DJ: frustrating

marburs · September 2009

So- the DJ is the ONLY vendor I actually have booked and I got an email from my venue this morning saying he needs insurance, and attached was a list of different DJs. They talked to Andy (my DJ) and he said he's not going to get insurance. I dont blame him at all- I'm just pissed that the venue never mentioned this.There was not much of a 'contract', but we did ask about vendors and she never mentioned anything about insurance. Is there anything we can do?

pinksonya · September 2009

Gah! That's frustrating... We actually had to have wedding insurance at our venue. It was something we purchased ourselves. I'm thinking if you did this, it would cover the entire wedding and your vendors should be fine.

e8jackson6 · September 2009

He doesn't have insurance at all? All the djs I talked to had it for sure. I thought it was a must have.

marburs · September 2009

really? how much did it cost? And where do you get something like that?

marburs · September 2009

No, he said he doesnt have it at all. He also said he would call 12 Oaks and try to convince them that he doesnt need it... apparently that didnt work out too well

pinksonya · September 2009

I'll have to ask Graham who he got it through. I know it was a couple hundred dollars but I think some you can get for just over $100

marburs · September 2009

FI drafted this email. Would some of you ladies read it over and tell me how it sounds? (lol- minus that last sentence) Bethany, I recall from our meeting before we signed our contract for 12 oaks mansion specifically discussing vendors. Nothing was mentioned at the time about requiring vendors to have insurance. I have 3 witnesses in addition to myself who were at that meeting who recall no mention of vendor insurance. There is also nothing listed in our contract about vendor insurance. Additionally, there is nothing on your website about requiring vendor insurance. Had we known this in advance we would have considered it when searching for a DJ. We do not want your list of DJs. We specifically went out and picked Andy as our DJ because that was who we wanted. We’ve already signed a contract with him, and put down a deposit holding our date. You will just have to make an exception this time, and accept the fact that he does not have insurance. Please inform us in advance of any other ridiculous restrictions you wish to spring on us. Should I check with each guest to be sure that each of them is insured before inviting them?

kwynn · September 2009

Wow, I don't know of any vendors that don't carry insurance. Like Erica, everyone I talked to had it. I wouldn't even consider a vendor that didn't. I'd look through what you signed again with 12 Oaks and really fight them hard on it. The venue itself should be carrying an insurance policy. Are they going to demand to see proof of insurance from each vendor?I would just write them a polite nasty-gram stating that your contract states x, y, and z and therefore, you were not informed of the need for each vendor to have insurance. I would advise that they revise their contract for future events, but that you will be required to hold them to what you signed. I might consider negotiating on an umbrella policy for events. My venue had insurance, but my MIL purchased an umbrella to guard against being sued for any reason, weather, fire, etc. We used Farmer's, but Traveler's and WedSafe also offer policies. Ours covered 40k of deposits, gifts, attire, photos, etc and cost about $250. HTH

pinksonya · September 2009

Yikes, it sounds good with the exception of a few sentences. I would remove the following: "We do not want your list of DJs.""You will just have to make an exception this time, and accept the fact that he does not have insurance.""Please inform us in advance of any other ridiculous restrictions you wish to spring on us. Should I check with each guest to be sure that each of them is insured before inviting them?"I would then say we have already signed a contract with this DJ and paid a deposit because we were not made aware of any specific requirements.You want to suck up while making your point. You want to make them feel bad for you and understand they are wrong while still liking you. You have to deal with these people for the next several months, and they will be in charge of your wedding! Not a good time to have them on your bad side. Reword this to sound very kind. Make it apparent taht you were unaware of the requirements and are very concerned now that you have already paid a deposit.

LaFemmeRousse · September 2009

A potential rewrite:To Bethany Lastname:I wanted to bring to your attention a contract-related concern we are having regarding our wedding to be held at 12 Oaks Mansion on Month Day Year. At the time we signed the contract, after a specific discussion on this matter, nothing was mentioned to us about requiring each vendor to have insurance, nor is anything listed in the contract or in your promotional materials online requiring this. Had we known this in advance, we would have certainly used it as a requirement to select our DJ, but since we are finding out after the fact, we have already chosen our DJ without this stipulation. Since we have already signed a legally binding contract with Andy Lastname and put down a deposit for his services, we are not able to choose a new DJ from the list you provided us.Please let us know what steps you can take to correct this situation, as we find ourselves at an impasse. Again, as this is not specified anywhere in our contract, we plan to hold you to the document that we signed. We would appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.Sincerely,marburs

pinksonya · September 2009

Lafemme - perfect! Exactly what I was thinking...

McBridetobe · September 2009

Oooh, that's excellent Jen!

kwynn · September 2009

I would reword your FI's email to be more business-like in tone and not as emotional/defensive. I think vendors really respond well when you are polite yet firm and treat it as a business transaction. Dear Bethany, I'm glad you emailed to touch base with me this morning regarding our wedding day on XXXXXXX XX XXXX. I appreciate you emailing me about the vendor insurance issue. We signed our contract with you on XXXXX XX XXXX after discussing with you the procedures and policies in place at Twelve Oaks. We've been very satisfied with our decision thus far.One factor that influenced our decision to go with you for our wedding day was the option to use vendors of our choosing instead of an approved list of vendors. It was not discussed, nor is it stated in the contract, that each vendor must carry his or her own insurance.In our discussions prior to signing the contract, the issue of insurance was never raised. We have already selected our DJ and signed a contract with him. While we appreciate your DJ suggestion list, we have already agreed to use a different vendor.I realize that Andy, the vendor, has already been in contact with you. He does not carry his own insurance policy and has performed weddings at many different venues, none of which have required him to have his own insurance. Therefore, Andy will not be obtaining insurance for this event. If insurance is required by each vendor (in addition to the liability policy carried by Twelve Oaks), it needs to be stated in the contract for your venue.Although not required by our contract with you, as a measure of good faith, we will keep in mind your insurance requirements when booking our other vendors for our day. Please provide additional details as to your previously unstated insurance policy such as liability limits required and waivers needed. Please notify us of any other changes in policy you may have that were not stated in our contract.We will be in touch shortly. I look forward to continuing to work with Twelve Oaks for the wedding.Sincerely,Marburs and FI

LaFemmeRousse · September 2009

Haha, kwynn, I can tell you've done this before too

kwynn · September 2009

LOL, Jen, I was writing at the same time as you. Yours is really good! :)I was LOLing at the words from Sara's FI "ridiculous" and "We don't want your list of DJ's." For some reason, that made me laugh!

marburs · September 2009

oh wow. You guys are good! I'm going to combine those two. Very good official sounding responses! Thank-you very very much!!!

colleenmclaughlin1 · September 2009

I think Jen and Kwynn covered it for you, but I just want to say "That Sucks!" Good luck!

LaFemmeRousse · September 2009

Sara, I hope this helps- it must be so frustrating for you guys

DJ: frustrating

Re: DJ: frustrating

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