’t wait forever! You still need to make plans! If you are wanting a large wedding, December may be too soon, but a smaller or intimate wedding should be able to happen by them. Having said that, There will always be risk involved. For instance, if covid continues to cause wedding celebrations to be canceled or postponed then there is a small chance you postpone once, and need to again. Make sure that the contract is clear. How many times can you reschedule due to covid? If it’s only once, is there a fee for a second move? What about fully cancelling? Full or partial refund? I would also use caution with booking vendors as most photographers and MUA ect don’t usually allow refunds. you should have it in writing that they will move the date, no penalty to you, if problems occur. The other thing I ran into was, yes my venue would provide me with a 50% refund if I cancelled, regardless of the reason, and a one time move at NC. BUT when I told them I was going to cancel, they responded “ although we stand by our refund policy, we are deferring ALL refunds at this time” basically, ya I can cancel, and yes they owe me that money but there was/is no money to give back to me right now. They could not provide me with a date of a refund. We ended up getting a new date, and not needing to cancel. You can’t put your life on hold. Just do everything you need to do to ensure him that the venue will fully work together if things are not good by then. Show him the proposed contract details ect. Venues also need to be booked at least a year ahead, in my opinion.

Good luck, and I hope you get to start planning soon!

We postponed our December 2020 wedding to December 2021 to be sure because the restrictions where we current live are touch and go.

If you are apprehensive about signing anything, 100% look to negotiating a force majeure clause. Propose to contract on the basis that if a force majeure event happens (definition to include epidemic, pandemic, health crises or government imposed restrictions or quarantine) that you can cancel (or postpone) without charge, with all monies paid to be refunded.

Make sure you find out what their policies are for postponing if need be. At the same time, you can't put your life on hold waiting for what if.

View Quoted Comment Thanks I didn’t even know that was a clause that existed! I will definitely look into that

View Quoted Comment I’ve been looking at both restaurants and halls at the moment. Some of the restaurants are just as it more expensive then the halls.. i really appreciate everyone’s feed back. It’s great to get opinions from people who are experiencing this too

See if you can at least get a clause that would allow you to push it back a year. Ours has a clause where if we need to push it back again we have to choose a date 365 days after the given date, and all monies paid would still apply. Otherwise then it is non-refundable and we'd be essentially paying for another wedding. But to us, this was better than nothing, because as you said, some vendors/venues are being a little difficult about this since they are trying to stay in business and are not giving out refunds as freely.

I totally understand you wanting to book your wedding, but I would wait a little longer. It's very uncertain right now what will be even next year. Save yourself the stress and anxiety and wait it out a little bit.

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I'm a lawyer and in ALL the contracts I've been working on at work we now put these clauses in (and include epidemic, pandemic etc in the definition) specifically to make sure that if s&$t hits the fan, we can have protections in place. Be prepared for push back from vendors to include these clauses in the contracts but don't be afraid to press for the inclusion of the clause; it's a solid way to protect yourself in the instance that there are still covid restrictions next year. It won't protect you if you simply change your mind, but if for example you have a restriction on guest count due to covid, it would allow you that protection.

View Quoted Comment Thanks so much. I appreciate this. I definitely will be discussing it with them and doing some more research. Is there anything specific that needs to be included in the clause ?

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Just as a quick one you could look to something as follows? (Note that I do not know what the parties will be referred to in the contract so X refers to you and your partner, and Y is whoever the vendor is).

It is important when negotiating these things that you do propose something fair for both sides - hence I have structured the below mock up to allow a 5% cancellation fee if the wedding is cancelled.

Note that this clause may not be suitable with all vendors but definitely press to include something like it with the venue.

Force Majeure

(a) In the circumstance a Force Majeure Event occurs, providing the X provides the Y with written notice as soon as reasonably practicable upon the X being made aware of the Force Majeure Event, the following remedies shall be available to the X:

(i) postponement of the Booking Date/Event (*however the booking is defined) to a date and time mutually convenient to the parties; or if in the circumstances postponement is not reasonably suitable or appropriate,

(ii) termination of the contract, in which event all fees and monies paid by the X to the Y shall be reimbursed to the X, less 5% of the Contract Sum which shall be retained by the Y as a cancellation fee.

(b) For the purposes of clause #, a Force Majeure Event includes, without limitation:

(i) earthquake, cyclone, hurricane, fire, explosion, flood, malicious damage, sabotage, act of a public enemy, terrorism or civil unrest;

(ii) war, invasion, hostility between nations, civil insurrection, military coup or act of a foreign enemy;

(iii) epidemic, pandemic, health crises, or government imposed quarantine in response to any such events; and

(iv) the act of any government or competent public or statutory authority with the effect of imposing measures, limitations or restrictions in response to the coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic or related epidemics or pandemics,

which could not have been mitigated, prevented, avoided, remedied or otherwise overcome by the X or the Y taking reasonable steps in the circumstances.

Is the venue a Prime venue? Are they busy in December? If so, go for it.
If not, the wait till right after the elections.
Ask the venue to put a courtesy hold on it till November. In the meantime start your research and plan your budget and make your guest list

View Quoted Comment Yes it is ! GM has stated they have been booking dates fast. At eh beginning of the week he has all weekends and now only one Saturday left. That’s why I am so conflicted.

Our wedding is October 2021. All of our vendors are booked. None of them have refundable deposits, but that’s the norm with event planning. We ensured that we spoke with each one about what would happen in the event of postponing and that the contracts backed up what they told us. We also have backup plans in mind just in case we are faced with major restrictions or feel the need to reschedule for safety reasons.
It was important for us to book early because we didn’t want to miss out on our favorite vendors. They are booking up very quickly since so many 2020 weddings are being postponed. It wasn’t worth it to have to settle for vendors that weren’t what we wanted or to have trouble finding any at all.
The pandemic has already taken so much from people. There’s no reason to let it cost you the day that you want. You cannot predict what will happen in a year or more, but you can be hopeful! We know that if we have to postpone, it’ll be okay and that’s enough for us.