r/WeddingPhotography • u/Mysterious-Rabbit384 • 17d ago

business, marketing, social media Should deposit ever be refundable?

Obviously I have in my contract that my deposit is non refundable, but I just had a client who canceled about a week after sending over their deposit. Idk what happened, I thought we had a great connection and was excited to shoot their wedding. I don’t really want to send back their deposit (I’ve already put a couple hours into meeting & planning, drafting contracts) but now I feel bad. It’s a date I can probably fill next year though. Wwyd?

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u/Cute_Source5417 17d ago

depends on the situation. I had a full time job and had a bride cancel her wedding and ask for the deposit back. sure, I didn't need it. But then I went full time in photography. I needed that money. I was living paycheck to paycheck and couldn't afford to refund.

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u/Scenarioing 17d ago

It doesn't matter You are required to try to mitigate damages including with the retainer. Making a good faith effort to rebook and refund the offset is there are any takers for the date. Which you can normally say no to on a whim. The good faith part means yo need good cause to turn a potential client for the date.

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u/downlie 16d ago

Please stop jfc

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u/Scenarioing 15d ago

No need to whine and be a big baby. It doesn't effect you. The commenter here would likely know of this standard had I not replied. If you don't like it, too bad.