A well-written wedding venue contract ensures that all parties involved understand their obligations and responsibilities. A contract reduces confusion leading to fewer disagreements and disputes, which can lead to costly litigation and reputation damaging social media backlash. As a wedding venue owner or manager, updating your business contract every year is essential to staying competitive, reducing risk & liability. In this article, we will discuss steps you can take to update your wedding venue contract 2024 to effectively position your business in the market by 2024. Before you continue, make sure you are a member of the Wedding Venue Owner & Management Community group on Facebook. We have over 6500 active members sharing knowledge, strategies for success and venue to venue connection.
Review your current contract: Take some time to review your current wedding venue contract and identify any clause that is vague, confusing or requires updating. Highlight areas where you have faced challenges this year. Have you had disputes this year with communication? Did you have a couple show up expecting you to provide something that you don’t provide? Did you have lots of questions or confusion about your venue services (vendors, where to park, cleaning policy, deposit/date retainer policy, holding dates policy, sound ordinance, what time your venue is accessible, leaving cars overnight, smoking, drinking, etc…)? If so, it’s time to alleviate confusion and conflict by improving your communication and updating those contract terms. For one on one contract review consulting contact didi@weddingvenueowners.com for wedding venue experts who will work with you to update your contract. Make sure you are signed up for the “Reducing Risk & Liability, Contracts Workshop” instructed by Kathie Jacobsen of La Joya Dulce.
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Identify possible changes: The next step is to identify areas of your contract that require changes. It could be the terms of payment, booking terms, cancellation policies, and clauses specific to your property. Ensure that the changes you make align with the current reality of the wedding industry. Consider how other venues in your industry have updated their business contracts. You should not change your contract just because other venues are changing theirs, however, you must understand what your clients want and how other venues are responding or attempting to accommodate couples (clients). One common reason couples pass on a wedding venue is that the contract may be unclear, confusing or unprofessional. If you have vague policies or missing policies, December is a great time to update your contract before the 2024 increase in bookings begins.
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Engage an experienced attorney: Once you have identified the areas of your contract that require changes, consider hiring an attorney with wedding venue owner experience or at least hospitality experience. A specialized attorney can help you identify industry-specific trends and contractual provisions that may affect your business. They will provide insight on the impact of the changes you want to make and whether or not the terms you want to add or remove are enforceable. It is difficult to find an attorney with wedding venue contract writing experience. An alternative option is to hire a wedding venue consultant who will go over your contract, step by step to help you build a powerful wedding venue specific contract aka communication tool. Then have your trusted local lawyer review the contract and make sure everything is legally sound and compliant with your state and county requirements. Contact didi@weddingvenueowners.com for a list of qualified wedding venue consultants.
Draft a new contract: After obtaining legal counsel, draft a new contract. Ensure that the new agreement is clear, concise, and comprehensible. It should not be laden with legalese, which is difficult to understand. Language that is easy to understand can be essential in avoiding disputes. Once the draft is complete, go through it with your attorney to ensure you are on the right track.
Below are some of the popular questions submitted after I posted the “Reducing Risk & Liability: Contracts Workshop” in the Wedding Venue Owners & Management Community Group. Kathie Jacobsen will instruct this workshop (Kathi is not an attorney or lawyer). She will answer questions in the last 30 minutes of the Wedding Venue Contracts: Reducing Risk & Liability workshop on Dec. 18th via Zoom at 10am central, 12pm eastern. The workshop is $300 per attendee. If you would like to submit a question or sign up for this workshop, email didi@weddingvenueowners.com, subject line “venue risk & liability workshop“. Question submissions will remain anonymous.
“My wedding venue was trashed this weekend. I sent a bill for the cleaning & want to withhold the damage deposit. How do I do this properly” –
“The sister of the bride was drunk and physically attacked me at the wedding when I tried to enforce our no smoking policy. I was not prepared for this situation. What can I do to make sure something like this does not happen again?”
“How do I properly cancel a wedding?”
“How do I tell a couple I don’t want to book their wedding. Some couples are demanding or rude, or they want me to change my contract. I only book 15 weddings a year and want to work with couples who are a good fit for my venue. Is there a risk to turning down a couple?”
“I want to paint the exterior of my barn this February. It will be a major update that I hope will bring more bookings but I don’t have anything in my contract about making changes to the property. What can I add to avoid having to tell my booked couples about every change I plan to make?
“Why do I need to require my booked couples AND vendors to have event insurance when I have insurance already?”
“I am in the process of building my venue, can I book weddings before construction is complete? What do I do if I book a wedding and everything they are expecting isn’t completed yet?”
“I want to switch from BYOB to using my own liquor license, but I have over 30 contracts with clients stating they can BYOB. How do I make this transition and if I have my own LL am I increasing my liability if someone has alcohol related accidents?”
“I want to change terms in my contract, do I have to notify all my booked couples of the changes and can I require that they sign off on the new changes?”
“I want to sell my wedding venue, do I have to tell my booked couples and all the couples who come for a tour?”
Contract Negotiation: Should you negotiate the terms of your wedding venue contract? This is widely debated, and the answer will vary from venue to venue. It is perfectly fine to pass on couples who want to change your contract. Some venue owners feel that it’s better to allow a couple to find another venue with more flexible terms that suit their needs, rather than changing their venue policies for each couple. These venue owners may fear that changing certain policies will put their venue at risk or possibly reduce the level of service at your venue (maintaining quality control, risking bad reviews, tarnishing reputation). For example, if you have a wedding venue vendor list that you require wedding clients to use, you may not be flexible because you have been burned by a few unprofessional vendors in the past. If this is a boundary you don’t feel comfortable changing, it’s reasonable to stand firm and decline to negotiate when a couple want to book a vendor who has violated your venue policies in the past or refuses to get event insurance, etc… Venue owners who need to book high volume of weddings may be willing to modify contract terms to close the deal. I would recommend charging a contract modification fee for each policy change requested. Use that fee to cover the cost of having your attorney review the requests and write the new contract to ensure the new agreement is protecting the venue and legally sound. Finally, give everyone ample time to understand the new contract before signing it and implementing it.
Updating your wedding venue contract is vital to the success of your business. A wedding venue contract is often described as a living document, it is always being updated, reviewed and refined. Wedding venue owners should never be afraid to protect their wedding venue by enforcing their contract. Wedding venue owners must unapologetically protect their wedding venue. You have an obligation to protect all future weddings from your current wedding. Meaning, if you allow your current wedding to damage the venue, reduce the venue quality or destroy your love of being a wedding venue owner, you are reducing the investment of each couple booked for future weddings. Every upcoming couple wants to know that you are upholding your contract terms so that when their wedding date arrives, they know you have done everything within your power to protect their wedding investment. Doing this not only ensures a smooth operation of your business but also improves legal and organizational compliance. Your contract is your business’s shield, make sure it’s updated for 2024.
Didi Russell is NOT an attorney, lawyer or legal counsel. I have worked with thousands of wedding venue owners and management teams on the structure and development of wedding venue policies, communication and contracts. The information provided here is based on 20 years of event management experience and research. ALWAYS consult an attorney before making wedding venue contract changes! If you need contract support or guidance, please contact didi@weddingvenueowners.com.
