As wedding planners, there are unexpected outcomes and phenomenon that happen with every event we steward. As of March 2020, the COVID-19 virus and corresponding ripple effect of public health awareness in Seattle shone a big old light on the need to develop contingency plans and provide clarity to our couples during a time of “what if”. We are taking this as an opportunity to dive deep the information and tools available to couples who have made significant investments in their marriage celebration. My hope is that, whatever may be your location or the present context, that this information leaves you feeling prepared for any what-if-ness around your celebration and empowered to create an action plan.
We’ve seen our fair share of unexpected outcomes at weddings and elopements. In the 2019 season alone, we witnessed a freak rainstorm that flooded the upper half of a venue space during the 30-minute period the ceremony was supposed to occur; we had an event the same day a crane collapsed in the downtown core just two hours before the start of the ceremony; and we coordinated a reception where a guest had a medical incident and the fire truck who responded hit the DJ’s car on their way out of the venue.
Are these snippets meant to scare you? Absolutely not. This is life. Things just happen that you cannot control. And they happen more often than we may think.
Did we battle back against the rain storm, flip the ceremony to an indoor space, and still party the rest of the night away on schedule? Sure did.
Did grandpa (and the other 160 guests) make it around the downtown gridlock to witness his granddaughter’s ceremony with only a slight delay of events? 100%.
Did the DJ handle the ding in his car with the most grace, only to run inside and keep spinning for the party while we handled the paperwork outside? Like a champ.
We in the event industry are used to seeing a myriad of unexpected circ*mstances. Our ability to adapt is what makes us good at our jobs. We want you to feel informed and capable when the unexpected occurs, as well as supported and cared for by the people who participate in this industry. So what follows is a mix of the precautions you can take as a couple to protect your investments, understand your contracts, and take informed action. We also offer some grounding context on the conversations in the wedding and event industry at this time — including information on how we respond in unexpected scenarios and extenuating circ*mstances — so that couples feel empowered to have open and honest conversations with their vendors.
We recognize that at the time this article is being written, much is still being learned about the COVID-19 virus and is prone to change. Reliable information regarding this particular outbreak and best practices can be found on the CDC COVID Data Tracker. Everyone has a different needs when it comes to the measures that make them feel safe. We encourage all couples and wedding professionals to take the measures that align with their needs as well as communicate with others about how your health-related boundaries and needs can be respected.
FIRST, LET’S TALK EVENT INSURANCE…
Why do couples purchase event insurance?
Special event insurance, or one-day event insurance, is a policy that helps protect your investment for a specific event. This kind of insurance may help cover your costs if you unexpectedly need to cancel your event or if you’re found responsible for property damage or an injury caused during your event. Please take note of the word “may.” Insurance companies are in the business of cashing checks, not writing them. The only way you can know exactly what a policy covers is by reading the fine print. Also note the coverage limit, which tells you up to how much of the total expense you can be reimbursed for.
What is the different between “liability” and “cancellation” policies?
Cancellation coverage may help reimburse you for lost deposits or fees should something unexpected force you to delay or cancel your function. For example, if a vendor unexpectedly closes up shop, or a key player has a medical emergency that forces you to postpone, then this coverage may help you with re-booking or rescheduling fees. Liability coverage may help protect you if you’re found responsible for property damage or an injury caused during your event. Most venues require you to carry this insurance policy to help cover the cost of repair to property or equipment related to the venue and/or medical costs related to incidents on the property.
What are the key items to look for in a liability policy?
Your liability insurance policy may require you to list your venue on the policy as additional insureds so that they can generate a certificate for each venue. Make sure that you include all locations for your event and note the duration of coverage (often 24 or 48 hours). The “Named Insured” should be the name(s) of the people making significant financial investment in the event, including the couple, relatives, or other financial supporters. Note any deductible that may apply to the policy. Make sure that you, your planner, and your catering and bartending team are clear about any liquor-related liability insurance so that you have coverage for incidents related to intoxicated guests.
What are the key items to look for in a cancellation policy?
When reaching out to insurance companies about COVID19-related cancellations, most companies returned 1-2 sentence boilerplate responses making clear that no cancellations related to COVID19 would be covered. When we probed further, the only concession we heard on the matter was that some policies purchased the year prior may cover some expenses related to the virus before it was a known illness. We recommend getting specific with your policy provider about what is disqualified from coverage and what they determine to be the definition of a “known” versus “unknown” event. When asking for these distinctions, we recommend asking in the format of “My understanding is that the policy will cover [this scenario]” so that you can receive clear answers from the insurance representative.
How does travel insurance fit in?
Travel insurance, which we personally purchase for any trip totaling more than $1,000, is available online and can be a great way to protect your investment in travel. Typical travel insurance policies are between 7-10% of the total cost of your trip, so budget accordingly. Travel insurance often covers medical care and evacuation; always check and make sure. Travel insurance typically does not cover cancellations due to epidemics, pandemics, or viral outbreaks. The “events” that are covered must be explicitly listed in the policy language. As an alternative to travel insurance, there do exist policies that live under the “cancel-for-any-reason” umbrella. These policies can be anywhere from 2-5x the amount of a travel insurance policy. Hot tip: If you’re looking to book flights or hotels during uncertain travel times, peep your rewards programs and see if there are policies in place to refund any purchase made with miles or rewards.
Which policies, practices, and resources do you recommend?
If you want to dig further into information about insurance options, we recommend visiting the Insurance Information Institute online. As a best practice, we recommend asking your venue and vendors for proof of liability insurance; researching your existing coverage through home, auto, or liability insurance and credit cards; and knowing what your policy covers, and whether it extends to wedding-related activities like a honeymoon or gifts. We frequently recommend policies through sites like WedSafe and Event Helper.
NEXT, LET’S TALK CONTRACTS…
What are the clauses in contract(s) that I should be aware of?
All of them. We believe that you should be able to read and understand every sentence in any contract that you sign. Perhaps it’s being the daughter of two lawyers (and the sister of a public defender), but we think it’s important to know and feel confident about the contents of any document you sign your name to. If you can’t understand the language, either ask the other party for clarification, conduct independent research online, and/or consult an attorney. For the purposes of paring things down a bit, we will focus on the “Cancellation Policy”, “Postponement Policy”, “Force Majeure” or “Responsbility” clause, and a “Cancellation Contract”.
What does each clause pertain to? What kind of language can I expect to see?
We would like to offer a generic understanding of what each clause or contract entails. Please keep in mind that this is not a replacement for understanding the specific language promised in your contract with each vendor, but an offering to help you understand each piece of the contract.
Cancellation Policy: This clause states the terms under which a booking or reservation may be rescinded, as well as any associated penalties.
Postponement Policy: This clause states the terms under which a booking or reservation may be postponed, as well as any associated penalties.
Force Majeure or Responsibility clause: This clause exempts your vendor from being responsible for the costs associated with any unforeseeable circ*mstances that prevent them from fulfilling on the contract. This often includes Acts Of God, Natural Disasters, an Act Of Government such as A Declaration of National or Local Emergency, or other incidents not within the control of the consultant like an accident, death in the family, illness, pregnancy, or sudden tragic circ*mstance. This clause may also have a provision for how coverage will be provided through a subcontracted hire.
Cancellation Contract: This is a contract created when both parties agree to discontinue the previous working agreement. This contract should include a statement of purpose, details on when the communication of cancellation was held, and the terms of the cancellation with a citation of the original cancellation policy in the first contract.
Tell me more about cancellation and postponement options
THE SUPPORT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THE WEDDING + ELOPEMENT COMMUNITY.
What are some emergency scenarios you’ve seen in the past, and how did the event community respond?
A great example of an “emergency management” response by the wedding community in 2019 was during a wave of unexpected venue closures in the Seattle area. For various reasons (some still not known to the wider vendor community), a few major venues closed up their doors with a sign declaring that they were discontinuing their services. A few of these venues booked multiple weddings in a weekend and/or had capacity for 250-400 guests. In some cases clients were promptly informed; in others, the closure was not clearly communicated. Some venues offered partial refunds of deposits. The majority of the cases that we heard about offered no refund or explanation. There was a ripple effect in the event community where couples were panicked and scrambling to find spaces and realign services, hoping to fulfill on the same date for themselves and their guests. We were and are still proud to be a member of a community where vendors collaborated together — via email and on Facebook groups — to put together replacement solutions for these couples either free of charge or highly discounted. To see so many examples of this same response in the community to COVID-19 has helped quell much of the scrambling and panic. We are here, we are looking out for you, and we are working together to ensure that your event comes together in a safe and joyous manner. The response to emergency situations time and again is a confident and direct reflection of our clarity of purpose: creating a loving experience for couples to enjoy their first steps into marriage.
What is the response like now during the COVID-19 outbreak? What are some of the practices and provisions you’ve seen other vendors make during this time?
When it comes to the orbit of clients and vendors we work with, everyone is doing a fantastic job of communicating with one another. It has been encouraging to see businesses of all kinds staying up to date and aligned with these best practices. In light of the fact that we have events in March 2020 to steward, we have implemented the best practice of converting our meetings with clients and vendors to a video chat format. When the first round of “work from home” mandates went out for major technology companies in the area, we reached out to venues and vendors for events in the upcoming month to proactively chat over their postponement and cancellation policies, ask about any flexibility on drop-dead deadlines for headcount, create a communication plan when needed, and start the contingency conversation with our clients. We have also loved collaborating with our couples to create proactive communication tools to address their guests’ safety concerns during this time. If you have an upcoming event and would be interested in receiving an email template to proactively communicate with your guests about safety considerations, please reach out to kate@tapestryeventco.com with the email subject: “Wedding Guest Concern Email Template”.
Is it better to continue forward with my event? Or reschedule it?
Truly, this is a decision that rests entirely with you and your partner. In emergent situations or health-related scenarios where the information and impact changes rapidly, we recommend skipping down to the best practices below to help determine your best path forward. Take stock of your investments and their cancellation/postponement policies so that you’re working with facts and the best information possible. If a cancellation occurs due to circ*mstances a bit closer to home and with some notice, leave it to the internet to deliver some strange solutions, like a service called Cancelled Weddings that helps broker your existing investments to a new party at a discount. Every scenario is different, and in this case, the best advice is to gather your resources, then pursue what feels best for the two of you.
BEST PRACTICES FOR COUPLES.
STEP 1: Protect your investment.
Once you have put down a significant sum of money on a venue, a creative service, or plane tickets, we recommend purchasing the corresponding insurance right away. The earlier you buy, the higher chance you will have of protecting yourself from previously unknown scenarios that insurance companies may make an exception of.
STEP 2: Create and maintain a wellness routine.
This is not just coming from the yoga teacher in me (Kate). There is an ecosystem of events happening outside of your body all the time, but there is also the inner landscape of your head and heart that receives them. If you take care of your inner landscape, it’s much easier to receive and respond to the outside world from a rooted and powerful position, rather than reacting and being drawn into a culture of fear. Stay informed and take care of yourself, even if it’s as simple as a bundled-up walk around the block once a day.
STEP 3: Communicate.
The only way to co-create solutions and adapt with joy is by communicating. Communicate with your partner about your thoughts, feelings, and priorities in the event of or when planning for emergent situations. Make sure that you listen as much as you speak. Communicate with your planner so that they can ensure their “what if” preparations take all your concerns into consideration. Communicate with your vendors to get clarity on their best practices when planning for or working through unexpected situations. Communicate with your guests to remind them that you are cognizant of their health, safety, and concerns. Acknowledge their interests, hold space for them to make choices that feel aligned with their safety concerns, and remain open to having a conversation about what things look like on both sides to generate understanding. The last thing you want to do is lose love over an event neither of you can control.
We want to acknowledge the many vendors, couples, and professionals that came together to contribute to this article. There are far too many to name in the last week alone. Thank you to the couples who have expressed their concerns early, who have communicated, and who have partnered with us to find solutions. We invite more of those conversations in the weeks that follow. It’s been affirming to learn, share, and grow together through the public health challenge presented by COVID-19. We invite any questions or comments you may have in the comment box below to continue the dialogue as a community.
— Kate, Tapestry Creative Director
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