A disturbing trend, that we at Michiana Weddings have begun noticing is gaining momentum, affecting brides and grooms. This trend mainly entails contractual clauses within vendor contracts that dictate the behavior of the consumer's other vendors and guests at the wedding, reception or any other event during the day. While not limited to just one type of vendor it is most prevelant in photography contracts.
These contract clauses are similar or identical to the following:

These clauses issued by vendors who do not own the premises on which they work, i.e. churches or banquet facilities are unenforceable and can be a major detriment to documenting your weding day. The reasons the vendor may give you for these contractual restrictions can sound reasonable they really boil down to either their lack of trust for you or their desire to milk you for all the money they possibly can get.

Lets take a look at these common clauses and their real reasoning:

You And Your Guests Can Not Bring Cameras

The common excuse a vendor, photographer or videographer, will give you is that it proves distracting to the events and slows them down in doing their job or the guests may get in their way blocking shots. Many things can be distracting, but many of us at Michiana Weddings have been on both ends of the camera. What we have found is that the true professional, confident in their abilities and knows how to work with people will not let these distractions get in their way. Yes, a guest may absently get in their way, but that is why you hired a professional, someone who knows how to react and still get what they need. If the vendor can't navigate these road hazards, that are a natural part of the business, without dictating what your guests can and can't do then frankly they are not very good at what they do.

The primary reason for this type of clause, which the vendors will never tell you of, is that they fear if your guests have cameras and duplicate the same picturess or video they take, you are less likely to spend more money after the wedding because a friend got similar images or video footage. Our answer to that is if your guests consumer grade equipment produces a better picture or video clip than the one the professional is offering then they need to go back and take some refresher courses in their profession.l They are the professional, the highly trained individual(s) who should be producing better product than a guest.

A Safety Net For The Consumer

For you the consumer, friends and family bringing cameras to your wedding, is a safety net for the preservation of your memories. No professional wants to admit it but even the best laid plans can go awry and mistakes and malfunctions do happen. Guests with cameras can save the day when film fails to load, flash cards fail, hard drives fail, cameras malfunction, equipment is stolen, video tapes are bad out of the box, and materials are misplaced. If any of these unfortunate events happen and they are rare but not unexpected either, guest who brought their camera can be a true life saver!

We Can Tell Your Other Vendors What They Can And Can't Do

If the church or banquet facility puts restrictions on what your other vendors like the photographer, videographer or dj can do, that is their right since it is their physical location. However when your photographer/videographer/dj starts to dictate what the other(s) can do that is something else..

Cooperation Not Restrictions

What you should be looking for, when you hire your vendors is their desire to cooperate with you and your other chosen vendors! This is your wedding and the goal of any vendor should be to make it a rousing success, while they do the best job they possibly can for you and the creation of life long memories.

The reason usually given for this clause tends to be: I've had videographer's/photographer/djs interfere with me getting the job done. There are aggressive vendors out there who think about nothing but themselves, the videographer who tries to take over the picture posing. The photographer who is always in front of the video camera because they do not pay attention to where the video camera is or are intentionally sabotaging the picture. These can happen, but it really isn't the job of the photographer/videographer to tell your other vendors what they can do, it is your job to find the vendor who will best serve your purposes, be aware of, and cooperate with your other vendors.

The Photographer's Poses Are Copyrighted So No One Else Will Be Allowed To Film Them

There is nothing more funny than to hear the comment from a photographer that he has copyrighted his poses. This statement relies on the consumer not being informed as to copyright law. The law is very simple, the photographer can not copyright a pose of any kind! What the photographer can copyright is the final product whether it is a digital computer file, video tape or printed photo. Only what results from that pose can be copyrighted, not the pose itself! Don't let yourself be fooled by this one. Once again this is an attempt to milk you for all the money possible at the back end.

To sum this up, our advice to you is if you encounter a professional service that insists on including these restrictive clauses in their contracts, find a different vendor. There are many fine, quality conscious, excellent professionals out there who are more concerned with making your special day a rousing and unforgettable success, over making life easier for themselves or possibly pumping you for more money than you expected to spend. We at Michiana Weddings have been witnesses to what happens when such vendors encounter violations of their clauses, intentional or not intentional. Guests belittled or yelled at. Vendors in arguments in front of all your guests. Vendors having temper tantrums, by refusing to do the job you have paid them to do. Worse of all vendors who sabotage their own work in order to get revenge on you the client for allowing their contract to be violated.

This is your day, your money, your memories don't let yourself fall victim to one of the insecure vendors, in our opinion look elsewhere for a professional when presented with one of these scenarios! And of course consult a lawyer before signing any contract.