Hi guys,
Today I want to help answer the question, what does a wedding vendor back up plan look like? In the world of wedding photographers, most of us are 1 person operations. This isn’t always the case, but I would say the majority of wedding photographers work by themselves and don’t have a team of associates. So unlike a “normal” 9-5 job with co-workers, if you call in sick as a wedding photographer there is no one to pick up the slack!
With wedding days, wedding vendors almost never “call in sick” unless we pose a serious health threat to you and your loved ones OR we are truly physically unable to come and work your wedding. In a pre Covid world that was almost never! However, COVID has made it much more apparent that wedding vendors need to have solid back up plans because unfortunately, our health isn’t always in our control.
To start, I believe that all professional and legal businesses need to have a reliable back up plan, especially when they don’t have an associate or team behind them to call on.
I want to make sure you all understand that being a professional wedding photographer extends far beyond taking good photos! Having a professional business means that the vendors you are hiring should have a contract that you sign that lays out what happens in cases of emergency and they should also have a back up plan to take care of you as the client.
I can’t speak for all wedding vendors of course but I am going to talk you through what my personal back up plan looks like as a professional wedding photographer. With my business, I’ve worked to have a reliable network of other professional photographers that I can call on for emergencies. They are all photographers that I would trust to take over for me and photograph your wedding! Each of them is a professional who has agreed to help me on short notice if I ever were to get sick or be unable to attend a wedding.
In the event that I got COVID or something else happened where I couldn’t photograph your wedding, I know that I have a network of amazing photographers who would take great care of you and photograph your wedding as I would.
I would notify you, of course, explain the situation, and tell you about the photographer who would be taking over for me. Nothing between us would change other than who would physically be photographing your wedding! I would still back up your photos, edit them, and deliver them to you on time. Above all, I would make sure I took the time to make you comfortable, answer any questions you have, and make sure your wedding day will still be running smoothly!
Now as for my tip on what to ask other wedding vendors. I would simply ask the vendor what their back up plan would be in case they were to get COVID or have another emergency where they couldn’t attend their wedding. If they have a solid plan and answer, you are probably in great hands. You should also make sure to read any contracts you sign, as most state what would happen in the event of an emergency to cover yourself as well as the wedding vendor.
We never want to think about the worst case scenario but it’s extremely important that any professional you hire for your wedding is comfortable talking about those scenarios! If you have any other questions for me about backup plans, feel free to reach out.
-Liz
