How many of your Wedding Bookings are cancelled each Year?

[leelive]

A comment that Jim (Scotland's Party DJ) mentioned on another thread got me thinking.
He said that he had just had his first ever cancellation of a Wedding.

I have just had a quick look through my bookings over the last 8 years and the average is 3 weddings per year!
Now it may be because I do over 70 weddings per year.... but is this high?

Lee

[yourdj]

No don't think so. Depends on the market your in I guess or the type of client you attract?
With the risk of sounding snooty, I would hazard a guess that the lower payed bookings are cancelled more often?
This is a big generalisation however as wealthy people overstretch themselves too and everyone falls out or gets ill. it always upsets me when a couple cancel because of illness/death, must be horrible for them. The worst was a bride who died a month after a wedding. imagine that as a groom! :(

I get about 4-6 cancellations once booked from my venue (medium priced package deal) which is generally from health or financial reasons. I just factor this in and don't charge the venue anything even if its within a months notice. Generally about 1-2 (if that) from my own clients (who are very consistently middle class weddings in good venues).

I had one who never got back to me after paying the booking fee despite my best attempts to get in contact (my only registry office wedding, pub reception in 6 years, which says it all really :) ). Had another wedding that was cancelled last year actually as they originally booked my venue and ran out of money. they rebooked me all day at the new venue and then ran out of money for that and had to downsize, which made having a host a complete waste of money, so I just called it quits as they were nice people, wished them well and took the night off. ;)

[DazzyD]

From memory, I can't remember a wedding being cancelled. I guess I've just been lucky!


...The worst was a bride who died a month after a wedding. imagine that as a groom! :(



I knew a groom that died within hours of being married. They exchanged vows in hospital a few days a couple of days after his heart transplant failed. The bride was my brother's mother in law.

[fullcontact68]

Very new to all this, but I did have a wedding booked. It was the only wedding I had on my list to do.

They cancelled last week due to not having enough funds to get married.

:(

[Imagine]

Just getting back into the swing of things after 15 years out (and thankfully the order book is now filling up at last :) )

Thankfully, I never got into the high-end wedding stuff back then (people were just starting to go mad with flash hotels and five course sit down wedding breakfasts at the time) - I much preferred the back room of the pub / local working men's club function room type weddings. They just seemed to work and didn't used to get too many cancel back then from memory.

I've only got the one wedding booked this year so far, and touch wood it stays that way. It's one of the old fashioned weddings where the whole family's pitching in with catering etc. so should be a good night. The bar opens at 4pm, so come around 10pm it's going to be Agadoo and YMCA right through until the end :)

[yourdj]

it's going to be Agadoo and YMCA right through until the end :)

Yes hotels/large venues seem to have taken over! I bet the less formals can have some characters and the whole family gets involved, making it more personal, but I would rather be stacking shelves in Tesco than playing movement dances all night week in week out.
:lol:

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Yes hotels/large venues seem to have taken over! I bet the less formals can have some characters and the whole family gets involved, making it more personal, but I would rather be stacking shelves in Tesco than playing movement dances all night week in week out.
:lol:

One of the best weddings I've ever been to was my aunt's who had the reception in a community centre in one of the shadiest schemes in Glasgow.

The fact it was 70 odd p a can of beer helped a lot mind you :D

I've only ever known 2 weddings to be cancelled - 1 was an ex of mine and the muppet she ended up with 2 after me :rolleyes: and one was a mentalist my sister in law works with who then went on to rebook the whole thing with the same guy down the line minus a small fortune in deposits. In fact so did the ex :facepalm:

I finally managed to get the bride to confirm that the wedding was indeed cancelled earlier tonight. Shame but I'm glad it's a rarity.

As for the type of gig being a factor, I couldn't really say - it was certainly in a very nice venue - my sister got married there and she's quite the snob, take that for what it's worth :D it was on a Monday though so maybe cost / money was a real factor to start with though from what little I know, it doesn't seem like a nice tempered pragmatic decision.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I think I've had 3 wedding cancellations since I started DJing. That's not bad going.

[Excalibur]

One point which hasn't been made I think. It's possible to have our bookings for the discos cancelled, but the wedding still go ahead. Either have no disco, the trusty ipod, possibly the venue has " persuaded " them to use the in house, or even forfeit the deposit and book a cheaper provider. Still goes down in our books as a cancellation, but the wedding still goes ahead.

[Imagine]

One point which hasn't been made I think. It's possible to have our bookings for the discos cancelled, but the wedding still go ahead. Either have no disco, the trusty ipod, possibly the venue has " persuaded " them to use the in house, or even forfeit the deposit and book a cheaper provider. Still goes down in our books as a cancellation, but the wedding still goes ahead.

:agree:

I used to do a lot of weddings the first time around with this lark. Since coming back, yes I'm getting enquiries for them (i.e. via needadisco), but the budgets people are specifying at the moment don't seem to be much more than 15 years ago (£200 to £400 seems to be the average at the moment from what I'm seeing).

It may just be that I'm aiming at the lower end of the market at the moment, I really don't know. However, I think there's a valid point there that people maybe are going for cheaper alternatives at the moment.

[Corabar Steve]

1 in 20 odd years of full time DJing out 1 - 3 nights a week.

2 maybe 3 postponed but went ahead at a later date.

[Shaun]

Up until last year cancellations were a rarity for me. I've 2 this year alone. Let's hope that's the last of them

[Daryll]

about 2 in 4 years , but then again I dont do many weddings.

Cheers

daryll

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Three from memory from I'd say 400+ weddings.

[funkymook]

Just one - but that was booked for 2016.

[DJ Jules]

No cancellations for weddings in 5yrs, but then I don't do a huge number of weddings (probably about 40 in that time).

I've had quite a few cancellations for family parties, but charity functions have the worst track record cancellations for me - in most cases I don't give them any favours on pricing (and now always take deposits) and as they get closer to the date I think they frequently have issues with getting the numbers to add up.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU just had a wedding for October (which happens to be my biggest payer of the year by far :rolleyes: ) cancel on me.

I'm thinking I need to rethink my deposits or t's and c's.

Just now I retain the deposit in the event of cancellation and only start picking up a % of the booking from 50-100% if the cancellation is made within the month before the big day.

Obviously the hope is that the sooner someone cancels the more chance you have of filling the date but this is for early October and although it's a good few months away, most of my bookings are from people wanting to directly book me (i.e. not some random gig picked up off NAD, AMPDJ etc...) 6+ months in advance so the clause doesn't really do me any favours.

How do you guys go about cancellation policies?

Another option would be upping the deposit (currently £100 flat rate) or making it a high % but then the risk is a lot of people aren't willing to put that out up front plus you end up doing a gig feeling like it's paying buttons because you've already took a big chunk of the dough 6-24 months before hand!!!

Suggestions?

[ukpartydj]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU just had a wedding for October (which happens to be my biggest payer of the year by far :rolleyes: ) cancel on me.

I'm thinking I need to rethink my deposits or t's and c's.

Just now I retain the deposit in the event of cancellation and only start picking up a % of the booking from 50-100% if the cancellation is made within the month before the big day.

Obviously the hope is that the sooner someone cancels the more chance you have of filling the date but this is for early October and although it's a good few months away, most of my bookings are from people wanting to directly book me (i.e. not some random gig picked up off NAD, AMPDJ etc...) 6+ months in advance so the clause doesn't really do me any favours.

How do you guys go about cancellation policies?

Another option would be upping the deposit (currently £100 flat rate) or making it a high % but then the risk is a lot of people aren't willing to put that out up front plus you end up doing a gig feeling like it's paying buttons because you've already took a big chunk of the dough 6-24 months before hand!!!

Suggestions?

I know it's a pain, I've only had a couple of weddings cancel on me (both friends / family) so far but I think you're risking being unreasonable wanting much more if they're giving over a months notice.
My T&Cs are similar except my terms are within 14 days = 50%, within 7 days = 100%.

End of the day if they cancel then you're getting £100 for either having a day off or you may even get another and earn even more money than if they never cancelled.

[funkymook]

I know it's a pain, I've only had a couple of weddings cancel on me (both friends / family) so far but I think you're risking being unreasonable wanting much more if they're giving over a months notice.
My T&Cs are similar except my terms are within 14 days = 50%, within 7 days = 100%.

End of the day if they cancel then you're getting £100 for either having a day off or you may even get another and earn even more money than if they never cancelled.

It's OK saying it's a day off if you're a part-time DJ who doesn't rely on the money - but if it's your only income then it's a totally different story.

I don't think I've ever had a wedding book me within a month (it's usually 6 month +) so the chances of rebooking at the same fee is very unlikely.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

It's OK saying it's a day off if you're a part-time DJ who doesn't rely on the money - but if it's your only income then it's a totally different story.

I don't think I've ever had a wedding book me within a month (it's usually 6 month +) so the chances of rebooking at the same fee is very unlikely.

Yup pretty much all of my bookings are direct to me (as I said, i don't do much with regards to Amp DJ and NaD) so bookings come in early and last minute ones are very rare.

i could look at it as £100 for doing not a whole lot. On the flipside it's actually the best part of £800 lost for doing something I'm good at and love....

On the upside after a bit more communication it turns they've cancelled because they will already be married by that point and this "reception" was really just a party that was getting a bit out of hand.

[ukpartydj]

It's OK saying it's a day off if you're a part-time DJ who doesn't rely on the money - but if it's your only income then it's a totally different story.

I think it's more accurate to say regardless of your part time or full time status if you aren't getting enough work then it's not OK, I'm doing just fine and therefore whilst annoying I'm able to see the positive.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

I think it's more accurate to say regardless of your part time or full time status if you aren't getting enough work then it's not OK, I'm doing just fine and therefore whilst annoying I'm able to see the positive.

The original cancellation that spurned this thread was OK to swallow but as I said, this is a large chunk of money to lose out on.

I'm not living on the breadline but any means and have a good paying day job but the loss in income does make this one a lot harder to swallow unfortunately.

[funkymook]

I think it's more accurate to say regardless of your part time or full time status if you aren't getting enough work then it's not OK, I'm doing just fine and therefore whilst annoying I'm able to see the positive.

It's up to you how you run your business of course but I'm sure most venues, caterers, florists etc aren't so positive about losing money at short notice.

Out of interest do you have another job or is this your sole income?

[ukpartydj]

The original cancellation that spurned this thread was OK to swallow but as I said, this is a large chunk of money to lose out on.

I'm not living on the breadline but any means and have a good paying day job but the loss in income does make this one a lot harder to swallow unfortunately.

Indeed, I can see why it's a BIG dissapointment with a £800 booking compared to say £400.


It's up to you how you run your business of course but I'm sure most venues, caterers, florists etc aren't so positive about losing money at short notice.

Out of interest do you have another job or is this your sole income?

It's my sole income, I guess I see it as less of a big deal because I am an agent I know a few agents and I travel up to 150 miles for work also I'm constantly on NaD. A lot more work flying around for me to get at late notice.

[funkymook]

It's my sole income, I guess I see it as less of a big deal because I am an agent I know a few agents and I travel up to 150 miles for work also I'm constantly on NaD. A lot more work flying around for me to get at late notice.

That makes more sense, it's a different scenario to being a sole operator - how many DJ's do you have on your books and how many gigs do you book per week on average?

[ukpartydj]

That makes more sense, it's a different scenario to being a sole operator - how many DJ's do you have on your books and how many gigs do you book per week on average?

Just had a quick look through the database - 17 DJs have been used (3 of which have :Censored::Censored::Censored::Censored:ed me off a huge amount) however I have a core of 6 DJs that I trust and use regularly.
Since I started using other DJs in 2011 (which is also when I went full time and the database was created) there is an average of 2.8 bookings per week, without counting them all individually I couldn't give you a up to date figure but at a guess 4 bookings per week maybe!

[funkymook]

Just had a quick look through the database - 17 DJs have been used (3 of which have :Censored::Censored::Censored::Censored:ed me off a huge amount) however I have a core of 6 DJs that I trust and use regularly.
Since I started using other DJs in 2011 (which is also when I went full time and the database was created) there is an average of 2.8 bookings per week, without counting them all individually I couldn't give you a up to date figure but at a guess 4 bookings per week maybe!

I couldn't handle the headache of all the admin of being an agent - if I get enquiries for dates I'm already booked I just point the clients towards a few trusted DJ's I know and let them take it from there.

[ukpartydj]

I couldn't handle the headache of all the admin of being an agent - if I get enquiries for dates I'm already booked I just point the clients towards a few trusted DJ's I know and let them take it from there.

I think you have to be a bit Ambitious / a nutter to be an agent... don't really thing the money is worth the stress sometimes!

[Excalibur]

It's OK saying it's a day off if you're a part-time DJ who doesn't rely on the money - but if it's your only income then it's a totally different story.

When you keep the deposit, it softens the blow, but it still :Censored: well hurts.


It's up to you how you run your business of course but I'm sure most venues, caterers, florists etc aren't so positive about losing money at short notice.


Undoubtedly. I recently updated my terms with a regular customer because of a couple of incidents, to give me a little more of a safety net.
I'm not sure though how a T & C stating cancellation at any time = full fee payable would go down. I wonder if anyone on here has something like that?


I couldn't handle the headache of all the admin of being an agent - if I get enquiries for dates I'm already booked I just point the clients towards a few trusted DJ's I know and let them take it from there.
Snap.

[atlanticdisco]

In 28 years I am lucky to say that it's been a handful of gigs cancelling on me and if memory serves me well the cancelations have been due to health issues.

I include a clause in the booking form for cancellation times and have never had any negative feedback, yet ☺️