STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (WXYZ) — We’ve already seen this pandemic ravage some of life’s biggest memorable moments but with more vital events planned toward the end of the year, we wanted to know, what can you be doing now to protect yourself down the line.
"When people ask me what i do for a living, I tell them I make dreams come true," said Mary Lou Penna.
Mary Lou Penna, helps run the fifty-year-old family owned banquet hall, Penna’s in Sterling Heights.
"We’re a part of someone's most important days of their lives," said Penna.
Now that they’re shut down a midst this pandemic, they’ve been scrambling to accommodate all of their canceled events.
"In our contract, we will give back the deposit within 150 days prior to the event," said Penna.
"The last thing that Penna’s wants or even another banquet hall is to keep the deposit," said Penna. "We want to make them happy."
Penna’s is working with all of their clients but not every venue or vendor will be willing to do the same and with some experts predicting that this pandemic could see a resurgence later in the year.
So, how do you best protect yourself?
"First thing, that you absolutely want to do is make sure you review your contract," said event planner Jennifer Troy from Glorious Galas. "See what it says about cancellations, what their rescheduling clauses are." said Troy.
The Metro Detroit event planner says if there’s something you don’t like make that a point of negotiation with the venue- and vendors like your photographer, florist and DJ.
"Number two, be flexible with your dates. start looking to reschedule now," said Troy.
If you want to avoid the stress all together, think about rescheduling your event to 2021 while dates are still open, or at least, ask if they’d be willing to hold a backup date should your event get canceled," said Troy.
"Third thing, don’t wait on your vendors to call you," Troy added. "Do it now while there is still the stay-at-home order. They may have a little more flexibility."
"Lastly, add a force majeure clause, this protects your contract from unforeseeable circumstances beyond your control and frees both parties from liability and obligations in case the stay at home returns down the road.
Here’s the Rebound Rundown:
- Read your contract thoroughly
- Negotiate better protections for unforeseen circumstances
- Ask your vendor if they’d be willing to honor a backup date
We want to remind you, if you have a story tip, a question, a struggle that you think we need to hear about send us an email to rebounddetroit@wxyz.com and don't forget to join our Facebook group The Rebound Detroit.