When do you take payment for a wedding?

[crackaonrice]

Got into an interesting situation today involving some potential clients and wanted to get your opinions.

For a wedding, it is obviously common to collect a retainer or deposit (say 25% or so). But when do you require full payment of the balance? Weeks in advance before the wedding? Day of the wedding? After delivery of the prints/cd?

And why?

Thanks!

-Jimmy

[John Mireles]

But when do you require full payment of the balance? Weeks in advance before the wedding? Day of the wedding? After delivery of the prints/cd?

I always, always, always receive payment before the wedding. That's a standard practice throughout the industry. My wedding photographer contract, which is quickly becoming the standard in the industry, lays out a payment schedule where everything is paid in advance. If the client complains, you can tell them that's what nearly every reputable photographer in the country does.


And why? The client is afraid that you won't show. The reality is that, after the wedding, the bride and groom have other things on their mind. The wedding's over and they move on. Besides, you have a business and are easy to find. If you skip out, your business is trashed. You can be outed on public forums like theknot.com, be taken to court and reported to the BBB. If a bride and groom opt not to pay, how the heck are you going to go after them?

This past Friday, we had a couple come in to finalize their album - two years after the wedding. They paid in advance and they still waited two years. If we hadn't been paid, we'd have been out that money and they'd probably never come in. I've had other clients completely disappear and never collect their album despite our best efforts to follow up. Imagine how many more would if they hadn't paid.

John