Divorce before video is finished

[Paul R Johnson]

Isn't this just one of the drawbacks of working with long production timescales? If the contracts aren't watertight, I'm surprised the wedding industry doesn't have this happen more often. I don't do weddings, but do events of all kinds - mainly theatrical, and I only get paid on completion - very rarely is a deposit paid as most customers are business - so they get a quote from me, they agree and provide a written order, I shoot the production, then send an invoice with the DVD. 30 days later, if all goes well, I get paid. No way would business customers pay up front. On bigger projects, I'll arrange a stage payment - perhaps at the completion of shooting - but that really just means a split in to work carried out, not planned do do in the future. Business rarely trust people to do the work if they've been paid. Yet the wedding industry is swapped around. They commission you, a complete stranger, and pay you a big advance for a product of unknown quality at a point a fair way in the future. That's really good business - I wish it applied to my sector - where it's easy to have 5 or 6 thousand pounds outstanding - oh for the wedding video cash flow situation.

It also here in the UK means that you are in the position of having to pay 20% of the invoice to the government in VAT BEFORE you get the money from the client! Nice one!

[Corey Graham]

The wedding video industry is a whole different animal than any other kind of video production (even other events). It's literally John Q. Public (not a business or organization) hiring professionals. Anyone walking off the street can commission a videographer -- which is why most of us require full payment ahead of time. The quality of the final product is usually known quite well, as the client has likely viewed examples of said professional's previous work -- the reason they hired them in the first place.

The client, in my experience, is always more than willing to pay up front for everything. I've had many insist upon it.

But, yeah, I'm surprised that more of the videographers who don't require full payment before the wedding don't get ripped off.

[Nigel Barker]

Payment in advance is the norm for all services in the wedding industry. Photographers, reception venues, dressmakers, caterers or videographers they all expect to be paid up front either the full amount or a very large percentage. It may seem cynical but I suspect that this is because a proportion of couples are likely to blow all their money on the wedding so by the time they come back from honeymoon they are hard up & likely to drag their feet over paying bills.

[Taky Cheung]

I don't think it's a "payment in advance". Service was already rendered.=)

[Paul Hildebrandt]

I watched a video on Ron Dawson's blog recently called "F#@% You, Pay Me"
Watching that, and reading this really helps to remember that we are businesses, and people need to understand that.

[Michael Johnston]

No refunds. Everyone else who provided a service that day got paid and you should too. Finish the DVD and shelve it and let them know it's there waiting if either decide they want it. Leave it at that. Again, NO REFUNDS!