Complete Wedding Contract

I my client had second thoughts based on this contract, I would have second thoughts about doing their wedding.

zerovision wrote in post #11972256
I my client had second thoughts based on this contract, I would have second thoughts about doing their wedding.

So if a client says "I don't think we can give you 60 minutes after the wedding for formal pictures. I would also like to know will you take a check?" You would respond with "sorry, it's stated in the contract that no checks are accepted and I need a minimum of 60 minutes for formal photos. Perhaps you should find another photographer".

Give me a break.

this contract was posted as a reference to try and cover things that some photographers may not have in a contract they put together or something they simply did not think of. If I had a potential customer that came to me and said this contract is "too restrictive and un-necessarily wordy" and would be concerned that this customer is already not happy with what they are wanting. Now if the same customer came to me and said can we see about reducing the time for the formals as listed on the contract, as a reasonable and prudent person I am going to work with the customer and see what can be done. The second post was more specific to parts of the contract that are more negotiable than the first post being critical of something that someone took their time to compile and post to help us put together a contract that would protect both the photographer and the client.

zerovision wrote in post #11972914
this contract was posted as a reference to try and cover things that some photographers may not have in a contract they put together or something they simply did not think of. If I had a potential customer that came to me and said this contract is "too restrictive and un-necessarily wordy" and would be concerned that this customer is already not happy with what they are wanting. Now if the same customer came to me and said can we see about reducing the time for the formals as listed on the contract, as a reasonable and prudent person I am going to work with the customer and see what can be done. The second post was more specific to parts of the contract that are more negotiable than the first post being critical of something that someone took their time to compile and post to help us put together a contract that would protect both the photographer and the client.

My whole point is that you don't want to scare a potential client away with a contract that is too wordy and restrictive. You want to protect yourself, but you also need to see it from the clients point of view.

I can appreciate that the original poster took time to post up this contract, however I would caution anyone from blindly copying it and using it as it's written.

jcolman wrote in post #11973152
My whole point is that you don't want to scare a potential client away with a contract that is too wordy and restrictive. You want to protect yourself, but you also need to see it from the clients point of view.

I can appreciate that the original poster took time to post up this contract, however I would caution anyone from blindly copying it and using it as it's written.

Well stated - as a photographer you certainly need appropriate protection, both legal and practical, but you don't want to come off as being difficult to do business with.

It has to be a balance between the vendor and customer. Perception is a large part of the shopping process, and potential clients will very quickly jump to the next website for any number of reasons.

jcolman wrote in post #11973152
My whole point is that you don't want to scare a potential client away with a contract that is too wordy and restrictive. You want to protect yourself, but you also need to see it from the clients point of view.

I can appreciate that the original poster took time to post up this contract, however I would caution anyone from blindly copying it and using it as it's written.

I appreciate what you are saying and I agree 100% that no one should blind copy and use it as written. I quess I just didn't see that point is the first post. I would not put this contract or any contract up on my website for a potential client to view before I can talked to them first, then they would get a revised contract when they indicated they wanted to hire me. None of the contracts that clients have signed have been the same.

I too would not recommend submitting this contract to anyone without first reading and understanding every line, but it is a good starting point.

I started with a contract very much like this (I found it on the forum, it may even be this same one) and tweaked it and tweaked it and tweaked it until it was more of what I was looking for. The contract I used was 7 pages long, and just too long for me. After i got it to where i felt decent about it, I bought one from photographers toolkit. It is a fine contract, but I needed to tweak it too.

All that being said, it is probably better to blind copy a contract like this than go in without one. As long as you are prepared that some of this may not work in court, it at least gets you and the client talking about some ground rules.

tim wrote in post #11971393
No point, a B&G can't give away rights they don't have.

That's what I thought. Now I wish I could find the other thread and tell the O.P., maybe save him some potential legal problems.

"It is agreed that “YOUR COMPANY NAME HERE” may display and use the photographs taken for advertising, display, website and internet promotion"

Thus the photog has the right to use any persons in any photos taken at any place during the wedding? I mean if the B&G agree to it, do their siblings, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends also have to sign the contract? Or does the contract cover the entire population present at the hall even though only 2 people signed it?
What if you use a family or group shot with say 25 people in it. Now unlce Moe and Aunt Matilda see the shot in a wedding mag or spot on TV, and decide they dont want their image used. Do you remove it as they signed nothing, or claim the B&G signed a contract giving you permission to use anyone's image?

^^I'm interested to see the response to your question, though I foresee it being similar to the answer I received.

I didnt' read all that... i started to and then scrolled down to see how long it was and started to notice the number of inclusions rising so there went that idea.

90 minute window... really? you need this in a contract?
reprint order prices... another really?

just a quick glance through it and it seems to contain to much fluff.