[Music] venue contracts they can be a simple one-pager or they can be as long as a 40-page corporate documents it's a minefield and in this video we're going to try and walk you through that and make sure that you don't leave yourself exposed or liable because at the end of the day a contract is legally binding okay so when you contract doom and gloom gloom know but seriously they can be doom and gloom because you know sometimes you get people when that's when they come to me is because they found the perfect venue yeah and somebody sends them a PDF that's 30 pages long and they're going oh my god I don't even know where to start with this or they just sign it or they sign it and then they come to you and then we have to unravel that yeah so I think it's really really important that people before they even ask for the contract think in their heads about what it is they want in their venues so even if they start at the front door and walk through the space walk through the area as their gas would or they would on their wedding day and think about all of the different things that may arise completely make a list of them and then look at their contract you know if you've got a great venue manager or you know that's manager that you're dealing with then they should be able to walk you through that and answer or bring up any questions maybe that you're not thinking of but at the end of the day it is your responsibility and the basics as simple as you know when you get that contract or that first draft first as in there can be many more you need to make sure that date time your names your addresses those in firm you know contact information needs to be correct and a lot of times it's not and it's really important that both names are on it so bride and groom or bride and bride and groom and groom so that both people are literally not responsible definitely because you don't want a situation where somebody gets cold fish and you know let's face it it does happen and they back out and whoever has signed the contract is going to be the one that's left to pay for the van I do with my own contracts if I'm dealing with the couple directly and it's not sort of with the parents or somebody that's paying for it it's it's both names the bride and the groom because if one of them decides not to go forward with it the person who signed that contract is financially liable absolutely and you need a recourse and I think it's important as well for people to understand the payment schedule so you know if they default on sort of a quarter of the payment six months out what's gonna happen you know a lot of the venue contracts are written from the venue's side of course they are well in be standard templates that work for confidence groups any social events you know they're not personalized for weddings so I think one of the big things that I find that people forget to ask are not just the payment schedules but little things like an access time suppliers maybe they can't bring their own suppliers under stuff in the fine print fine print they just list off but I might just say oh that's an appendix I think it's really important to go through it and if you don't understand something ask like if you if it says that you have to use the venue as as as you've seen it on the day you have to use their tables and chairs if you don't want to if you want to bring in your own tables and chairs what's the story there do you have to pay a supplement can you use your put their tables and storage have they space for storage yeah well also as you said kind of access as well you know your wedding starts from you know 3:00 p.m.
And you've got the space till midnight well what time can you load it in the morning what AXA is there an event happening in that space for breakfast which then means you actually don't get it until 12:00 you think you have it from 7:00 a.m. that's a really good point because if there's if there are bedrooms there and you want to do a welcome bag do you have access to do that can you deliver things the day before do they have on-site storage is there security what happens if a guest leaves something is there a lost and find these are things that nobody ever thinks about until the next morning there's ten iPhones three pairs of sunglasses and two pairs of shoes and so what to wear but there are always things left after a wedding it's a crisis and you go around Kari gathering it up who is gonna look after that the next day and who's responsible for it completely can you bring your own suppliers in or are you restricted to a list of suppliers and if so who are those suppliers and do you pay the venue for them or do you pay the suppliers directly because if you're paying the venue are they adding a fee on them you need to understand that because there's a is that making a more expensive or disclosure it's full disclosure and unless you ask the question you're never gonna know and people are afraid to ask questions I think sometimes brides especially are afraid because they think oh they're not gonna like me if I ask that question it's your money yeah you need your libel you're liable for it you know and it's also understanding that you're liable for any you know damage that happens that's a really good point sets the place on fire you're the one that's liable for it it's not even that I mean there's lots of cases where people put holes and walls by falling backwards but it happens when they're dancing or else they break something in the bathroom yeah like you know do you have to pay for the repainting of that area if a painting gets broken if somebody falls on the piano yeah like when they're dancing that was a great party but you're still gonna have to pay for the piano and you need to understand all of these liable for what I go for for your guests you know it's not just you your guests but also you know if you're bringing in suppliers as well you know we'll talk about vendor contracts in a separate note bet you know you're you're responsible for them at the end of the day and do those vendors have to give an indemnity or a copy of their insurance policy to the venue you know as the bride you shouldn't have to worry about that but if you're booking somebody who doesn't have proper insurance you know that's something to bear in mind if it's an historic area you know maybe you're gonna have to indemnify the venue yeah and that is something that will affect all of the rest of the suppliers that you're going to book another little thing which people forget about car parking Khan your gas leave their cars overnight I mean are they insured or maybe do it do they have what do they have parking city central banking is that a premium also I think you know from a starting point it's very much ask those questions if read it through line by line if you're there's something you're not comfortable with ask if there's something you don't understand which half the time you know because we read so many contracts for our clients but every venue has a different policy and every then you you know you can think oh well this contract is quite simple but that might be worse because then you're just open and also if it's a new venue it could be a very simple contract because they haven't thought of all of the young and then they could you know maybe reserve how to write something in afterwards another point which is a force majeure point it's whether natural disasters I mean rain it does rain terrorism you know it snow you know what's happening in that sort of situation if the venue cancels on you rather than you canceling on the venue what is the refund policy from those sort of things I mean we are talking disaster here yeah but it but it's not we empty all of those things so that you still get to enjoy your beautiful wedding day without having all of this extra stress and extra weary Anya but also you know the cancellation you talked about payment policy it's you know is there contentions and therefore you know if if you postponed you know family medical somebody can't make it something you know you booked a venue a year out maybe you know six months in a lot can happen and you just need to know or be conscious of what you're you're legally required and can you add in a clause to say that if we postpone or we reschedule or cancel we can reuse that money or what we've paid into it for later date within the next 12 months for exam and I think it's also to be careful if you have minimum numbers that you have to fulfill or maximum numbers be very clear with yourself that those minimum numbers that you're actually going to be able to because if not you're going to be paying for them anyway so I think in conclusion we're saying is that think about what you want from your venue look at the contract are they both in line and if you're unsure just ask the questions don't be afraid to ask the question really it's your money and it's up to you to do your own due diligence on that contract completely because nobody else is gonna do it for you that's it so if you don't understand ask the question if there's something missing ask for it to be put in or changed or changed absolutely because as you said once it's signed it's fine and you're responsible this is true thanks for watching and remember if you liked this video don't forget to subscribe to the channel and you hit the bell icon because then you'll be notified of any upcoming new videos where it's about like I don't know top bottom just ring the bells ring the bell [Music] watch listen and plan like a pro
