Owning One's Wedding
At the start of the year, a story about a pop-up wedding in a coffee shop went viral. The couple had told a local cafe that
they wanted to sign documents before an intimate group of loved ones. There was no indication that there would be an actual pop-up wedding ceremony with a crowd, so imagine how the owners of the Indianapolis spot reacted when a large wedding party converged there.
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“I know of someone who got married in Northern New Jersey on the first Saturday of December. Because it’s so rare to get heavy snow that early in the season, no one even considered that weather could postpone the wedding,” says New York City business litigator Martin Krezalek. “As it turned out, New Jersey got slammed with an early-December blizzard. On their wedding day, the couple woke up to every tristate mayor and governor imploring people to stay off the roads. Imagine how the groom felt when he got a call from the bandleader to remind him of the terms of the contract, which released the band from showing up in the case of dangerous, inclement weather. This also included a possible total forfeit of advance payments.”
Despite that heart-palpitating convo, the band pulled through in the blizzard. “The wedding was memorable, but the groom could have spared himself a near heart attack if he had just reviewed certain gray area expectations,” says Krezalek. “I would’ve asked the band, ‘How bad does the snow have to get to trigger the no-show clause?’ It’s all about peace of mind.” That’s the driving force behind taking responsibility for your wedding and related events in 2024.
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“A couple will enter into wedding services contracts typically once in their lives. Vendors do so every week. It’s what
they do,” says Krezalek. “They have gone through every scenario, and their contracts reflect protections that have been added through years of their experience. Follow the rule of: ‘It never hurts to ask.’ Some vendors may be unwilling to deviate from the language in their contracts but consider suggesting changes or striking provisions that you see as onerous or one-sided. The worst that could happen is that they say no.”
"Owning One's Wedding," by Esther Lee was published in The Knot's April 2024 print issue.
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