Do I really need a contract before I shoot a wedding?
by Bryan Lindsey
BCL Photography

Well, what is the purpose of a contract? On a principled level, it spells out the expectations between two parties – party A agrees to do THIS if party B agrees to do THAT. It avoids confusion and misguided expectations. On a legal level, it is the basis for lawsuits, arbitration, and all sorts of stuff that lawyers get big bucks to dispute. Will YOU ever need a contract on the legal level? As a photographer, will you ever need to produce a document in court as part of a legal dispute with one of your customers? Probably not (hopefully not!). So the benefits of a contract are really in principle – the contract preempts future disputes by spelling out what services the photographer will provide and what price the customer will pay. Personally, if a customer is not able to easily sign and return a contract or if I book something at the last minute, I often require just an email stating that they have read and agree to my standard contract. I want agreement in principle, not necessarily a legally binding document. Some other photographers will contend that point, but again, I value the clarity and principled agreement that the contract provides over its legal value.

What should be included in the contract? At the VERY least the contract should include the agreed upon date and time that shooting will commence, the duration of shooting, and the price to be paid. Also to be included are the deliverables – the number of prints, an album, a DVD of images, etc. There should be no confusion as to when the contract is fulfilled. It is when payment is made, and the deliverables are delivered. Residual sales items (prints, albums, etc.) will often not be part of the contract (since the customer wants to see what you shoot before they commit, which is understandable), although it doesn’t hurt to have your price list and lead times for these items included in your contract. This will help prevent future confusion/discussion/negotiation for those items.

What else? A complete contract also includes language that limits your liability. Is there a retainer required? What if the wedding is cancelled? What if things are running late? What if you are told to go left by one person and then told to go right by another person? What if your camera spontaneously combusts? What if, what if, what if?!? The more scenarios that you can cover in your contract, the better off you’ll be IF those scenarios arise. I often tell the customer that the reason these items are covered is because they have come up before, perhaps not with ME, but they have caused a problem for someone in the past and have resulted in a dispute. The contract is for the protection of both parties, and the customer should welcome the fact that these things are down in writing. If they don’t value the contract or try to put it off or wiggle out of signing, WATCH OUT. Many photographers will not book a date without a signed contract and paid retainer – there are logical reasons for this. If you are looking for ideas for contracts, just Google “photographer contract” and several templates come up in the search results ranging from simple to complex contract templates. Use protection – protect yourself and your business. Save yourself a bunch of hassle. You really need a contract before shooting a wedding.

www.bclphotography.com

Do I really need a contract before I shoot a wedding? is a post from: The Pro Photo Business Forum