Couple elopes and wants full refund

Does your contract state what you do in case of a cancellation? Many contracts have a no-refund policy (intended to forestall requests from not-perfectly-happy clients after the wedding) but also have a cancellation policy (to deal with situations where the groom decides to enter the priesthood, that sort of thing). Often the cancellation policy will provide for a full refund if the date can be rebooked, otherwise a partial refund. There is an opportunity cost here — regardless of whether you actually HAVE turned anybody else down on that date. Whether you have is your business, not the canceling clients. Good to be fair, though.

Refunds bite. But taking the full fee in return for doing, well, nothing at all, seems just a bit harsh.

Will

In addition to what William said, I doubt that, if taken to court, a judge would look kindly on your keeping the entire amount when you have done nothing to earn that amount, no matter what your contract says about 'no refunds'. A partial amount for theoretically turning down other work to do the wedding--OK--but not the whole thing for no work done.

If it were me, I'd perhaps keep maybe 1/3rd of the amount, and offer to do a family portrait or offer to do some other product of yours.

As others have said, you should probably consider refunding some of the money. Apart from the legal aspects, you don't want those people complaining to their friends or posting nasty reviews of you on bridal sites, etc. I would just explain the fact that you could have booked another wedding, etc., but I'd offer to return 50% or 75%.

Cancelling five months in advance doesn't sound reasonable to keep the full payment, or even half of it. Maybe 10-20% would be within reason. Personally, I would probably give them their full refund, wish them the best, ask them to consider me next time they or their family/friends need a photographer, and search for another booking opportunity. Now, if the date was coming up sooner and you had lost other potential business or had little chance of finding a replacement gig in the short amount of time then I'd say there is legitimate reason to deny a refund. But I like to believe you catch more flies with honey. I would rather earn a reputation as a reasonable and likeable business owner than a shrewd and stingy one.

I'm in agreement with Nadine and William. A refund less the original retainer is probably in order. Explain that you've locked off the date for them. You may consider a full refund if the date is re-booked less an administration fee.

Now there is another way to look at this. Instead of loosing 50-75% of the booking. Why not find out where they are going to get married and see if it's cost effective to go to that location and cover the elopement.

So let's say the booking was $5000. You do some research and can get to the location for $1000 (travel and 1 hotel night) and shoot their marriage. You suggest that you'll go and cover it just as if they were having it locally. It bites to have to cover the travel costs yourself but you're only out $1000 instead of the full package in this example. Of course it would depend on what you are charging and your material cost with the package you offered. There may just not be enough profit to cover this idea.

I would also check one other thing before agreeing to anything. Hopefully you have done your homework and know the venue and other suppliers working the original wedding plan. You NEED to check with the church, reception hall, cake shop and so on to see if they have indeed cancelled with them. Make sure they aren't using this as an excuse to get Uncle Fred to cover the original wedding and get the money back.

If anything, maybe you should ask to see a copy of their wedding license after the elopement and before you refund any funds. No refunds whole or partial should be made until after the original date, unless you book another wedding for that date.

Can you trade for some photo shoots of them, or a family portait session? Can you take the pics from where they eloped and make a book out of them.Do as much as you can to keep from giving back all of the money.

Way back when I was doing (film) wedding photography part time, I had in my contract that the intial deposit was not refundable as I may have turned down other bookings for the same date. I actually had two scheduled weddings called off, and I never had a problem with keeping the deposit. It was about a quarter of the whole wedding price. Not the same thing as yours with the entire amount paid up front.

...I doubt that, if taken to court, a judge would look kindly on your keeping the entire amount when you have done nothing to earn that amount...

....Cancelling five months in advance doesn't sound reasonable to keep the full payment...

Courts tend to follow this line of reasoning. It is not enough for a contract to say there is no refund. A retainer/hold the date for the client only type clause is generally much more enforceable. Especially if it graduates the amount of the refund indexed to the amount of time away from the date. e.g. a larger amount many months away, a middle amount a couple months away and no refund a month or less away. This is because the remedy for a breach needs to be reasonable in light of the situation at the time of contracting and in some states also factoring the situation on the date of breach. Since new substitute bookings are much more likely far away from the date, keeping all the funds is not as reasonable as it is on the eve of the date. Some photographers spread out payments over time and make those nonrefundable upon the due date for each one. There's many other schemes as well that can fit the particular business model of the photographer. There is also the potential for review of whether you get to keep the gross payment or the net you would minus expenses if that is ascertainable.

I can't say what the law isin your jurisdiction so its not advice for this and other particular situations. Plus we have no idea what your contract actually says. We can say, if your contract just says no refunds like you indicate, it appears to be time to bring it to your local attorney for review and re-drafting. Hopefully you didn't just copy some contract you found somewhere.