Saving for a wedding

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For some years now saving culture has been encouraged locally.  Whether you are saving up to buy a car or a down payment for a house, land, a trip, or it can even be a household item that you need. Many supermarkets overtime have adopted the culture of allowing you to pay in two to three installments for household items, which can be spread over a period of 2 to 3 months. That makes someone save and afford what they couldn’t otherwise immediately have done so. The beauty to such payment for household items is,  it’s not usually on higher purchase price. Hence the exact price on the item is what you pay for when done with installments. 

Some years now to encourage savings culture,  there has been the 52 week challenge that some have practiced, to keep money aside and at the end of the year have money for any project that they have in mind.

With weddings, it’s a day that we plan for in advance and so saving for it would be a wise idea. Years are gone when you rely on wedding committees to raise funds for your big day. Some still do but only a few manage to reach their target amounts through this method.  On many social media platforms there have been complaints of being added to a WhatsApp group from people you haven’t heard from for years to find they have put you in their wedding committee to help raise funds and also help meet the deficit that won’t easily be realized through crowdfunding.  It’s easy to contribute twice or even thrice what you set aside to spend when you find yourself in a wedding committee.

There are a lot of benefits to saving and funding your own wedding as either the bride and groom and for some with the financial support of both their families.  When you decide to save for your wedding on your own, you can easily work on the vision of your day without external influence or with little but still within your control.  There is an entitlement that comes with working with a wedding committee.  When someone gives money for your wedding they may largely influence a vendor, venue, or even numbers you invite as they feel they’re invested in your big day. If it’s okay with you, proceed. If not then keeping money aside for your wedding is the way to go for you.

There are many ways to save for a wedding.  One maybe through a fixed account. This can be determined with the date you have in mind whether the funds will have matured by then. A second way is there are trustworthy and reliable vendors for who you can book a date and slowly pay monthly towards the wedding day. You can do this and be left with the sum of money that’s equivalent to the final payment for each vendor. This will then leave you with a reasonable amount to pay on the week of your big day. Whether you save cash and pay up at the last moment or pay vendors on installments,  paying for your own wedding when there is no family financial support can be reasonable than burdening a wedding committee to crowdfund it.

Wedding Contracts During the pandemic.

Time does fly so fast. It's more than 3 years since I wrote about wedding contracts.  My emphasis back then was for the vendor to protect themselves from difficult clients who give them bad reviews. If they have a settlement agreement with them, which basically might have terms involved like non-disparagement type or a confidentiality clause that makes the matter settled and resolved remain between the two of you.

Now,  I would like to shift gears abit and address wedding contracts during the pandemic going forward.  I was reading how some Individuals with Insurance cover were surprised to find that their bills couldn't be paid due to an exciting clause in their policy that they  might have failed to pay attention to until now. The good side to everything is that the terms have being renegotiated and now COVID related illness is being covered by some companies with limitations in place.

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When a client hires a vendor and enters into contracts with them, be it a photographer,  wedding planner,  venue, caterer,  hotel, honeymoon package and the list goes on......

There is usually a booking fee charged which is nonrefundable or not; based on what the contract stipulates.  Why many hardly refund this amount is due to the fact that they have to turn away other businesses because you've booked with them.

The pandemic and government restrictions meant that there would be need for cancellations,  rescheduling of dates and reduced number of attendees.  Since weddings are not time sensitive, they can be rescheduled and held at a future date. This calls for good communication between wedding client and vendor.  My need to address this issue is due to the fact that we are still in a pandemic and  its impossible to predict another disruption or even lockdown.  You might not have been prepared then but going forward, there is need to make huge provisions for uncertainties. 

In some contracts I've seen the allowance to reschedule upto one year. Based on the agreement you had or have, complete cancellation and refund might be available.  This might sometimes mean, a new contract would subject you to higher fees if the prices go up and any other changes that might come about. You might even loose the negotiated discounts you enjoyed before.

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What the pandemic might have drawn our attention to in contract law is the Force Majeure clause in certain contracts.  Your vendor might have it stipulated or not in your previous contract, but going forward; it becomes the norm.

Due to the uncertainties with the pandemic,  it might be potentially difficult and impossible performing existing contractual obligations. Even though failure to honor your part would result in a breach of contract, the Force Majeure clause absolve from blame both parties incase a breach occurs.

Going forward, even though that clause now exists in many wedding contracts,  be sure to read the finer details to it. What would entail the contract being suspended or otherwise postponed for a certain prescribed period. 

Corona Weddings

You woke up with a cold or flu one morning and think it will go away. You start by putting your plans on hold for a suitable time or date in the future. A week, a month passes and the reality dawns on you: it wasn't a short term illness....it was chronic.  That's the new norm and life has to continue.
This is what Coronavirus has meant for all aspects of life. Weddings haven't been exempted from this either. The changes have somewhat meant: no large weddings at least into the foreseeable future.  With many ceremonies shorter and having upto 30 guests. That automatically means, you no longer have to explain why someone isn't invited to your wedding.
The pandemic also brought lockdown that affected alot of businesses.  The ones that had already been struggling with a difficult economy  and even the ones that had booked clients had similar fate. That meant from mid march to sometimes in June or July, it wasn't a guarantee in this industry of having work or the wedding couple enjoying their day.
I could go on with the challenges that have come up but that would be keeping things on the negative side. It's time to rebuild and hopefully,  the few months left in the year will get things off to a good start for 2021. For now, I'd like to readdress : the wedding contact and saving for the wedding.  Be on the look out for my next article.