houston photogs...

[janetg]

i know we all have statements about 'acts of god' in our contracts, but this year in particular...hurricanes.

i wanted to send some sort of statement to the couples now and in the future regarding hurricanes... what the policy is, or will be.

i am thinking...

hurricane watch - everything proceeds as normal.

hurricane warning - if a strike is imminent within 24 hours - what are your plans? I mean, i know i could be charged up and ready to go before a power loss, but at what point do you talk to your client? let's say it's a near miss and they expect winds of up to 100mph, and they want to proceed with their wedding, since it's only a cat1...?

or how about the really bad disturbance. just curious if anyone has any distinction built in - or if you send a reminder as hurricane season heats up in the gulf.

janetg

[ndsimm]

I had not thought about that Janet, but I probably should as I have had two weddings in the last 5 years that were postponed because of weather - one during Allison and one during Ike.
I was able to do a verbal agreement with the couple and I was available on the date they rescheduled on, but, if I wasn't then I would have worked with them to find someone.

[auddii]

While you can charge your equipment and be ready to go, many of the other vendors can't do the same. Flowers would probably be wilted, food may not be able to be prepared. I don't think it's too much to ask that you say you can't do a wedding if there is a hurricane. I'd have a blanket statement, but consider weddings on a case by case basis. Hopefully it won't be a problem for you!

[janetg]

audrey, i guess i am more speaking about not 'during' a hurricane, but let's say, it's going to hit within 24 hours of the wedding...and you really should be preparing for it. i happen to live on the north side of town, and remembering ike, and rita, all freeways were contra-flow lanes, meaning, i probably could not travel south - it's just something that has been worrying me this year.

i did do a wedding after ike, with no power, donated food, a home made cake..and thousands of mosquitos, because there was no venue anymore, so the wedding was held in a park. i mean, it works on the back end..but concerned over the front end.

[MicWayWal]

Janet,

You should have a written policy that would cover all "Acts of God" or circumstances beyond your control for the events you cover. I would contact a lawyer to write you a clause that will cover all contingencies not just one.

I have been photographing weddings for 28 years, in DFW and across the nation. I don't think there is any way you can anticipate every possibility for even one event much less for every contingency you are going to encounter. I have had date changes, canceled flights, power outages from hurricanes (yep in Dallas), venues burn down, venues go out of business the week before a wedding, weddings canceled, pastors who refuse to marry the couple, people who die the day of the wedding, rain outs, and many more emergencies.

Have language that will allow you to be flexible in what you can do for your client without opening you up to possible legal action, if that is even possible.

[janetg]

mic - the first sentence on the thread stated it was in my contract.

i am specifically wanting to send an extra note to clients whose dates are in the prime hurricane months, mostly august, september.

more of a 'just a reminder...this is covered under the contract (section xx.xx) - and here are the guidelines we will follow in making this determination' -

hurricane watch - proceed as normal..
hurricane warning (which means strike within 48 hours) - this is what we will do, that kind of thing. 48 hours prior - agree to speak on the phone regarding plans...24 hours prior - call it off or not...


that's more or less what i'm looking to do.

[kayumangi]

I haven't experienced anything like that yet, the closest i got was a postponed session at kemah just before ike came in.

I think you should start the conversation as soon as a hurricane watch is issued. Also, even if its a Cat 1 but has the downpour power of Allison then you'd still be screwed.

[LadyShutterBug]

This is covered in my contract by an "acts of God" type clause, but no way in hades would I bring this up specifically to my hurricane season brides.

A) I promise someone else has already brought it up
B) it's annoying

The only wedding I have ever had affected by weather was a mid April wedding, where it rained so hard for so long that the venue couldn't honor their contract. Most of the people attending were flooded in temporarily... Including me.

By the time something horrid is happening, the photographer won't be the only one affected.

My bride ended up getting married at a super crappy hotel and having olive garden salad and domino's pizza for the guests, because the catering people were supposed to have used the venue kitchen. The cake and flowers were delivered to the crappy hotel, and they just did drink tickets at the seedy hotel bar.

[Bruce M. Morris]

Janet, I think you have a good idea to keep in touch with the brides. Rather than reminding them that you have an "out" in case of bad weather, maybe emphasizing to them tht you want to fulfill your contract, and you are just keeping in touch so everyone knows what is going on. It really only becomes an issue if a storm is headed our way, right? so sending out a note as soon as a storm is noted that could cause a problem may be the best way to handle this.

[janetg]

right - and i was only thinking of sending this out to people at the beginning of hurricane season - not right before. just something with a clear policy -

as above, there is a standard 'fire, strike, acts of god clause' in my contract - but something a few more detailed steps of how things will go if one does occur.