Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Chat

I'm surprised that this isn't a thread already.

So this morning, I had my first client concern from a client about the Coronavirus. At the time of my reply, there were rumours about the Government restricting gatherings above a certain number. To me, that suggests mass gatherings as opposed to sub-200 people at the local wedding venue. If they were to ban smaller numbers, they would have to close a lot of pub and restaurants and the news would be dominated by landlords talking about the death of the industry akin to when the smoking ban was implemented.

I know what I have replied and what my contract terms are. This is a birthday party client and essentially I have said that if the Government dictates that you need to postpone your event, then we'll postpone. If it's on a date that I am available before the end of 2020, we'll just move the date. If I'm unavailable, then I'll have to refer to the cancellation fees (which, at this point, is full fee) but if I can resell the date, then I'll give a full refund.

This is the most 'middle ground' that I feel that I can achieve but when it comes to weddings, this may be a bit of tricky situation as dates later on in the year may not be available. As much as we try to prevent otherwise, we may fall foul of force majeure here.

Yes, we have the same problem. 3 events have been cancelled in April, and they said looking to change the date for later in the year. These are not wedding booking but award and corporative events

I've had my first cancellation today as a result.

Waiting for the schools to close now and then the school discos will disappear too.

We're in for a hell of a tough year watching the news at the moment. They're saying the "peak" will be in around 3 months time.....just in time for Wedding Season starting properly.
As for contracts there's a video on Facebook from a solicitor who does a LOT of stuff in the wedding industry, and what she says happens in different circumstances is frightening to say the least.

Aaaand there go another two :(

So far only one cancellation - before cancellations became a thing.

The first cancellation was a bit tenuous - it was a 007 black tie ball, that was scheduled around the date of the new 007 movie release.

With the movie being put back due to "careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace", it seems they were ahead of what was happening.

Naturally, the black tie ball needed to be postponed too.

And I've had an email today from a client asking about their wedding in April. It seems they are keen for it to go ahead, but want to understand what happens in the event they are forced to postpone their wedding.

So in both cases, a postponement, rather than cancellation.

Fortunately, I've been focusing my attention on other areas over the past 24 months, and this was the first year where I've reduced my bookings as the income from my other venture has come in to replace it, so I've been fortunate in that respect.

But a bumpy year ahead (this will have a knock on effect for months, possibly years).

As a simple little soul, I have one main question.

Do we keep taking bookings? :confused: Is there a point, if we're possibly going to have to write them off later?

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Originally Posted by Excalibur

As a simple little soul, I have one main question.

Do we keep taking bookings? :confused: Is there a point, if we're possibly going to have to write them off later?

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I'm still taking them (well....the few that are getting in touch....enquiries seem to be somewhat of a very rare thing since the start of this week).

Remember, if either you or the client cancels, then standard cancellation terms as per your contract kick in. The biggest problem is going to be if the country goes into lock-down and effectively makes it illegal for any sort of social gathering. In that case, the contract becomes "frustrated", never existed and you have to return all monies (or that's what my solicitor has said at least). Looking around the FB groups, there's a LOT of people that don't seem to understand that side of things and Oh Boy are they in for a shock if the brown stuff properly hits the impeller!

Yes, I'm going to keep taking them because this thing WILL pass....eventually. It's not costing me anything to take the bookings, and if they cancel, I'm not actually losing anything technically. Besides if I don't take them, someone else will. I'd rather have them and potentially lose them, rather than get past this thing and have to pretty much start from scratch.

The thing that I'm finding most frustrating with this are all the DJs who have suddenly gotten themselves medical degrees, claiming that it's "just a cold!"

Yes, on the grand scale of things, Covid-19 is not the worst condition to have but as is true with a lot of things, you need to pay it the respect that it deserves because if Mother Nature suddenly decides accordingly, it'll have you.

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Originally Posted by Benny Smyth

The thing that I'm finding most frustrating with this are all the DJs who have suddenly gotten themselves medical degrees, claiming that it's "just a cold!"

Yes, on the grand scale of things, Covid-19 is not the worst condition to have but as is true with a lot of things, you need to pay it the respect that it deserves because if Mother Nature suddenly decides accordingly, it'll have you.

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Glad it's not only me that's finding that at the moment.

Has anyone actually considered that it is not just restrictions etc that are the challenge !
What would you do if/when YOU catch the virus and will be off for at least 2 weeks ?