Why you should only do business with a vendor that provides a contract?
A contract provides protection for you and your vendor. Both parties know what they are responsible for. In the event that any party does not hold their part you have a way to take them to court and get some type of compensation.
Weddings are exiting and stressful to plan for. You have all these details and vendors to deal with. Do not have your event ruined by not following what your vendor contract states. The day of the event is not a time or place to negotiate anything. If there is a balance due, you cannot get upset with your vendor for wanting to get paid. You had agreed to the terms of the contract way in advance. Caterers (venues) usually collect their monies a few days or weeks in advance but some mobile services will collect the day of the event. For this type of vendor once the event is over there is nothing to provide the recently married couple and should a money dispute come up, they have nothing to stand on. The food has already been served for a caterer. The same goes for the DJ, once the event is over, they have no post-production material to turn over, unlike the photo or video service.
Any vendor in the wedding business does not want to ruin your event for monies and balances due; nor does he/she want to hold your event hostage. For the most part, this is the first time you are dealing with this vendor so it is undestandable that there is a "trust" issue; yes we do know that. Will the vendor show up is one of the primary concerns. But if your vendor shows on time and provides the service(s) agreed to, you should not have any problems adhering to the term to pay him or her.
Most mobile service(s) are preparing way in advance into the day. A 5 hour event can actually take at least 10 hours from the first piece of equipment gets loaded into a truck to the last piece that is taken off the same truck once the event is over.
All vendors are there to provide a service and to build a relationship and hopefully to get referals from you. So lets all have a good time but take care of business before we start.
