Originally I was planning on posting this at a later date, but with the recent outbreak of the Swine Flu, I thought it would be a good idea to post this now in case there are any future Destination Brides reading my blog.
Two years ago when planning my destination wedding in the Outer Banks, my constant worry was hurricanes. Our wedding had to be in the summer due to the schedules of my husband’s family and the only week that worked with the home we wanted to rent was in August. Typically, hurricanes rarely hit the Outer Banks that time of year but anything is possible and if you know my luck, you know that it was a real worry that I’d have a hurricane hit the day of the wedding. When I asked my wedding planner if there was anything that I could do – thinking back up locations and so forth, she actually recommended to me Wed Safe, a wedding insurance. I ended up purchasing both the cancellation and liability insurance and never worried a bit about hurricanes after that. The cancellation policy covers the costs of the wedding that would be canceled ore rescheduled due to an emergency, weather or other covered event. This way I wasn’t out thousands of dollars to my vendors for a wedding that didn’t happen that I still had to pay for in case a hurricane decided to blow through. The liability insurance covers the event – if someone fell and got injured etc. that insurance would cover the event and I wouldn’t be the one personally held responsible for any type of injuries at or due to my wedding.
The liability insurance was purchased because when I was 19 I was in a wedding for a friend of mine. One of the friends of the groom was a super nice guy and was at the table of my date for the evening and we chatted with him off and on through the night. He drank a bit too much and unfortunately got into a car accident on the way home and the last I knew he was still not breathing on his own and was in a home for people that are brain dead. His parents were outraged as he was underage and sued the bride and groom. Even the happiest of days can be the worst of days for someone, and after that hard lesson in reality I a) never drank until I was 21 and b) learned to cover my butt when it came to my wedding.
Both of these policies were DIRT CHEAP compared to what the flip side could have been and the peace of mind is PRICELESS. I recommend that EVERY bride pick up wedding insurance.
Why it is topical now is because of the swine flu. I am a poster on a wedding photography forum and brides are canceling their destination weddings left and right and taking the hit with the loss of money because they don’t want to take the risk of getting sick. Even though some people aren’t canceling, airlines are now starting to cancel flights and cruise lines are canceling stops in Mexico so who knows what can happen in two weeks. If they had wedding insurance, they’d be covered for the costs they’d loose if they couldn’t get to the destination for the wedding. I would check with all insurance companies for their specific policies on the flu prior to paying for it though to see what their policy is exactly for a refund in this type of case.
How can this relate to brides that aren’t getting married in a hurricane zone or a destination? Easy, have you heard of at least one wedding venue that’s closed and not refunding monies paid? I know I have – actually I’ve heard of quite a few doing this since I started shooting professionally 2 years ago. You would be covered if this happened to you if you had wedding cancellation insurance and would get the money you paid back. There are all kinds of things that can happen on solid firm ground to cancel a wedding, when you are paying THAT much for a wedding, you need to cover that investment.
I hope that this helped some of you out! Up until my wedding planner told me about it, I had NO IDEA such a thing existed so I wanted to pay it forward in case others didn’t either. If you have any questions about it, please don’t hesitate to ask! Keep in mind also that it’s almost NEVER too late to buy it, Wed Safe will take a policy up until 15 days before the event!
- The Christy House Wedding with Ashley and Stephon - March 11, 2024
- Peninsula Wedding with Colleen and Eric - March 10, 2024
- Winter Inn Walden Wedding with Julia and Walter - February 29, 2024