The Rescheduling Fee

Photo by Beth LaDuca

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room - the rescheduling fee. We addressed this for clients in our Covid-19 FAQ, but today we’re talking about the rescheduling fee as it pertains to event pros, especially wedding and event planners. If you’re not sure whether you should be charging a rescheduling fee or just need a gut check on whether you’re doing the right thing, this one is for you!

Let’s start with the basics. What is a rescheduling fee?

This is a fee to rebook a client’s wedding or event. During the covid-19 pandemic, we’re talking about a fee for rebooking weddings and events from 2020 to 2021. This fee helps to offset the loss of revenue, primarily from the inability to take on as many events in 2021 due to rescheduled events. We have seen this fee range from 10-50% of the service fee, depending on the vendor charging it and the date it’s being rescheduled to. The industry standard we have seen for wedding planners is 25%.

Okay, so why are vendors charging a rescheduling fee?

We addressed this in our Covid-19 FAQ, but this is one of the biggest questions we have gotten lately, especially from clients. Vendors generally understand that a rescheduled wedding is taking a (often prime) date away from their calendar next year. For vendors who have had to fill next year's calendar with rescheduled weddings, they will have to make one year of wedding and event revenue last over two years. Additionally, some vendors have already paid subcontractors non-refundable fees to hold the original date this year and will have to pay the fees again next year.

This makes sense. But, who can charge a rescheduling fee?

You have a contract (hopefully!) with an Act of God clause/Force majeure clause that outlines what happens in case a couple needs to reschedule due to something like a pandemic. Does it include wording that explains that fees may apply for rescheduled dates? If so, you can charge a rescheduling fee. If your agreement just says that the client can switch to a mutually agreeable date with no mention of a fee, then you can choose to charge a fee, but without the fee outlined in your agreement, you may find that you need to charge a smaller fee. (We’re not lawyers, so this is not legal advice. We recommend speaking with your lawyer about your specific agreement to better understand whether or not you can legally charge a rescheduling fee).

What happens to any additional payments that were due?

You will need to have your client sign an addendum for the new wedding date. If you only have a final payment outstanding with your client, that payment should move to be due before the new date of the wedding. For example, if it was due 30 days before the original date, it should now be due 30 days before the new date. Any additional payments that are due can either continue to be due on the original dates (for a shorter wedding planning timeline) or be spread out over the new wedding planning timeline. You will want to outline these payment due dates in the addendum.

Once my client is rescheduled, what’s next?

This depends on when your client’s wedding is postponed to and how much you already have planned. Realistically, it’s difficult to book anything that involves restaurants, hotels, or anything that needs to be in person, like tastings or trials. If that’s the point you’re at in the planning process, it makes sense to pause for a couple of weeks while things begin to reopen and then pick back up as soon as you’re able to do so. If the wedding is mostly planned, it might make sense to freeze the client for a little bit longer than that.

We know that navigating this is incredibly tricky. We do still have a couple of hourly mentoring spots available if you need additional assistance with tackling rescheduling events and weddings.