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Wedding Contract

Hello all,

I am in need of a wedding stationery contract and I really do not know where to begin. I will gladly pay for a sneak peek at your wedding contract for ideas OR if there is someone who could come up with one for me that would be acceptable too.

My business has recently exploded in my humble opinion... What started as a hobby has really taken off for me which is great. BUT, that being said I CANNOT wait around for my clients to get me the necessay details for their wedding stationery.

I have had a few near misses which were exhausting to say the least. For instance....

Hello all,

I recently had a bride who I have been after for over 3 weeks for her guests addresses....she claimed she was working on putting them together but I was afraid they would go out later than they should.....she did send out stds....so that's a good thing.....I offered to put the invitations together for her and put them in the mail provided she pay for the postage......THEN, she started fooling around with zazzle trying to create her own postage...UGH....we don't have time for this.....

My husband thinks I am overreacting and that there is not much I can do.....the invites will just have to go out later than expected....

Oh, and also she had originally told me that she had most of the addresses but was waiting on her fiancce to get his together. So thia afternoon, I told her she could send tham along a little at a time.....and she emailed me back asking how the address should be worded....WHAT??? So, she doesnt have many if any of the addresses done.

Another question for you......the same bride as above also ordered wedding programs from me, two hundred of them. She paid for them and then it took her a while to get the information to me....she finally approved the proof and wanted eveything complete in TWO days her wedding was the following Saturday...

My problem is that I still had to add rhinestones and ribbon to each and every
program. Two days to do this really was a stretch for me. I managed to complete everything on time and she was extremely happy.

My question is this.....what if I wasn't able to get them done on time. I had already orderd all the paper, ribbon, rhinestones and also handstamped all of the programs...should I give her a partial refund?

I do send all of my brides an email stating due dates for certain things but there are still quite a few who are late.

Thanks so much
Wendy

http://www.moonlightstamper.com

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Caren Jeanty on December 18, 2010 at 3:12pm

Here are some general items that your contract should have:

1) THE DATE THE CONTRACT WAS DRAFTED SHOULD BE SPECIFIED

2) THE ADDRESS, PHONE # AND ADDITIONAL CONTACT INFO FOR THE COMPANY

3) THE ADDRESS, PHONE # AND ADDITIONAL CONTACT INFO FOR THE CLIENT

4) EXACT TIME(S) AND DATE(S) SERVICES ARE TO BE RENDERED

5) EXACT LOCATION(S) WHERE SERVICES ARE TO BE RENDERED

6) THE TOTAL COST FOR SERVICES

7) THE AMOUNT AND DATE THE DEPOSIT IS DUE, IF REQUIRED

8) THE AMOUNT AND DATE THAT THE FULL PAYMENT IS DUE

9) TYPE(S) OF PAYMENT ACCEPTED

10) CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICIES OF THE COMPANY

11) ALL ITEMS & DETAILS THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THE TOTAL COST

12) ANY ADDITIONAL CHARGES THAT MAY BE INCURRED

Hourly rates if the client wishes to go into overtime
Charges for assistants and/or extra persons, if applicable
Mileage costs and travel fees, if any
Gratuity & Tax
Other miscellaneous charges

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Permalink Reply by Aisle Say! Wedding Papers on January 26, 2011 at 11:41am

Caren Jeanty is absolutely right. I have an example contract on my website you can look at too:

http://www.aislesayweddingpapers.com/faqs

As to the rest of your problems with brides wasting time or not getting things to you in a timely fashion, you could add a clause in your contract that says basically "your poor planning does not constitute an emergency for me" and charge a rush fee. That way at least you feel like you can provide the service AND you're being compensated for the inconvenience of having to scramble to get the work done. Alternatively, you can advertise that you do not accept orders past a certain timeframe.

I wouldn't give a bride a refund under the circumstances you described. You can put a clause in your contract to cover that too. Either way, have your contract looked over by an attorney to make sure that everything is legal. You can download a free contract template plan from AiGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts)

http://www.aiga.org

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Permalink Reply by Shannon Confair Photography on January 30, 2011 at 11:11am

Congrats on the new business you're getting! As much as you'll hate to pull out the money, you really should hire a lawyer to write you a sound contract. It will be worth it in the long run to save you from any headaches that will arise along the way. At the very least if you do decide to write your own or use someone else's have a lawyer look it over.